This story was written for my grandson, who
loves Little Joe. When we went to the Bonanza
convention in 2002, he was intent on finding some gold in “them thar hills”.!
Nick’s Gold Story
By Grammagoose
February 2002
Once upon a time
there was a boy named Little Joe Cartwright. Little Joe was seven years old and
in the first grade at school. He lived with his father and two older brothers
on a big ranch called the Ponderosa. The ranch was in the western part of the
Some people, called prospectors, found gold near Little Joe’s ranch. Later they found silver. Other people found out about it and pretty soon, there were hundreds of people, all looking for the riches.
So many people came, a town grew up
called
Little Joe’s father
did not come to
One day Little Joe was playing in the front of his house. He was pretending to be a pirate. He climbed up into a big tree and crawled out onto one of the limbs. While he was up there, he heard his father and oldest brother come out of the house. They were talking and Little Joe listened to what they were saying.
“I’m worried, Adam. I am not sure we have enough money to pay all the bills this month. I thought we would get more money for those horses we just sold,” said Ben Cartwright.
Adam stopped and looked at his father. “Well, I could earn some extra money by working at Mr. Pott’s general store for awhile.”
Little Joe watched as his father put his arm around his big brother and the two walked across the yard. And even though he stayed very quiet, he couldn’t hear what else they were saying as they disappeared into the barn. He sat high up in the leafy green tree and thought about what he had just heard. Maybe there was a way he could help.
All the rest of the day, Little Joe thought about how he could get some more money for his family. At dinner time, he was thinking so much, he didn’t hear his father.
“Joseph! Did you hear me? I asked you what you did today.” Ben Cartwright spoke loudly, as his youngest son seemed to be ignoring him.
“Huh?” asked Little Joe.
Joe’s big brother, Hoss, stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth and said, “Hey, little brother, get the cotton out of your ears.” And then he laughed.
Little Joe made a face at Hoss and Pa told Hoss not to talk with his mouth full.
Joe’s oldest brother spoke. “I saw the rope tied to the tree out front. What were you doing, Joe? Pretending?”
Little Joe flashed a big grin. “Yeah, I was. I was bein’ a pirate. I was bein’ Layfete and I was killin’ all the bad pirates. They were swarmin’ the ship and I had ta kick ‘em all in the face and push ‘em in the sea with my sword. Then the sharks ate ‘em all up. ‘Course my sword got all bloody, so’s……”
Joe’s story was cut short as his father interrupted. “That’s enough Joseph. Where do you get these outlandish ideas?”
Adam smiled sheepishly as Little Joe announced, “Adam read it to me in a book!”
Ben grimaced and suggested to Adam that he find more suitable reading material for his young brother.
Every night when Little Joe went to bed, somebody would read him a story. His favorite ones were about pirates and sword fights. Tonight it was Adam’s turn to read.
“Sorry, little
brother. Tonight we have to read something else. No pirates. I promised
While Little
Joe slept, he had a dream. He dreamed that he dug a hole into a mountain, and
found lots and lots of shiny gold. In his dream, he put the gold into a red
wagon and pulled it all the way to
“Come on, Short-Shanks, it’s time to get up.” It was Hoss and he was pulling the blankets off of Little Joe.
“Go away, Hoss. I’m havin’ a good dream. I don’t wanna get up.” Little Joe spoke in a whiny way.
But Hoss would not go away. “Pa says you have ta get up for church. Now.”
When Little Joe heard his father’s name, he decided he had better get up. He knew that Pa could really yell loud if you didn’t do what you were supposed to do.
At church, the preacher talked for a long time. Joe was not sure what he was talking about, but there were a lot of bad words. He wondered why it was okay for the preacher to say bad words. If Pa heard him or his brothers say any of these words, they would be in really big trouble.
After awhile,
Little Joe began to think about his dream. He wished it were true, because then
his father would have enough money. He knew that gold was found all the time in
the hills near his home. He began to wonder about looking for gold. He would
have to look away from home. Pa wouldn’t let any gold huntin’ people dig on the
Ponderosa. He said he would shoot them on the spot and Joe didn’t want his Pa
to shoot him. He would also need a shovel and a pick-axe. He didn’t think he
would need his red wagon, like in the dream. He could carry the gold in a
saddle bag attached to his horse, Paint. He figured he would also need to take
along some biscuits and a canteen of water. He wasn’t sure how long it would
take to find lots of gold and he didn’t want to get hungry. He smiled as he
planned the trip in his head. For sure he wouldn’t tell Hoss or Adam. They
would just tattle to
“Joseph! Stand up!” Pa grabbed Little Joe’s elbow and pulled him off the bench seat. While Joe wasn’t listening, the sermon ended and everybody was singing a hymn. Pa gave Little Joe a stern look, so the boy pretended to sing.
