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CHAPTER S EVE N TEE N In the Fullness of Time ~ M. •.. [Ii N the June day in 1890 that Fred Close was killed playing polo in Sioux City, twenty-five miles away Lillias "Toogie" Cowan, the young ~ sister of Walter and James, was a houseguest at the Sioux Valley Stud Farm and soon to end ..A • her visit. She had hand fed an orphaned foal, toured the shops of Akron, made a few acquaintances, and found the Iowa locale "very amusing, the people are so friendly and funny." Since women were supposedly specialists in love matters, one useful action Toogie attempted while in Iowa was to set up her bachelor brother James with some romantic possibilities, and to that end she became an intimate of a Mrs. Hall. In James's view, nothing but mischievous nuisance resulted. He reported to his sister months later: "I am not able to give you much news of your friend Mrs. Hall. The last time I saw her she tried to be very gracious in her bow, but it was not a success. She spread the report all over the country that I was about to marry a very busch [sic] young lady who I did not even know by sight. Having traced the report to Mrs. Hall, I told her husband one day that I had done so and requested him to see that his wife contradicted it. She now denies that she ever said anything about it, so I am not any more 'fought over' than I was before."· During her June 1890 visit Lillias became better informed about the financial bind in which her brothers fO\lnd themselves. They needed her as an ally to explain to their parents why salaried jobs in the near future would be necessary for them both, and why gentleman farming did not pay. Walter wrote his sister from Akron later: "The best thing we can do is to turn the farm over to Taylor and make a few dollars ourselves on the outside."2 Soon thereafter Walter accepted a job as hired hand on a large cattle ranch in Wyoming for $300 a year plus keep. Writing to his mother he justified this ignominious move by explaining that there was "not sufficient produce to come off the farm to support the two of us.... " James was angling to be taken on by a Texas stockman, and since Taylor was perfectly capable of running the farm "as well without either of us, I don't think I was wrong in accepting the offer.... " And James confided to his brother Henry: "I really think the wisest course is to sound the cease firing and not go to a cent more expense about it. Turn the thing as it stands over to Taylor, and I believe it will pay a small interest at any rate; and if we get a good offer for it, sell."J Land all around them was going for less than what they were asking; the 218 In the Fullness 0/Time 219 economic slump had worsened. Jim Taylor, though possessing little capital, finally bought a farm, but James feared Taylor was forced too deeply into debt. In any case, Taylor's leaving meant that James was stuck more surely than ever on the Iowa farm, while Walter in Wyoming reveled in his liberation. Walter's abilities proved so useful that by October he was earning $1,800 a year, and with his friend Joe he formed a speculative new company-Cowan and Jefferson Gold Mining Company, which alarmed the Cowan parents, who feared further plunging and no monetary returns. Walter quickly detailed the "claim" nature of the stakes involved-little real money risked. The following spring the Cowans finally divested themselves of the Iowa farm, the sale accomplished 4 June 1891; a total of 3021/2 acres were exchanged for $15,300-a little better than $50 an acre. The Cowans had to accept some of their payment in city real estate in Lincoln, Nebraska. Since one purchaser's signature was notarized by a Rawlins, Wyoming, notary public, Walter's connections there probably turned up a buyer. The issue now facing them was where to locate next? In April 1892 they traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia, and decided the city was a "go ahead place," more life to it than the more sedate and longsettled Victoria, the provincial capital. James became a salaried office worker and described his new life to his...

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