8/3/08
By RICK PLUMLEE
McClatchy Newspapers

WICHITA, Kan. --

Fortunately, one of Esau Smith's two horses died right there in Pawnee County in the 1870s.

Otherwise, Smith and his family would have kept pushing on with the wagon train. One horse won't take you very far, so they decided to plant their roots in western Kansas.

"I was always glad they didn't keep going," said Tom Smith, Esau's great grandson. "We might all be living in southeastern Colorado now."

Or maybe even Denver. Imagine that. Christian Smith - Esau's great-great grandson - might have grown up a soft city kid instead of a disciplined, hard- working farmer's son.