Not because marriage depended on money.
Because he wanted his future wife to enter their life together knowing that her father's home belonged to her, not to a banker looking for a way to profit from her fear.
During the final week of November, he sold two healthy breeding animals at a fair price and added the proceeds to his savings.
He also postponed several nonessential improvements at his own ranch.
He counted the money carefully.
It would leave him little financial cushion for the coming winter.
He understood the risk.
But his buildings were sound.
His remaining cattle were healthy.
And he had enough feed stored to manage the season if the weather was not unusually severe.
He wasn't sacrificing the animals' welfare or gambling money he needed for immediate obligations.
He was using savings he had intended for personal improvements.
The woman knew he was managing his ranch accounts.
She did not know he had set aside almost all his available cash for the mortgage payoff.
He wanted to tell her.
Several times, he nearly did.
But he feared she would refuse before he could explain that the money came with no claim on her property.
He convinced himself that showing her the completed documents would be easier.
It was a mistake.
A loving one, perhaps.
But still a mistake.
He would understand that only after finding her crying in her wedding dress.
Two days before the ceremony, the attorney finally obtained a written payoff calculation based on the mortgage documents and the payments supported by the receipts.
The amount was a little over two hundred dollars.
The rancher had enough.
But the banker refused to accept the calculation immediately.
He claimed the matter required final approval from another official and instructed the attorney to return on the morning of the wedding.
The rancher suspected another delay.
The attorney agreed.
They prepared everything necessary to document the tender of payment and, if accepted, obtain the bank's signed satisfaction of the mortgage.
They also arranged for the county records concerning the woman's inheritance to be finalized through the estate documentation already on file.
The plan was straightforward.
Ride to town before dawn.
Meet the attorney.
Resolve the bank account.
Record the documents.
Return before the ceremony.
The rancher calculated the travel time carefully.
Under ordinary conditions, he could complete the journey and return with hours to spare.