Friendly Betrayal Read online

  In truth, there is much that the U.S. owes Spanish-speaking people for its very existence. Descendants of the first citizens of Texas and the Southwest have thus wondered for a long time why mainstream historians have chosen to remove their story from the pages of U.S. history. It’s as if historians pretend Spanish Mexican pioneers never existed in what is now the greatest part of the U.S. Why the duplicity? If Spanish Mexican patriots fought for General George Washington in gaining independence, why the prejudice toward New Spain and Mexico in the building of our nation?

  Why is New England colonial history in the U.S. acceptable, but New Spain colonial history of Texas and the Southwest isn’t? Why aren’t Spanish speaking patriots in the U.S. given equal merit to Anglo heroes? Why the heavy handed Anglo Saxon ethnocentricity Walt Whitman warns us about? Seeking the answers to those questions is not easy.

  To be sure, a fair and balanced teaching of Texas history in a seamless manner from the arrival of the Spanish in 1519 and their blending with our Native American ancestors to the present is needed. For over 150 years Spanish-surnamed students have spoken Spanish as their language of choice. Naturally, they practice their centuries-old Spanish Mexican heritage in Texas and the Southwest with gusto.

  Their collective patriotism for the red, white, and blue is unquestioned. Very aptly they have demonstrated courage in the battle fields in defense of our country. Yet, they are looked at with suspicion by those who use only New England lenses to read and write U.S. history.

  One last important point. The people known as Tejano & Tejana are descendants of very brave Spanish Mexican pioneers. They founded this great place we call Texas. Thus, they are the first citizens of Texas.

  Said another way, Tejanos are not immigrants to the U.S. because their ancestors were already here when the U.S. took over half of Mexico’s sovereign land. (Of course, Tejano Native American roots go back thousands of years in America.)

  Taking a more logical approach, having ownership of Texas history long denied Texans of Spanish Mexican-descent. With a new emphasis on the roots of Texas, young Texas Hispanics of Mexican-descent will now be motivated to stay in school, attend college, graduate and become productive members of their community. Positive steps are being taken:

  •It was not until 2012 that the Tejano Monument, the first memorial to the Spanish Mexican founders of this great place we call Texas was unveiled in Austin, our state capital.

  •General Bernardo Gálvez was granted honorary U.S. citizenship for his brilliant help to General George Washington during the U.S. War of Independence.

  •The Handbook of Texas History Online has been modified to include pre-1836 people, places, and events by adding a Tejano History Online segment, etc.

  •A statue of Count José de Escandón has been unveiled at the University of Texas Rio Grande campus.

  •Historical markers are beginning to appear that recognize pre-1836 heroes and events. More is in store.

  •Last but not least, Native (First) American history has long been treated as foreign history, just as the story of Tejanos. To that end, supplementary notes are included at the end of the book further discussing the subject. Truthfully, theirs is a story that has yet to be told via their point of view.

  Although it has taken more than 160 years, the awesome efforts of early Tejano historians has been especially fruitful the last few years. Yet, there is more work to restore the lost early chapters in Texas history. The good news is that the time for inclusive history is here and that is exciting news for descendants of the founders of Texas. That is the main focus of this book.

  What follows is a probable set of early Mexico and Texas scenarios that I have arranged into a novel based on the many stories I heard from elders when I was a child.

  In that respect, this book is a prequel of “Nights of Wailing, Days of Pain (Life in 1920s South Texas)”, published in 2009, a novel I wrote featuring the fictitious Gutiérrez family of South Texas, descendants of hardy pioneers; intrepid founding settlers of Las Villas del Norte, the first European communities on both banks of the lower Rio Grande. Thus, Friendly Betrayal offers only one storyline describing how Spanish Mexican (mestizo) families from central and Northern Mexico came to be pioneers in Texas.

  Exhibit 1

  Treaty of Tordesillas

  (The Evil that Befell Native Americans)

  On July 2, 1494, Spain and Portugal divided between them what they conveniently named the “New World”, a heavily populated land discovered thousands of years earlier by First Americans, but newly revealed to sea-faring Europeans.

