Lilly: Bride of Illinois (American Mail-Order Bride 21) Read Online Free Page A
Author: Linda K. Hubalek
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, Saga, Western, Short-Story, Chicago, Religious, Christian, Inspirational, Bachelor, trouble, Marriage of Convenience, Faith, Illinois, secrets, victorian era, Forever Love, Single Woman, Fifth In Series, Fifty-Books, Forty-Five Authors, Newspaper Ad, American Mail-Order Bride, Factory Burned, Pioneer, train station, Hunted, Sweden Emigrate, Kansas Rancher, Union Stackyards, 1890 Fat Stock Show, American Horse Show, Horseflesh, Saloon, Thugs
didn’t like the idea of working in a saloon. What would her friends from the textile mill say about this? Hope had cautioned her about not knowing enough about the man and his business, but the matchmaking agency had checked him out and assured her he was a proper candidate for a husband.
I hope my friends are in a better situation than I find myself in here in Chicago…
Chapter 2
It was late afternoon when Seth checked into the five–story, brick hotel where he was staying. It was a mile walk to the hotel in the blustery cold wind, and the closer he was to the yards nearby, the noisier and smellier the atmosphere became. The sound of thousands of animals in the yard pens was constant and almost deafening at times.
He was accustomed to smelling cattle manure, growing up near Ellsworth, Kansas, which had been the ending point of the cattle trail drives in the 1870s. When the herds arrived early summer through late fall, they grazed in the area until they were loaded on train cars for their journey back east. There’d been tens of thousands of longhorns, along with the dust, manure and flies they brought with them. But this manure was contained in the yard pens and concentrated—and with the addition of hogs—it made his eyes water and burn.
The American Horse Show was being held in the Exposition Building from November first through the eighth. Then the American Fat Stock Show, another week’s event starting a few days after the first show. Seth had coordinated his trip to visit the last two days of the horse show, have a few days to view stock in the stockyards, then attend the first days of the Fat Stock Show. There was a weekly horse auction in the stockyards, and he planned to buy some breeding stock at the sale, and take them back to Kansas in a livestock railcar.
Seth was the horse breeder for the Straight Arrow Ranch, part of the Cross C Company in Ellsworth County, Kansas. Besides raising stock horses for ranch hand use, the ranch raised and sold top of the line Morgan stallions and mares.
Isaac Connely had started the Cross C Ranch after the Civil War, using Texas longhorns for his first herd. Over time he, along with his nephew, Marcus Brenner, who took over the daily management of the ranch, crossed the longhorns with Hereford bulls. They acquired more land, now making it one of the largest ranch companies in the area with over thirty thousand acres.
The breeding horse operation, averaging a herd of around two hundred head, was on a smaller, connecting ranch, which the owners had bought.
The ranch was still called Straight Arrow, or shortened to the Arrow, named by the first owners of the land. Seth lived in the original two–story, wooden ranch house. From spring through fall, he had extra help who lived in the ranch’s bunkhouse. From November through March he was the only one watching the horse herd in the pastures, but hired help if he needed it, such as when it was necessary for him to be gone on this weeklong trip.
The Straight Arrow was five miles straight north of Clear Creek, the closest town, but Seth liked the isolation—most of the time. Now at age twenty–eight, he found himself wishing he was sharing his home and life with a wife and family.
Now Seth sat at a table in the hotel’s restaurant enjoying a rare beef steak, mashed potatoes and the company of men he just met. The men, who were also here to attend the shows, ranged from young to old, experienced or novices, exhibitors or buyers. The people came all the way from Canada to Texas, bringing different expertise from their area’s land and climate, and livestock they raised.
Conversation jumped from today’s blustery weather, mishaps people suffered traveling to Chicago, to who they thought would win the cart horse, or jumping class at the ongoing horse show.
“Plan to check out the saloons in the area?” a young man who sat across the table, asked Seth.
“Hadn’t thought that far ahead yet,” Seth put off
I hope my friends are in a better situation than I find myself in here in Chicago…
Chapter 2
It was late afternoon when Seth checked into the five–story, brick hotel where he was staying. It was a mile walk to the hotel in the blustery cold wind, and the closer he was to the yards nearby, the noisier and smellier the atmosphere became. The sound of thousands of animals in the yard pens was constant and almost deafening at times.
He was accustomed to smelling cattle manure, growing up near Ellsworth, Kansas, which had been the ending point of the cattle trail drives in the 1870s. When the herds arrived early summer through late fall, they grazed in the area until they were loaded on train cars for their journey back east. There’d been tens of thousands of longhorns, along with the dust, manure and flies they brought with them. But this manure was contained in the yard pens and concentrated—and with the addition of hogs—it made his eyes water and burn.
The American Horse Show was being held in the Exposition Building from November first through the eighth. Then the American Fat Stock Show, another week’s event starting a few days after the first show. Seth had coordinated his trip to visit the last two days of the horse show, have a few days to view stock in the stockyards, then attend the first days of the Fat Stock Show. There was a weekly horse auction in the stockyards, and he planned to buy some breeding stock at the sale, and take them back to Kansas in a livestock railcar.
Seth was the horse breeder for the Straight Arrow Ranch, part of the Cross C Company in Ellsworth County, Kansas. Besides raising stock horses for ranch hand use, the ranch raised and sold top of the line Morgan stallions and mares.
Isaac Connely had started the Cross C Ranch after the Civil War, using Texas longhorns for his first herd. Over time he, along with his nephew, Marcus Brenner, who took over the daily management of the ranch, crossed the longhorns with Hereford bulls. They acquired more land, now making it one of the largest ranch companies in the area with over thirty thousand acres.
The breeding horse operation, averaging a herd of around two hundred head, was on a smaller, connecting ranch, which the owners had bought.
The ranch was still called Straight Arrow, or shortened to the Arrow, named by the first owners of the land. Seth lived in the original two–story, wooden ranch house. From spring through fall, he had extra help who lived in the ranch’s bunkhouse. From November through March he was the only one watching the horse herd in the pastures, but hired help if he needed it, such as when it was necessary for him to be gone on this weeklong trip.
The Straight Arrow was five miles straight north of Clear Creek, the closest town, but Seth liked the isolation—most of the time. Now at age twenty–eight, he found himself wishing he was sharing his home and life with a wife and family.
Now Seth sat at a table in the hotel’s restaurant enjoying a rare beef steak, mashed potatoes and the company of men he just met. The men, who were also here to attend the shows, ranged from young to old, experienced or novices, exhibitors or buyers. The people came all the way from Canada to Texas, bringing different expertise from their area’s land and climate, and livestock they raised.
Conversation jumped from today’s blustery weather, mishaps people suffered traveling to Chicago, to who they thought would win the cart horse, or jumping class at the ongoing horse show.
“Plan to check out the saloons in the area?” a young man who sat across the table, asked Seth.
“Hadn’t thought that far ahead yet,” Seth put off
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