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(0)Ralph Moody
Prior to the Civil War, the fastest mail between the West Coast and the East took almost thirty days by stagecoach along a southern route through Texas. Some Californians feared their state would not remain in the Union, separated so far from the free states. Then businessman William Russell invested in a way to deliver mail between San Francisco and the farthest western railroad, in Saint Joseph, Missouri—across two thousand miles of mountains,
...Ralph "Little Britches" Moody at age 13 moves with his mother, Mary Emma, and 5 siblings "back East" to begin a new life. They survive their first bleak winter in Massachusetts through the help of close relatives and caring friends. Money and prospects are few, but not faith and resourcefulness. Despite their efforts they face run-ins with local authorities, hardships including broken furnaces and plumbing, and difficulty keeping a small family
...During the summer of his twelfth year, Ralph works on a cattle ranch in the shadow of Pike's Peak, earning " man's wages" of a dollar a day. Little Britches is tested against an interesting array of seasoned cowboys, who tell Ralph, 'you play the hand you draw.'