Rhody Jones — C.J. Petit

The first mate of the schooner, Vivienne, walked from the docks into the streets of New Orleans. He'd been dismissed by the captain after the ship had barely survived the incredible battering from a powerful hurricane.He could have signed on to another ship returning to New England, but he wanted to try something different. He wanted to make a land voyage across the Southwestern United States to California and then maybe take a ship out of San Francisco. It would be another five years before he started that long ride to California, but he never made it out of Texas when he crossed over a shallow hill and witnessed the aftermath of a Comanche raid on a small ranch.