On Monday, Hoss
and Little Joe went to school. They rode their horses to a little red school
house, just outside
As they rode down the dusty trail to town, Hoss and Joe talked. “Joe, today, me and Casey are gonna shoot marbles after school. So’s, you gotta stay in the school yard and wait for me.”
Joe looked at Hoss and scowled. “You can’t do that. Pa says we gotta go home after school and do our chores. You ain’t allowed to do that.”
“Shut up, Little Joe. I can do whatever I want. Pa ain’t gonna know less you tell ‘em. Just stay in the school yard and play. And you better do what I say, or I’ll pound ya’ good.”
“Don’t be such a big shot, Hoss. Just ‘cause the older kids let ya’ play with ‘em, it don’t mean nuthin’.” Joe was hurt and angry.
But at the end of the day, Hoss did as he had planned. Joe was left alone in the school yard. He sat on the swing and sulked. Then he had an idea. He would do something while he waited. He would go look for gold.
Little Joe slipped off the swing seat and moved silently toward the stable where Paint was patiently waiting. On the far side of the play yard, Hoss never looked up from his marble game. As Paint trotted away, down the lane behind the school, Joe grinned with excitement.
“Golly, Paint,
it’s just you and me, girl.” Joe looked around as he entered the main street of
“Paint, I gotta borrow a pick-ax from the store. I don’t got any money. Pa’s not gonna like that, is he? Well, he won’t care after I get millions and millions of dollars. Then I can buy all the picks in town!!”
Feeling better about his decision, Little Joe boldly marched into the general store. Nobody even looked at him. He was so short, nobody noticed him as he tried to put the pick-ax under his jacket. Before he knew it, Joe was out the door and quickly riding Paint out the other end of town.
After awhile, Joe pulled Paint to a stop. He had reached the mining area, the place where miners crawled the hills, looking for their fortune. All the people were sweaty and covered in dirt. Everywhere Joe looked, he could see men carrying buckets and shovels, digging in the hillsides and swinging their pick-axes. The men were so busy, they never noticed the small boy on a black and white Pinto pony ride by them.
“This is the spot, Paint. Let’s dig right here. I don’t think those gold diggin’ people can see us very good over on this side of the hill.”
As Joe got off his horse and unpacked his pick axe, he continued to talk to Paint. “Look, girl, you just stay right nearby. There’s some grass over there. I’m just gonna’ climb a little ways up the side of this hill. Okay?”
Paint just whinnied and bent her head down to search for blades of green grass.
Joe began to climb up the hill. As he climbed, he looked around for just the right spot to start digging. He wasn’t sure what the right spot would look like, but he was sure he would know it when he saw it.
As Joe searched, the sun started its afternoon journey down the western sky. Finally, the boy found an outcropping of rocks that just seemed right. Joe took his axe and began pounding on the rocks and the dirt. To his surprise, some of the material fell away and revealed a small opening in the hillside. A rush of cool air hit Joe’s face as he bent low to examine what he had found.
To nobody in particular, Joe let out a yell, “Yee Haw! This is a cave! There’s always gold in a cave! This is gonna’ be easy!”
Joe began to pick away at the dirt and rock around the opening in the hillside. Slowly it grew until Joe could just about squeeze his head inside. It was pretty dark in there, and just a little scary. So Joe decided to use the pick-axe to make the hole bigger. It was hard work and sweat began to roll down his increasingly dirty face. Finally, the hole was big enough for Joe to fit his entire body. He scrambled up and crawled in on his hands and knees. He could see a little way inside, but mostly all he could see was darkness. However, the walls did seem to sparkle and held some promise.
He sat down just inside the opening of the cave and turned around to face the outside. As he looked out, he bit his lip. “Darn! It’s gettin’ dark. Pa’s gonna’ be mad at me for not stayin’ with Hoss.”
With a big sigh, Joe realized he had spent a little too long digging for gold. He climbed out of the hole and covered up the cave entrance with branches from the nearby bushes. Then, he sat on his bottom and slid back down the hillside. He would have to return another time to continue the gold digging.
