Johnson's Intro The
Johnson family was well liked by all on the wagon train. But a couple of days after Marie
were killed; Seth decided it was too dangerous to go on. He had lost his wife, and he
didn't want to lose his children, too. "But,
Dad, Mom wanted to go to Oregon." "Will,
she just wanted to come out west somewhere. Oregon was where this wagon was headed so
that's where she said she wanted to go." Seth told his son. "I don't want to
take the chance of losing any of you. We have to watch out for Helen, Sid and Tom,
now." "Yes
Sir." Will replied. He was respectful of his father, but he didn't fully understand
his reasoning sometimes. He knew it was just the grief and who knows, maybe he would like
this small town they were in. Seth applied at the hotel for a job, and the only job they
had that he could do was wait on tables, so Will got a job as dishwasher. The owner told
him that he would be soon selling the place because he wanted to go back East to his
parents who were sick. He just needed a buyer so that he could get the money to go. He had
taught Seth whatever he thought that Seth was going to need to know to help out the new
owner. After a while the Johnson family fell into a routine, Seth would work at night so that the ladies waiting on the tables wouldn't have to be out at night. Will would wash the dishes and when things were slow, Seth would help him. Tom would stay in the hotel room with Baby Helen and take care of her while his father and older brother were working, and for this he got an allowance. Syd would hang around Tom even though Tom would beg him to go make friends with the other boys in Three Crossings. There were times when Sid would go to Snake River and cry while morning his mother's death. This had been going on for two months when Miss Carrie Ann Jenkins bought the hotel. The old owner left on the next stage and left Seth in charge to help Carrie Ann out. |