:24:00
but no wheelwright.
:24:02
Well, we sure would love to come,
:24:05
only we don't have $80.
:24:07
I'll loan you.
:24:08
Won't be indebted, either.
:24:10
Then what?
:24:17
Well, you pay for the extra axles,
:24:19
spokes, and tongues and heavy equipment.
:24:22
Me and jethro's labor for the journey
will come to about $80, I reckon.
:24:27
Don't you figure, jethro?
:24:29
Right about 80, brother.
:24:32
Yes, sir.
:24:41
And so, the Wheeler party
rolled out of independence,
:24:44
heading west, northwest on hoxie's train.
:24:47
Wagon-master hoxie was a
regular napoleon of the plains,
:24:50
wanted everybody to call him captain,
even though he'd never been near a uniform.
:24:54
His hired pilot was a frontiersman
by the name of josiah bell,
:24:58
and there were 2 scouts
named meeks and skate.
:25:02
Bonnets.
:25:04
I'd seen their kind before.
:25:06
Rough-hewn boys, chawbacons,
:25:08
come west not for adventure
or riches or exploration,
:25:11
but for women and whiskey.
:25:14
And god only knows what
they were running from.
:25:21
With us was hobbes,
:25:23
a german preacher who
claimed also to be a doctor.
:25:26
He led us in prayer when
we departed independence,
:25:29
asking the lord's guidance,
and protection from disease,
:25:32
accidents, beasts of
prey, and wild heathens.
:25:35
When he said the last, he was staring
straight at Thunder Heart Woman.
:25:39
She didn't pay him no mind.