Youth World

Chapter 21 – Departure

Today was the big day. We were about to cross the mountains, and truly kickstart the Imperial State of Cascadia! However, there were some things that had to be settled.

First of all, the numerous chiefs that inhabited the current lands of Cascadia.

But wasn't Cascadia just the camp of Fort Factoria and its immediate lands?

Not quite.

You see, as Cascadian expeditions reached many edges of the former King County, they vassalized many chiefs of the tribes in those areas and their lands became de facto Cascadian territory. These people weren't Cascadians but were technically under our protection. With our powerful military, none of these tribes dared to do anything. However, since we were about to leave, this meant that we no longer had any leverage over these tribes. Thus, I came to a solution, gathering all the tribal chiefs in Fort Factoria this morning to discuss the future of the region.

We came to an excellent solution. The Confederation of Cascadian Chiefdoms.

Currently, most of the land in the former King County were ruled by chieftains under Cascadian dominion. During the meeting, it was decided that these chiefdoms would remain fully autonomous but would be pulled into a loose alliance with a chief from one of the participating chiefdoms being named Great Chief for the year. This position would be rotated amongst the tribes indefinitely.

There were 25 chiefdoms in total that joined this Confederation. I'll list them in a quick compiled list to make things easier.

The largest and most powerful of these chiefdoms was the Chiefdom of Kent, followed in no particular order by Renton, West Bellevue, East Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Sammamish, Des Moines, West Seattle, Rainier Beach, Leschi, Queen Anne, Belltown, Covington, Maple Valley, Franklin, Snoqualmie, Carnation, Mercer Island, Auburn, Discovery Park, Issaquah, Juanita, Duvall and North Bend. Some territories would still fall directly under Cascadia's jurisdiction and would be controlled by Aidan, including Greater Duwamish, Burien, Normandy Park, Southern Bellevue, Fort Factoria, Skyway, Northern Renton, Tukwila, and White Center. Everybody was quite happy with this agreement, and this would ensure the region's stability and development in our absence, and most importantly to curb the expansion of the slaveholding Golden Legion to the south. After the first election, it was decided that the Chief of Kent Jamal Jackson would be the first Great Chief, and the entire Confederation declared itself Cascadia's eternal ally.

After that was dealt with, everybody took a lengthy break before they finally loaded the rest of their wagons and began lining up for the expedition. About ten thousand people would cross the mountains in the first wave, while five thousand would cross in the second. A further five thousand would sail there through the Puget Sound, Salish Sea, Pacific Ocean and Columbia river while the last ten thousand would either invade Vancouver Island or garrison the Cascadian holdings in King County. Currently there were probably around 250,000 people living in Cascadia proper and the 25 chieftains mentioned above, but most of them weren't part of the main group and therefore weren't crossing the mountains with us.

The first wave of people crossing the mountain consisted of three thousand soldiers from the military base and our original riflemen, accompanied by two muzzle loading and three breechloading cannons, as well as four hwacha Congreve rocket launchers and two Gatling guns. The rest of the people in the first wave were mostly construction personnel, those with farming experience and craftsmen since these people would be absolutely vital in constructing the new city of Alexanderburg. God, even saying that makes me feel like a total narcissist.

I was located at the front of the wagon train, riding my mule, while two hundred wagons, two thousand cattle, five thousand pigs and ten thousand sheep. These were all the animals that we had in our camp, and we were about to bring them all with us. Due to the sheer size of our wagon train, we could move at most 15 to 20 miles a day, so the journey as a whole would take at least a week. Soldiers were at the front and back of the wagon train to prevent anybody from getting lost, while the cavalry scouted ahead and eliminated any potential threats before the wagon train reached that location.

The current plan was to start at the former location of the zoo, head east until we ran into the Issaquah Creek, follow the east fork of the creek until we reached the Raging River. Then, we would follow the Raging River and then head east at a certain point to bump into the Lake Creek. From there, we would head northeast towards the settlement of Snoqualmie and follow the southern bank of the Snoqualmie River and its southern fork until we reached the Snoqualmie Mountain Pass. From there, we'd follow the Keechelus Lake's eastern shore and the Yakima River until we reached our destination.

Right before leaving, we had a decently sized meal to increase morale. During this journey, we couldn't consume too much food per meal, or not we'd run out before we reached our destination. We were also not going to slaughter any sheep or cattle unless it was absolutely necessary, and only limited amounts of pigs would be consumed.

At around one o' clock, after everybody had finished eating, I gave the signal to move forwards with a thundering scream, almost causing the horses to jolt in startlement. If I wasn't this loud, the people in the back of the wagon train couldn't even hear me.

"Let's march onwards to a brighter future! Giddy up!"

Pulling the reins of my mule, the animal began slowly trotting forwards towards my intended destination. The wagons in the front followed suit, and the rest of the wagon train began slowly stumbling along.