Little Joe almost reached the level ground, when his left boot slid between some large rocks. His ankle twisted and he felt a sharp pain. Little Joe couldn’t believe it. His boot was stuck and no matter what he tried, it would not budge. It was lodged between two rocks and his ankle hurt terribly.
Joe called for Paint. “Paint! Where are ya’ girl? I need you. I’m stuck !”
But Paint did not come to him. Little Joe looked around the area and could not find his horse. It was getting darker, Joe was worried. What was he going to do? He was stuck to the ground, his ankle hurt and Paint was gone. Tears started to fall from his big hazel green eyes. Joe thought about Hoss and Adam and Pa and Hop Sing. He wondered if they were eating dinner. He wondered if they missed him.
Little Joe didn’t know it, but he was being missed very much. When Hoss was done playing marbles, he could not find his little brother. He searched around the school yard and asked about Joe in town. Nobody had seen his brother. After awhile, he decided that Little Joe had probably gone home by himself, so he went home, too. Hoss knew that Pa would be very angry. Hoss was supposed to take care of his little brother, not lose him.
When Hoss got home, he found that Little Joe was not there, either. Pa and Adam were very worried. They talked about where the boy might have gone, but nobody knew for sure. So Mr. Cartwright gathered the ranch hands together. They made a plan to search the land between the school house and the ranch. They would meet at Sheriff Coffee’s jail house in the morning. All night long, men searched for Little Joe. They called his name and shined lanterns in the dark. But they didn’t know that Little Joe had gone to the gold and silver digging area, so they didn’t find him.
As it got later and darker, Little Joe became very afraid. It was cold and all he had was his jacket. He couldn’t see in the dark and there were scary sounds. He heard a screeching owl and a coyote howling. Sometimes he thought he heard rustling noises in the bushes. His foot was hurting more and more and all he could do was lean against a nearby rock. Little Joe wished so much that his father and brothers would come and find him. He wanted to go home. He didn’t care about the gold anymore, he just wanted his family.
In the morning, when the men gathered at the Sheriff’s jail, they were tired and cold. Mr. Cartwright was very upset. He was worried about his youngest son.
“Where could he have gone? What happened to him? There are so many dangers. We have to find him.” Mr. Cartwright looked like he might cry.
Just then, Hoss came running into Sheriff Coffee’s jail. “Pa! Adam! Come outside and look! I just seen Little Joe’s pony!”
“What?” yelled Mr. Cartwright.
“Where?” shouted Adam.
The three Cartwrights ran out the door with the sheriff following close behind. What they saw was a couple of scruffy looking gold diggers tying Paint to the hitching post in front of the saloon. They ran toward the men.
“Where did you find this pony?” asked Mr. Cartwright in a very angry way.
“Hey, we didn’t steal her, if that’s what yer thinkin’!” replied one of the miners.
“Well, that there pony don’t belong to ya,” shouted Hoss.
“Quiet son,” said Ben Cartwright. “Mister, where did you find this pony? It belongs to my little boy and he has been missing all night.”
The other miner stepped forward. “Golly. We didn’t know that. We found it over by the gold diggin’ hills. Foller us and we’ll show you!”
“I’ll get our horses!” shouted Adam.
Soon, the Cartwrights, the sheriff and the two miners where riding out of town.
Little Joe didn’t rest much during the night. It was hard to get comfortable. He was cold and the night sounds kept him on edge. He was too scared to cry. As the sun came up, he began to feel more hopeful. At least he could see around him and the sun felt warm.
“Please
All the way to the digging fields, Mr. Cartwright and the others, searched around. They called out, “Little Joe! Little Joe!”
When they reached the hills, they saw many men swarming over the ground. They all carried shovels, pick-axes and buckets. Mr. Cartwright asked about his son, but the miners had not seen Little Joe.
“He’s not here! Are you two sure this is where you found the pony?” Ben glared at the two men who had led them to this spot.
“We ain’t liars! We just found this animal grazin’ down there, by that clump of trees.”
“What’s on the other side of those trees?” asked Adam.
“Just more hills. Those hills are kind of rocky, though. Most miners don’t like diggin’ over there,” replied the scruffy man.
“Pa, let’s look.”
“Adam, I’m on my way.”
The men nudged their mounts forward, carefully picking their way between the boulders strewn across the ground.
