Lakota Dreams

“Nathaniel! Get your sister. Your father has something to discuss with us.”

The only times Nate Henderson’s mother had addressed him by his given name were when there was a serious issue. So it was natural that Nate felt anxious as he rushed through the hotel looking for Becky. He couldn’t think of any chores he hadn’t completed, and he was sure his father didn’t know about the kiss he gave Maggie last week after church.

He found his younger sister in the kitchen, and said, “Hey, Becky, father wants to see us. Do you know why?”

Becky had sweat streaming from her brow from bending over the hot water where she’d been laundering bed linens for the past hour. Her blond hair and the front of her blouse were soaked, and she wiped her forehead, looked at Nate and shook her head.

In a calm voice, Nate said, “Mom called me, ‘Nathaniel’.”

Becky said, “Uh oh.”

Together they walked upstairs to the office where they would find out what the serious issue was.

As they walked, Becky asked, “How’s Maggie?” Then she giggled.

Nate looked at his sister, blushed, and said, “Don’t tell. Promise?”

She gave him a wink as they arrived at the office, where they stopped outside the door, waiting for the invitation to enter.

Joseph Henderson was sitting behind his desk, and his wife was sitting beside him on the same side of the desk, indicating she was supporting her husband on what was to be discussed. No matter what the circumstance, and with no regard for her own personal feelings, Ruth Henderson always supported her husband. The scene added to the anxiety of the younger Hendersons.

The patriarch of the family was a large man with gentle features. He still had most of his dark brown hair with some gray around his temples, and warm brown eyes behind his spectacles. Years ago, he was a jovial sort, with a joke and a laugh for every friend or stranger he encountered. Since the war, he hadn’t smiled or laughed much, and hadn’t told a joke since Savannah. But he was a loving father, and was determined to provide his family with everything he’d once been able to provide before the war. It was a promise he made when they headed west, and was the glue he believed that maintained the strength of the Henderson family. It was a promise that now dominated his life.

The father looked up from a large map he was poring over and said, “Come in, children. Please sit down.”

Ruth Henderson reached out and grabbed her husband’s hand. Nate and Becky noticed, and they glanced at each other. This was serious.

Conversations in the hotel office were a rarity, but when there were conversations with the hotel’s owner behind the desk, they were always one-sided.

Joseph began his soliloquy.

For ten minutes, he talked of the memories before the war when he’d been one of the richest men in Savannah. How his hotel was the largest in the South, with over a hundred rooms, a restaurant, and the livery stable. There was sorrow in his eyes as he spoke about how General Sherman and his Union soldiers had destroyed the railroad, torched crops, and burned down many businesses in Savannah including his. He glanced at his wife as he talked about the friends and family who’d been killed in the war, including both of her brothers, and he closed his eyes momentarily as he talked about his fellow businessmen who’d lost as much or more than he had. Joseph spoke their names. There was anger in his voice as he recalled the carpetbaggers who “swooped down like buzzards” after the war to take advantage of the misfortunes which had befallen many of the great cities of the Confederacy.

Nate and Becky had no idea where the conversation was going, and had heard these words before from their father, but they remained silent. They knew their father always took his time when he had something important to share with them, and the length of this preamble was an indication that something monumental was about to occur.

“After trying for five long years to rebuild and make our hotel successful again, I realized it was no use. Nobody wanted to come to Savannah anymore. So I took ten cents on the dollar for our property. Just a block from the water.” Joseph’s tone was still anger. He continued, “And anyway, I couldn’t live there anymore. Everywhere there was sadness. The disdain and arrogance of those carpetbaggers . . . well, we came here to Galveston. Do you remember the promise I made?”

Nate remembered when his father had promised that a new start was all they needed to return to their proper place in society. He recalled his father saying that the money from the sale of the rebuilt hotel would be enough to get to Texas, and build another, although smaller, hotel, restaurant, and livery stable. He remembered the hope that Galveston was supposed to offer.

While Joseph continued to talk about the past, both Nate and Becky silently recalled the two-month trek from Savannah to Galveston. It began in the late spring, and the first half of the trip was mixed with cold and rainy days when water dripped inside the covered wagon and the four of them would huddle together shivering. The last month the days became warm and humid, clothes were drenched in sweat, tempers flared, and when they did, Ruth Henderson would make the four travelers hold hands and she’d say prayers until peace was restored.