This was going to take forever. People were meandering around, and many were distracted by the flowers and other plants littering the side of the world. One girl almost got lost, but a soldier directed her back to the main group. However, this slight setback still meant that we would be able to reach our first destination, the location of the former city of Preston.

After travelling for half an hour, we arrived at a small creek which used to be called Tibbetts Creek. It was less than a foot wide, so crossing it was as easy as pie. Some of the kids even had some fun, jumping around on the small stones and skipping rocks. They were quickly ushered along by the soldiers since every extra minute spent on the road could potentially lead to danger.

Once we crossed this creek, we arrived at the settlement of Issaquah, one of the chiefdoms of the Confederation. We tried our best to go around the northern wall of the town since marching ten thousand people through the small town would be near impossible. The chief of Issaquah provided us with some water during our fifteen-minute rest outside his town. After this brief intermission, we continued heading eastwards until we finally arrived at the east fork of the Issaquah Creek.

The journey was gradually getting more difficult, since we now advanced through a valley where the highway Interstate 90 once ran through. Once we passed through the former unincorporated community of High Point, we had almost travelled for three whole hours. According to the odometer on the first wagon's wheels, which was a rag tied to the wheel that was used to count revolutions, we had travelled 6.5 miles.

We continued to follow the creek, using a compass as a guiding system. By this point, the children were getting really tired, so we had to take yet another fifteen-minute break. People were getting thirsty, but we kept pushing on. The weather was quite pleasant, so at least that went well for us. As we reached Preston, the border between the chiefdoms of Snoqualmie and Issaquah, the time was exactly 6:15PM. Even though I initially wanted to rest here, I reckoned we could probably go a bit further before finally setting up camp, so I directed everybody towards the location of the former Snoqualmie Valley Hospital. Pushing through the fatigue, with me dismounting my mule to set an example, we reached our destination at 7:34PM.

"Alright, everybody! That's it for today! Let's quickly set up camp and eat dinner!"

All the wagons were arranged around the perimeter of the intended camp to serve as a protective barrier. As this was happening, I helped to light a few fires and set up teepees for people to rest in. The animals were herded away from the camp so they could graze and drink from the nearby creek. By the time dinner was ready, it was already well past 8PM. Even though I was absolutely famished, I still served food to the hungry kids in the lunch line, refusing to eat until everybody else had done so. I had my first bite at around 9PM, and my stomach was so hungry it felt like it was being ripped open.

I quickly dumped the rest of my food into my mouth and chugged some water. Afterwards, I walked to the center of the camp, mentally preparing a speech as I approached the chatting kids. I had certainly earned their respect by walking like most of them and refusing to eat until everybody else had gotten their share.

"I would like to have a few words before we all head to sleep. I want to thank everybody for walking over eleven miles today, something that I didn't even think was remotely possible. So yeah, you've all outdone my expectations. Besides, we got everything set up in around half an hour, something equally as impressive. Each one of you should be equally proud of all you've accomplished in merely half a day. I'd like for you all to give yourselves a pat on the back."

Everybody followed suit, patting themselves on the back. Some of the less flexible ones failed to do so. I was quite flexible, being able to place both my legs behind my head. One photo of me doing so got leaked to social media, where it became quite the sensation.

"With that out of the way, I'd like to tell you all our plans for tomorrow. We have to reach at least where Weeks Falls used to be. The original waterfall has long since eroded, but a similar waterfall is located around half a mile from where the original used to be. If we can build a camp upstream from the waterfall, that'd be splendid. However, to cover such distances, we'll have to avoid the settlements of Snoqualmie and North Bend and much of our original plan, since doing so would be too time consuming. I'm done talking for the day. Does anybody have an attaboy? Somebody that did something truly special for the day?"

"I have one," Larry jumped in, "Stevie did great, since he carried an elementary schooler on his back when he got tired."

"Stevie on three! One, two, three!"

Everybody clapped three times.

"Any other attaboys?"

"I have one!" Lucas shouted, "Victoria did a good job keeping everybody on track, and she even let a kid ride on her horse once they got tired."

"That's a great example! Victoria on three! One, two, three!"

Three claps were given for Victoria's excellent behavior.

"Well, it's getting late, so we only have time for one more. One last attaboy, anyone?"

"I have one," Julius spoke up, "Let's give an attaboy for our Leader Alexander! Without him, we would have never made it this far. Alexander on three! One, two, three!"

A round of applause came from the Cascadians.

"I really appreciate that. Really, I do. You guys mean everything to me. Regarding attaboys, we'll do them tomorrow night once we set up camp near the waterfall. It's been a long day, and you all deserve some rest. Once again, good job everyone!"

Everybody immediately headed towards their quarters, either inside a wagon, out in the open or inside a teepee.. I slept out in the open to set an example, leaving my teepee to some rowdy teenagers.