Read Online Longarm and the Yuma Prison by Tabor Evans - Free Book Online

had founded a fort on the abandoned mission site to serve as protection for the overland travelers bound for the gold fields. For many years, steamboats and the Butterfield Overland Mail had been the only suppliers of the fort, and then the railroad had arrived in 1877, which greatly boosted the activity and population.
    â€œWhen this railroad arrived, suddenly the town mushroomed,” the conductor said. “Land was cheap and city lots cost almost nothing.”
    Longarm didn’t offer the obvious fact that, given the harshness of the area, land was worthless except for what gold and silver might be found, although some enterprising people had used the sandy shores of Gila and Colorado rivers to grow hay and fresh vegetables.
    â€œAfter the Civil War, the Union Army established a garrison here that provided military supplies and personnel to posts throughout Arizona and the New Mexico territories.”
    â€œThe Apache were pretty hard on the people in this part of the country,” Longarm added to Jessica. “They raided on both sides of the border and were almost impossible to catch and control.
    â€œDoes a Captain Maxwell Rodgers still command what remains of the fort?” Longarm asked.
    â€œNo, he shot himself in the head about two years ago. His wife and kids buried him and left for the East. Lots of soldiers here committed suicide because Fort Yuma was considered the worst fort in the West.”
    â€œI’m sorry to hear that.”
    â€œDid you know the captain or his family?” the conductor asked.
    â€œI did not. But my boss knew and liked him.”
    â€œHe was a fine man. Took to drinking pretty hard after his son drowned in the Colorado and he just never seemed to be able to come back.”
    â€œTragic,” Jessica said.
    â€œYes,” the conductor agreed. “Most of Yuma either works for this railroad or the penitentiary. Some have businesses in town and a few have mines and little farms that can be irrigated from the river’s waters. There are traders and the paddle wheelers still ply the Colorado regularly. They take goods all the way up to Las Vegas. If I didn’t work on the railroad, I’d work on a paddlewheel steamer. Being on the water is the coolest place around most times of the year.”
    â€œI suppose so,” Longarm said.
    â€œThe old army fort is pretty much abandoned now but the quartermaster depot is still operating. This is the hardest country I ever knew but it does have its own beauty and the winters are mighty nice. The local chamber of commerce sees its future in winter tourism. You know, folks with rheumatism and a little money can come out her in November and enjoy plenty of sunshine and warmth all through the snowy months back East. I do believe that Yuma is going to be around for a long, long time, but me and the missus, we’re going to retire somewhere a mite cooler, maybe up around Prescott which has a pleasant climate year-round.”
    Longarm and Jessica found rooms at the Oasis Hotel, a fine, two-story stone structure in the middle of town. Because of her father and the complications that were going to be coming their way concerning the mining claim, they took separate but adjoining rooms.
    â€œThere’s an inside door connecting them,” the hotel clerk said with a wink. “You’ll have your privacy, and we have a little café just off the lobby that I’m sure you’ll find to your liking. Hotel guests get ten percent off the regular menu price.”
    â€œNice to know that,” Longarm said.
    â€œRooms 202 and 203. If you need anything or find something wanting, just come down and I’ll gladly take care of it.”
    â€œWe’ll do that,” Longarm promised, gathering their bags and following Jessica up the stairs.
    Once inside their rooms, Jessica collapsed on her bed. “I’m exhausted from the trip,” she told him. “I’d like to take a