Leaving Savannah had been distressing for the children. Becky and Nate had many friends there they would miss. It was sad for the parents as well, but Savannah wasn’t the same for them, and too much there reminded Joseph of what they had lost. When they arrived in Galveston, it took six months to secure the property they wanted and to establish their new hotel. Twenty-four rooms, a livery stable and a small restaurant. It was not what they had in Savannah, but according to Joseph Henderson, it had been a good start. When the hotel opened for business, Joseph Henderson actually smiled a little. That was two years ago.

At that time, Becky was fifteen, and immediately made friends at her new school. Nate was seventeen, and worked full time for his father, mostly in the stable. He didn’t have much time for friends, but had made a few, including Maggie, the daughter of a recently arrived merchant. She worked in a dress shop a few blocks away and he met her a month ago at church. Galveston had been a bustling community when they arrived, but now in early 1872, the town had already begun to change.

Joseph Henderson was near the end of his speech. The climax was coming. He said, “We’ve done alright here. But Galveston isn’t the answer I was looking for.”

He squeezed his wife’s hand, and looked at his children, and said, “And as God is my witness, I’ll keep the promise I made.”

Becky did the unthinkable, and spoke, “We’re happy, papa.”

The father looked surprised, and he glared at Ruth as if it was her fault Becky had spoken. Then he frowned and as if he hadn’t heard his daughter continued, “Houston is where people want to go to today. They completed the rail line, built the bridge, and that’s where fortunes can be made, not here.”

Nate took a chance, and asked, “So, what are you saying, father? Are we going to Houston?”

Again the patriarch was surprised to be asked a question by one of his children. He leaned back in his chair, realizing, perhaps for the first time, that the two people across his desk weren’t children any more. The fulfillment of the promise was his crusade, and his motivation for life. Joseph Henderson knew the decision he’d made during the past few days, the decision his wife had reluctantly, but eventually wholeheartedly supported, had been the right one.

He continued, “In Savannah, before the war, I’d hear people whisper, ‘There goes Joe Henderson.’ Your mother and I were invited to all the best parties. I met the governor, and the mayor was our friend. We were important. We were important because we had wealth. And we’ll be somebody again. Just not here. But not in Houston, either”

Nate looked at his father, raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

Joseph Henderson continued, “I thought about moving to Houston, and even tried to find out what I could sell our hotel for, but I didn’t even get an offer. Your mother and I discussed our options, and we agreed. It’s time to move on.”

Becky began crying softly. Then she sobbed, and blurted out, “Again?”

Nate asked, “Where?”

There was a moment of silence. Nate and Becky looked at their mother with pleading eyes, but Ruth Henderson said nothing.

Nate repeated, “Where, father?”

Ruth said, “Tell them, Joseph.”

He said, “To find gold, children. Gold is the only chance I’ve got to keep my promise.”

Becky, still crying softly repeated her brother’s question, “Where, papa?”

“The Dakota Territory.”

Nate had only heard of the Dakota Territory, and while he didn’t know exactly where it was, he knew it was far from Galveston, that it was part of the frontier, and had heard that there were wild Indians there. But his thoughts turned quickly to Maggie, the red-haired merchant’s daughter he’d met at church. The first girl he’d ever kissed. The one he was in love with.

Becky had heard of the Dakota Territory, too, but didn’t care where it was. She said, “I don’t want to go anywhere, papa. We’re doing okay right here.”

Joseph looked to his wife for support. She now had a tear in her eye, but nodded to him. He reached down and spread the map out on the desk, and turned it around. Pointing he said, “This is where I must go.” Tapping his index finger on the map, he added, “This is where I want you to go.”

When Nate and Becky were four years old, Ruth read the bible to them every day. By the time Nate was twelve and Becky was ten, both had memorized some of the scripture, including the Lord’s Prayer, the twenty-third Psalm, and the Ten Commandments. They had been taught by their mother that none of the Ten Commandments were more important than any others, but that violation of any would not be tolerated. Now Nate remembered one—honor thy mother and father.

With Maggie still on his mind, Nate asked, “How long will it take?”

But before Joseph could answer, Becky interrupted, “Do we have to go?”

Ruth loosened her grip on her husband’s hand, stood and walked around the desk and positioned herself between her children. She placed a hand on each of their shoulders and looked at the patriarch. It may have seemed that the mother had taken the side of her children, and that it was now three against one.

But Ruth looked at her husband and, squeezing her children’s shoulders said, “We’re going.”

