This has seemed to be a very involved interview. Of course things can get that way when you are interviewing the leader of the Free World. (What, you thought that was the President of the United States. Could have been, if the U.S. had remained united. The War of Western Independence dashed those hopes). When we last left off, the Anderson Expedition has finally reached Fort Pierre.
CG: Tell me about the Fort Pierre years?
JD: They were horrible. The fort was literally falling apart around us, and there was nothing that Captain White could do about, short of performing some sort of miracle. Even the Ansdale joked that General Anderson was cursed. Our military escort was quickly depleted. 50 of our Cavalry were sent to Pembina on the Canadian border and ten horses were given to the Ansdale to sign a treaty. Captain White started designing a new fort immediately.
CG: Tell me about the Ansdale?
JD: We thought they were Sioux when we encountered a hunting party soon after our arrival. We learned they were Ansdale, a separate nation. Red Thunder, their chief, was very generous, allowing us to live among them. Graywolf, Red Thunder's fourteen year old son, took an immediate interest in us and was constantly about the fort, watching us. General Anderson made him our first official scout.
CG: But you were still a First Lieutenant with a desk job.
JD: Yes, but, then the Civil War broke out, and strange enough for a post far away from the action, the war was very good for my career.
CG: How so?
JD: When the war broke out my brother in law launched a power grab which netted him control of virtually all the territory of the West. Since the War Department was busy pulling western troops and sending them south, they failed to notice that General Anderson was replacing them with caretaker forts loyal only to him. I got sent to Pembina for my first command. It lasted a year, and Catherine stayed at what was called Ansdale City. I also got my long awaited promotion. I skipped Captain and moved directly to Major.
CG: What happened after a year?
JD: General Anderson established the Third Military District on the Milk River in Montana Territory. As soon as the garrison, named Fort Atsina after the native tribe we treated with, was established, I sent for Catherine and the children. We were there five years and then I was sent to Alaska.
CG: Fort Sitka?
JD: Correct. Catherine went back to Ansdale City for about two years while Fort Sitka got up to speed. We were originally supposed to operate covertly, and that meant no families. That changed after the incident.
CG: That was the matter between Jefferson Columbus Davis and Colchecka.
JD: And it quickly escalated from an insult to a war between the United States and three Inuit nations. It almost became a massacre on both sides. I am still amazed that it was averted. And it could have been easily averted.
CG: How so?
JD: The Ansdale are an Inuit Nation, and they, and the others, have a custom that an injured party receive a gift in payment for an insult or loss.
CG: Blackmail?
JD: Perhaps, but any payment would have been easily met by the United States. Trinkets or War. General Davis chose the latter. I have asked my sister repeatedly and she assures me that nobody as stupid as him is related to our part of the Davis clan. Soon after the incident Fort Sitka became the headquarters of the Ninth Military District. I still officially command it, though Major Graywolf is acting commander, and I lead the Republic from Reno. Catherine and I maintain a home in both locations.
(I will end it here. This part may be shorter, but I want to keep the Family side separate. Our concluding post is next time.)
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