Little Joe, once
again, tried to move the rocks holding his foot in place. But they were too
heavy and he gave up in despair. He was about to start crying again, when he
heard the sound of horses. He closed his eyes and whispered, “Please, please,
let it be
When he opened his eyes, his prayer had been answered. There was Pa and Hoss and Adam and even Sheriff Coffee.
“Pa! I’m over here! Help me!” shouted Little Joe.
In a flash, Mr. Cartwright was off his horse and at his little boy’s side. “Joseph! Son, we have been so worried. What are you doing here?”
Little Joe
grabbed hold of his father and hugged him tightly. He began to sob, “Oh,
Ben Cartwright gently stroked the side of his child’s face and he looked into his eyes. “It’s alright now son. You’re safe.”
Then, he looked down at Joe’s foot, and saw that it was, indeed, trapped between two boulders. “Hoss! Adam! Come over here! We need to move these rocks!”
The boys worked quickly to move the rocks.
“Ouch! Ouch!” cried Little Joe.
Ben bent down to examine his son’s foot and then carefully lifted him into his arms.
“Joseph, we need to take off your boot and see why you are in pain.” Little Joe’s father carried him a short distance, to a flat rock, where he sat down with Joe in his lap. Adam tried to remove the boot, but the boy began to cry out in pain.
“I’m going to
have to cut his boot away,
“That’s okay, son. We can always buy new boots,” replied Mr. Cartwright.
As Adam worked, it hurt, but Little Joe tried to be brave. Hoss tried to make him feel better.
“I shoulda’ never left ya’ alone, punkin’. I’m sorry”, said Hoss.
Mr. Cartwright gave Hoss a dark look and Hoss knew he was in trouble. There would be consequences for leaving his little brother alone, while he played marbles after school. Of that, he was sure.
When the boot finally fell away, Adam gently pulled off Joe’s sock. What they saw was a very swollen, black and blue ankle. It looked quite painful and Little Joe’s cries confirmed that it hurt.
“Shhh, Joe. It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now and we’ll soon make your ankle feel better.” Little Joe’s father cradled his son in his arms.
“Boys, help me get your brother up on my horse. I am taking him to Doctor Martin’s office.” Even though Little Joe hated to see the doctor, he was too tired and in too much pain to argue.
Several hours later, Joe was safely tucked into his own bed. The doctor had bandaged his leg from his knee to his toes. It wasn’t broken, but he did have a bad sprain. The instructions were to keep the child in bed for several days. And keep him off his foot for several weeks. It would take time, but Joe would once again be running around as if nothing had happened.
Mr. Cartwright tucked the blankets around his son and sat down on the edge of the bed to talk. “Son, tell me again, why you were in the gold hills. Did it have anything to do with the pick-axe Hoss found?”
Little Joe was very sleepy, but he wanted to answer his father. “Pa, I heard you tell Adam that we didn’t have enough money. I wanted to get you some gold. Then you wouldn’t have to worry anymore.” In a much quieter voice he said, “And I borrowed the pick-ax from the store. I’m sorry.”
Joe’s father frowned and pushed back his son’s curls.
“We’ll talk about borrowing things, tomorrow.”
Then, he planted a big kiss on his boy’s forehead.
“Joseph, don’t you know that you are far more important to me than gold? You did a very dangerous thing. What if we didn’t find you? What if you were hurt worse? If I didn’t have you, Little Joe, I would be very sad. Gold and money aren’t nearly as important to me, as you and Hoss and Adam.”
“But Pa, you told Adam you didn’t have enough money for all the bills.”
Joe’s father remembered the conversation he had had with Adam earlier in the week. He wondered how Little Joe had heard. “Son, I don’t want you to worry about paying bills. You leave that to grown-ups. And I don’t want you eves dropping on other people’s conversations.”
Little Joe watched his father’s face become serious and he knew that Pa really meant it.
“I’m sorry I
caused so much trouble,
His father smiled knowingly and again, kissed Joe on the forehead. “Joseph, you are a little boy and fathers always worry about their little boys. Now go to sleep and we’ll talk more when you wake-up. Good-night.”
Little Joe fell asleep and was soon dreaming. In his dream he was crawling through a cave with walls that glittered with gold. There was a smile on the little boy’s face as he slept.
Ben Cartwright watched his son sleeping and thought about how precious he was. He saw the smile spread across Joe’s face. “I hope he is having a good dream.” Then Joe’s father yawned and stood up. He was tired, too, and needed a nap. Mr. Cartwright was happy. All his sons were safe and that was what was most important.
The End?