Part 3: Things Get Better

Jed had not had contact with Adeline for a long time. Only one letter had arrived, and that one Addie had sent on a steamer boat just a month after Jed left.

Now Jed had to sit down and write his sweet Adeline a letter. He didn’t want to lie, but he didn’t want her to know how discouraging the truth was either. He was getting low on money and supplies, and worst of all, he was becoming weary of the whole mining mess. The shout of GOLD no longer rang a bright wonderful bell in his head.

He’d found some gold to keep him going but it was hardly the large fortune he anticipated nor even enough to consider fetching Adeline. He was lonely and tired, at the end of his rope and ready to pack it in and go back to Boston.  If he could just make enough money to pay for the return ticket.

Then came a surprising turn of events. One of the fellows he’d become friendly with needed to get his boot repaired. Jed offered to fix the boot for a small fee. He did an excellent job and the miner was grateful. There weren’t any cobblers in Coloma yet.

Jed was a very friendly fellow and had made lots of friends in the few months he had been mining. Word of his skill at fixing boots started to get around. Jed would pan for gold in the day, then sew boots by the light of his campfire at night. The business started slowly, but as Jed began to make more money fixing boots than he did panning for gold, a bell went off in his head. One day it all made sense to him. Panning wasn’t for him, but fixing boots was!

He took the money he’d saved and bought some leather. It was a gamble, but he knew he could make a fine boot. He turned the leather into several pair of boots and sold them for a tidy profit. Then he bought more leather and sold more boots as fast as he could make them. Seemed the first thing a miner wanted when he had a good haul was a fine pair of Walker Boots. He was amazed at how easy it was to begin the cobbler business again after so many months away from it.

Soon Jed moved up country from the river to a place called Kelsey. He found a nice piece of land close by a stamp mill where miners were always coming and going. He built a small cabin and set up his shop with a big wooden sign in the shape of a boot advertising his shop. “Walker’s Boot and Shoe Repair” it said proudly over the door. Jed had all the work he could handle. Finally, he wrote to Adeline to come along. It wasn’t the gold on the ground but the business he built that gave him the feeling that this was the place for he and Adeline.

It was several weeks before he got a letter back from Adeline. He didn’t go to Coloma except for once a week or so because he was trying to work as much as possible and fix up the place so Adeline would be comfortable when she arrived. But today he went into town and stopped by the post office to find a letter from Adeline. He sat down and opened it right up his heart pounding in his ears as he anxiously read the letter. It had been almost a year since he kissed her goodbye and ran onto the ship in Boston Harbor.

Good thing he sat down before reading the letter, as he might have fallen when he read the first sentence. “Dearest Jed, I am so happy to tell you that I will be leaving with the next ship from Boston, bringing with me your son!” He was born just a month ago and there were no problems with the birth, so we shall leave immediately as I cannot stand to be away from you a moment more!”  

The letter went on with more news of friends and family but it all just seemed like words. Nothing had prepared him for this amazing news. Why had she not written to tell him she was with child? Had she not wanted him to give up? Not wanted him to lose his dream?

As he pondered these questions, Jed was filled with such a joy he couldn’t even begin to describe. A son! Jed Jr.! He knew it would be months before Adeline’s ship would dock in San Francisco. He had so much to do! He had to fix up the place for a baby! He had to make arrangements to go to San Franciso to meet the ship.

The next couple of months were a blur. He worked all day making and mending boots, then all night fixing up the cabin for Adeline. He would always see her beautiful face and imagine how his son would look. That vision kept him going for hours into the night. He slept little, ate little, and worked hard, trying to make everything just right.

September 15, 1851 arrived bright and crisp. Jed saddled his horse, locked down the cabin and headed for San Francisco. It would take him several days hard riding to get there. It had been over a year since he had last seen the big city. It hadn’t changed much.

