Fiction: Jaudon – An American Family (a novel) [8]

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Chapter 8. Peace

1886. May 1 – A general strike begins in the United States and on May 4 escalates into “the Haymarket affair” in Chicago, which eventually wins the 8-hour workday in the U.S.
    May 8 – Pharmacist Dr. John Stith Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage that will be named “Coca-Cola.”

On the range there was peace. For the first time in years, there were no Indian raids, bandit attacks, or range wars. James had opened two toll roads across his land. The price was so low per head that even the hardest-core ranger saw no benefit in not paying it.

    James’ sister, Sara, married a lawyer in San Antonio and moved out. It was the same lawyer that had fought James in court—there was no love between the two. He hadn’t been invited to the wedding nor to their house. James told Sara she would always have a home to come back to and that was the last time they spoke.
    Rafael had two more children, both daughters. He bought land along the Rio Grande where Alejandro Cortez had the holding pens and moved his family. James gave him 50 head of cattle to start his herd. James’ house felt large and empty. He ate and drank whiskey alone. Juan’s brothers still worked the ranch. They moved into the main house that James and Rafael had shared. The longhouse was used as a bunkhouse for temporary workers who came for the roundups or odd jobs that required additional help.
    James was 37 and graying. He was also a father once more, to a little girl who went by the name of Sophie Davis. Clara, her mother, refused James’ offer to give the child his last name. James didn’t like it, but he could do nothing to change Clara’s mind.

By 1886, the political atmosphere was changing. The ugly head of racism was in full view. The once strong hand of the Union Army was gone and murder and hangings of Mexicans and Nigros alike were on the increase. James was ordered by the Texas Rangers to disarm his Mexican ranch hands and provide a list of their names. In reply, he sued the Rangers for violating the laws of Texas, which gave Mexicans the same rights as any other Texans.

    James lost in the local court and appealed to the State Supreme Court. The Governor was afraid the Court would rule against the Rangers and rescinded the order to disarm the Mexican population. After that, the Rangers gave the Circle J Ranch a wide berth.

Claude came home from college, but Ricardo stayed in New York to work as an apprentice at a major bank. Upon hearing he had a sister, Claude rode to Clara’s ranch and asked the Mexican woman who opened the door if he could see the new baby.
    She asked him to wait and went to ask Clara. “Come in. Mrs. Clara will see you now.”
    Claude stepped into the nursery, which was crowded with a crib, a changing table, and toys everywhere. Clara sat in a large rocking chair holding the baby. She smiled at Claude. “Come closer and see her.”
    He moved beside the chair and looked down on a little pink-faced, blonde-haired beauty. He extended his hand toward her and she reached for it and clamped on to his finger. “Would you like to hold her?”
    “I would love to hold her.”
    Clara stood up, still holding the child close to her breast, and asked him to take a seat in the rocker.
    Clara easied the baby into Claude’s arms. “Just make sure you support her little head. She isn’t strong enough yet to hold it up by herself.”
    Claude was in love. His little sister was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. “Mrs. Davis, as long as I live, this child will want for nothing and no harm will befall her, this I promise you!”
    “Thank you! It’s wonderful to know her big brother will be looking out for her.” Clara turned toward the door. “I’m going to help make dinner. Would you like to stay?”
    “Yes, very much so.”

Claude was an engineer and loved everything mechanical. It drew him like a magnet. He knew where the future lay – with machines. But he knew it would be a hard sell to bring his father around to that belief. But someday, ranching and farming would all benefit from the change.

    James’ influence in Austin was at an all-time low. The Republicans, who after the war controlled most of the government, were being replaced by what was being called Dixiecrats. These were Southern Democrats, with a very racist agenda. He had made a number of trips and kicked in a lot of money trying to stop the onslaught, but it was like trying to hold back a flood. On one of these trips, a friend in the State Congress told him he was changing parties and J.F. would have to figure out a way to work with the new Texans.
    That was the same trip on which James found Patches, a black-and-white Border Collie. Or, more likely, Patches found him. He had been on a night walk thinking about what kind of relationship he would have with the new masters of Texas when he felt something brush against his leg. He looked down to see a sad-looking, dirty, matted dog walking beside him. The dog walked with him for a couple of hours. James left him by himself only when he went back into the hotel.
    Coming out of the hotel after breakfast the next morning, he found the dog waiting for him. He went back in and got some food for the dog, who looked like he hadn’t eaten in days. James checked around to see if anyone knew who the dog belonged to. An old man sitting outside a general store told him it had belonged to a man who got killed by a runaway wagon. One of those automobile things had scared the horses as the man and the dog were crossing the street. The man died and the dog ran.
    James dropped Patches at the livery stable and paid to have him cleaned up. The two of them caught the train home the next day.

By 1888, there was talk of war with Spain, and once more Union Troops moved into Texas and occupied old Fort Brown, outside of Brownsville, Texas, across the river from Mexico. The fort had been abandoned at the end of the Civil War, when its last residents were the Union troops being held there as prisoners of war. The Spaniards and the Americans had a river between them, what could go wrong?
    The presence of Union troops no longer had the power it once did. The Dixiecrats were moving into the Washington government as well. Across the south, the black vote was no longer counted and after a few hangings, the Nigros didn’t bother to even show up. The KKK controlled the ballot box in the South. It was rumored that Sara’s husband was the head of the Klan in San Antonio.
    Sara’s husband’s name was Jake Butler. James felt that Butler was a hateful man full of self-righteousness. When the Civil War ended and the Mexicans living in Texas were given citizenship, there was a little-known clause in the decree that required a Mexican head-of-household to register with the federal government in order to be recorded on the tax rolls.
    Butler went to court demanding that any Mexican not so registered be deported back to Mexico, and he won, although it was being appealed and would more than likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. In the meantime, Mexicans, including the ones living on James’ ranch, were in fear of losing everything. Even Rafael was in danger.
    The two women who cared for James’ house and cooked for him were gone, and he and Patch (James had shortened the dog’s name) sat alone with a glass of whiskey. He had hoped to be having that drink with Claude, for there was much they had to talk about. He had never told Claude he was of mixed blood, and it was time he knew.

Copyright © 2019 by Ed Rogers