Then Joseph surprised his wife when he said, “Nathaniel, you’re almost nineteen. A man. And Rebecca, seventeen. A woman. A pretty woman at that.” He shook his head as if those observations were revelations. He looked at them and continued, “If you don’t want to go, you can stay here. I’ll find someone to help manage the business, and your mother and I can go by ourselves.”

Ruth began trembling. The thought of separating her family was devastating, and something she’d not considered.

Joseph continued, “We’ll go find our gold, and be back within a year. But children, I do want you to come with us. Your mother wants you to come. However, it’s your decision.”

For the first time in his life, Nate Henderson felt like a man. He quickly considered staying in Galveston, helping to run the hotel and livery stable, and being on his own. He thought about his new love. Then his mother began sobbing uncontrollably.

Ruth was slumped over, holding herself upright by supporting herself with her hands still on her children’s shoulders. Her tears were dropping on the wooden floor as she wept loudly.

Joseph Henderson didn’t move. He folded the map and handed it to Nate. Then he said, “It’ll take a week to prepare. And the trip will take about three months. We’ll be there in the late spring.”

Then the father stood, walked around the desk, and grabbed his wife’s arm, and helped her to stand upright. He guided her to the door, and turned, and said, “We love you more than you’ll ever know. Think about it, and let us know.”

Then the two children—the young man and the young woman—were left alone in the office. They sat there in silence. Becky with her head down, and Nate clutching the map. Neither had enjoyed their mother’s emotional breakdown.

After a minute, Becky, looking straight ahead, quietly asked, “Nate, what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know?”

“What about Maggie?”

Nate shook his head and repeated, “I don’t know.”

***

That night, none of the Hendersons slept much. The father worried that his children would decide to stay in Galveston. The mother worried about the same thing. The children tossed and turned in their beds, wondering what they should do, stay in Galveston or go with their parents to the Dakota Territory.

The father also wondered if the Dakota Territory really would be the answer—the place where he would be able to keep his promise. The mother, already considering that her children would be on their own, wondered what would become of them, and if she’d ever see them again. The children, relived the vision of their mother crying uncontrollably, and they worried about her.

At three o’clock in the morning, there was a light knock on Becky’s bedroom door. The door opened slowly, and Nate asked, “Are you asleep?”

“No.” The bedroom was dark, but the full moon shone through the window to provide sufficient light inside for the siblings to see one another.

“I couldn’t sleep either.”

Becky said, “I don’t know what to do. But if you decide to stay, I’ll stay too.”

“I don’t know what to do either."Nate said. “In the morning, I’ll ask around and find out what I can about the Dakota Territory.” He sat on the bed and in a voice just above a whisper added, “I’ve heard about it, and I think it’s a land where there are wild Indians that don’t like white people. It could be very dangerous.”

“Then why does papa want to go there?”

“If there really is gold there, then maybe we can get rich there, and father will be happy again.”

Becky looked at her brother and asked, “We? Nate, have you decided to go with them?”

“I swear I don’t know.” Nate hadn’t made up his mind, but while tossing and turning in his bed, several times he remembered the one Commandment that was still haunting him. Honor thy mother and father.

“What will you tell Maggie?”

Nate had thought a lot about her as well and about his first kiss, just a week ago. He thought about her red hair and her beautiful green eyes. He wondered if she’d wait for him. He replied, “I don’t know.”

Becky said, “I wish papa had never been rich. We could’ve stayed in Savannah.”

Nate recalled the weeks before his family left their hometown, and the few times he and his father had private discussions about the war, and about its aftermath. He recalled his father talking about the friends who had died fighting the Yankees, including Nate’s uncles, and about the many surviving friends whom he saw every day walking around Savannah, the one with a leg missing, the one with an arm missing, and the friend who’d been blinded the day Atlanta fell. Nate remembered his father cursing the northerners—the carpetbaggers—who had come to Savannah and now owned every major business there.

During one of those discussions, Nate remembered his father crying, and through his tears making the promise to make things right. At the time, Nate believed that the promise was only a part of the reason Joseph Henderson felt compelled to leave Savannah. Nate believed his father would slowly die from a broken heart if he stayed in Savannah.

Nate said, “I don’t think being rich is what it’s all about.” He bent over and gave his sister a gentle kiss on the forehead. He said, “I love you. We’ll talk again tomorrow. Now try to get some sleep.”

“I love you too.” And as her brother was leaving the bedroom, she added, “I’ll do whatever you think is best.”