Jed knew just where the ship would dock, so he tied his horse nearby. He didn’t have to wait long before he saw the big ship in the distance headed his way. He stood quiet and still on the outside but quivering with anticipation on the inside. Calmly he waited what seemed like forever for the ship to dock and put down the gangplank so passengers could disembark. He had not seen her on the deck, nor anywhere on the ship. Could she have taken a different ship? Was she not there after all? 

His body was still but his mind was racing through all the possibilities. His horse began to stir and pull at the rope which caused Jed to take his eye off the gangway for a few minutes while he quieted the horse and made sure the rope was secure. As he turned his attention back to watching the gangway he still didn’t see her. Then he heard her familiar laugh. He turned quickly to the sound but still saw nothing. Was his mind playing tricks on him. He listened intently hoping to hear her again. Waiting, watching, every hair on his body standing up with intensity.

Suddenly she stepped from behind a wall and said, “Hey fella, looking for someone?” He whirled around so fast he almost lost his footing as she jumped into his arms. They hugged and kissed and laughed and he picked her up and danced her around him three times before he realized he hadn’t seen the baby. As he looked quizzically into her beautiful face she smiled, took his hand and led him down to the wall where Jed Jr. was laying in a basket. He was just beginning to give a loud howl when his father plucked him out of the basket and held him against his chest.

Jed Jr. stopped mid howl and clamped his little lips tight and stared his big blue eyes straight back at daddy. They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds and then Jed smiled down at Jr. and said, “Welcome home Jr., I am your papa”. Adeline looked on with love at her two main men.

Jed had rented a room for them in San Francisco for the night. It was too late in the day for them to begin the journey back to Coloma. Even so, he was planning on a happy reunion that evening. Yes, he had waited over a year for this and they were going to party tonight!  

After taking Adeline and Jr. to the hotel to freshen up and rest from their long journey, Jed went to the ship and made arrangements for Adeline’s things to be offloaded and stored for the night so that they could load them onto the wagons for the journey back to Coloma the following day. Good grief… she brought so much stuff! He was going to need a very large wagon and a good team of horses to pack it all up the mountain. Well, he consoled himself. “I guess she was coming to stay!” thought Jed.

As he returned to the hotel, he teased Adeline about perhaps she brought the whole town of Boston with her. She said she wasn’t going to leave the buffet she got from her Great Grandmother nor the Armoire his mother had given them as a wedding gift. Aside from those two pieces of furniture, she had pots, pans, dishes, linens, and other household goods. While he teased her, Jed actually was very happy to be bringing all the stuff back because for the first time since he came to California, he knew his little cabin would now be a warm inviting home. He felt like he was a man with a family now.

The next morning, Jed and family set out with the stuff piled high on the wagon and a strong team of Belgian horses to pull them up the hills. Jed’s horse Ace was tied behind and off they went. Jed and Adeline talked nonstop for the entire trip. He telling her all the stories of gold mining and she filling him in on the latest news of family and friends. Jr. slept most of the way but from time to time would sit in his momma’s lap and take in the view with wonder. His little chubby checks rosy under the mid day sun. September was lovely in California. Jed and Adeline had a wonderful trip home with good weather and good roads.

As they rounded the corner of the road they could see the tiny cabin Jed had built for them. Adeline gasped as she saw her new home for the very first time. It was wonderful. Very small to be sure, but Jed had cut the logs from strong trees and used rock where he needed to keep the wood off the dirt.

There were three lovely red barked Manzanita posts holding up the front porch. Adeline walked in the front door and looked around. It was obvious Jed had worked hard to get it all set up before she and Jed Jr. arrived.

Next to the door was the wooden sign shaped like a boot the read, “Walker’s Boot and Shoe Repair.” Adeline set Jed Jr. on the floor and jumped into Jed’s arms, smothering him with warm kisses of gratitude. Jed never did talk much, so he just enjoyed the attention in silence. In his mind though, he was greatly relieved. Things were getting better.