John Ringo, King of the Cowboys: His Life and Times from the Hoo Doo War to Tombstone, Second Edition

Chapter 4. "I pray God we may get along safely"

25 4 C H A P T E R “I pray God we may get along safely” MOST WRITERS BEGIN JOHN RINGO’S LIFE during 1864 using Mary Ringo’s journal, kept during their trip to California. It was originally transcribed by Mattie Ringo in 1942. Only three months after she finished it, Mattie died, and another fourteen years passed before her children published a printed version of her transcript in limited edition.1 In 1989 the journal was first published commercially and made available for researchers.2 Unfortunately however, it has been used indiscriminately as “evidence ” for predetermined agendas. Using the journal as his authority, one writer suggests the document indicates Mary was neither “given to thoughtful observations and effusions” nor prone to either introspection or analysis, adding that her “lack of grammatical skills leads to the conclusion that she lacked the skills necessary for clarification of her thoughts.”3 It is a harsh judgment, but is the journal alone, as printed by grandson Frank Cushing, adequate for this determination considering the circumstances under which it was written? Dr. William K. Hall had access to the diary in 1970. Hall insightfully writes, “I find the diary quite interesting although a bit laconic. But when you think back to the conditions under which it was written—the extreme 26 JOHN RINGO, KING OF THE COWBOYS Mary Peters Ringo. Courtesy author’s collection. hardships and the intense fatigue the poor woman must have suffered you are amazed she had the courage at the end of the day to write anything at all.”4 A note in the journal provides further insight. “The contents of this ‘Journal of Mrs. Mary Ringo’ was taken from a copy of the original manuscript which has become quite illegible over the past ninetytwo years. We have followed the original spelling, punctuation and capitalization.”5 If the original journal was “quite illegible” in 1956, it doubtless was already quite faded when Mattie transcribed it in 1942. Combined with Mattie’s failing eyesight, this could contribute to irregularities of grammar. “I pray God we may get along safely” 27 Obviously Mary kept the journal for her own pleasure. When she wrote it is unlikely she considered that historical researchers would be interested in her family. The journal was intended as a memory jogger for her letters home and for her own amusement. Mary also had five children, two of them less than five years old, was pregnant with a sixth, and had to maintain a family on the trail. It is a wonder that she managed to keep a journal at all. The family left Liberty on May 18, 1864. Mattie recalled: “We had two large covered wagons, one drawn by oxen and one by mules, we brought a lot of things, a large bed and dresser, a number of heavy books besides all the things necessary for a long trip.”6 That the family needed two wagons, one of which carried “heavy books” does not indicate poverty or illiteracy. Many families had far less. Mary recorded their departure with obvious sadness. “Left my family and started on my long trip across the plains, went 10 miles, had some trouble with the oxen and camped for the night and here I took my first lesson in camp life, cooked my supper and went to bed but couldn’t sleep until after the chickens crowed for day and after a short nap I awoke.”7 On May 19 they reached Leavenworth, Kansas. Mary reports that “the children have the pleasure of seeing a steamboat.” After crossing the river, they purchased supplies in town. John was driving the oxen. Here a “gentleman by the name of Owen drives the mules up in the city for me while Mr. Ringo helps Johnny with the oxen here.” The following day the Tipton, “Cirby,” [sic: Kirby] and “Dr. Moors” families joined the Ringos in Leavenworth.8 One of the Tiptons’ wheels broke and the party stopped to repair it. Mary’s entries for the next several days record little more than the weather and distance traveled. On June 1, rain forced the train to stop. Mary noted that the “gentlemen went fishing and caught a great many fish.” The company spent the evening listening to some of the travelers playing their violins. Six days later, on June 7, 1864, the train experienced its initial brush with sudden, violent death: “Today...