  Why was it named the New World? Simply, because Europeans weren’t aware it existed. As far as they were concerned, it was free for the taking. Both Spain and Portugal sought ownership, and thus the Pope settled the matter through this treaty. In his book, “History of the World”, Author J. M. Roberts writes that Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borja), one of the most controversial Renaissance popes, handled the document’s coordination.

  Specifically, all lands in a line of longitude 370 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands belonged to Spain; including Antilia (the islands visited by Columbus), and all lands west of that marker. Lands east of the boundary belonged to Portugal. (That explains why Brazil is the only country in South America that speaks Portuguese; since, that country juts out to the east of that marker.)

  In all, Pope Alexander VI issued three important documents called the Alexandrine Bulls of Donation (Inter Caetera, Eximiae Devotionis, and Dudum Siquidem). They provided additional details regarding the land dispersal.

  Consequently, the Treaty of Tordesillas is, in today’s vernacular, the “smoking gun”. It set the stage for the brutal domination of almost the entire world. On their path of conquest, Europeans destroyed entire populations and exploited countless natural resources, simply because they believed it to be their God-given right to pillage, plunder, and destroy.

  England, a Christian nation itself, first abided by the Pope’s decision. However, that quickly changed after the Protestant Reformation, when the English decided that they also wanted a share of the pie.

  By 1583, Newfoundland became England’s first overseas colony. It was the initial stepping stone positioned to eventually add northern America (today’s Canada and U.S.) to the British Empire. In all, Italian Explorer John Cabot delivered half of the lands west of the papal boundary to England.

  Yet, there was a big problem with this mercenary apportionment of America. No one bothered to invite its legitimate owners, the Native Americans, to the negotiating table. Reinforcing their will by the gun, sword, and bloody boot, Europeans declared First Americans as “heathens”. That bigoted view laid the foundation for the disdainful notion that America’s inhabitants were unworthy of living, and undeserving of land possession.

  To be sure the Continent of America was not the only European target of opportunity. With their formidable arsenal of weapons and technology, Europeans quickly subjugated diverse societies around the world, whose perceived inferiority (by European standards) was reason enough to be conquered.

  Yet, the truth tells us the opposite. Serious, wise and open-minded writers posit that as far as human advancement is concerned, the Mexica civilization in many ways was greatly superior to those of Egypt, China, and Rome. (That’s a small consolation to descendants of the conquered.)

  However, in stark contrast to America, indigenous populations in other parts of the world took control of their own destinies. For instance, in India, its people stopped the British Raj (Rule) in 1947. In China, where England occupied Hong Kong as a British Colony, the Chinese eventually chased them out of their hemisphere.

  Likewise, in the Continent of Africa, countries propelled themselves on a liberation trajectory. That process has continued into the 21st Century.

  The independence drive is not universal. For example, Hawaii represents in my view, the most famous abu
se of power by European-descent invaders. The U.S. toppled the legitimate kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands in 1893 and subsumed it into its empire. For the record, the Hawaiian people refuse to forget or give up their struggle. To this day, they still search for self-rule and restoration of their sovereign land.

  In all, the lands around the globe once subjugated by Europeans, the Asian, African, and Arabic populations have more or less reclaimed their dignity in managing their native land. They are for the most part masters of their own homelands. Not so in America.

  Indigenous American populations continue to suffer under long-standing prejudice shown by the predominant white society. With the exception of a few places in South America, most Native Americans have yet to reclaim their land.

  Sadly, advancement of indigenous people within the U.S. has the worst track record, where the mentality “they belong in reservations” still exists. Bluntly, here in the U.S. the pincers of aggressive European possession have not lost their repressive grip on the First Americans.

  At this point, two stark reminders are in order, courtesy of Author Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., from his book, “500 Nations”. They should be enough to convince the most callous skeptics and cynics to at least admit that a great European-induced injustice has been done.

  (1)“To non-Native Americans, the railroad symbolized progress and civilization… The Plains People, whose hunting grounds the iron horse invaded, understood its threat to their survival.”

  (2)In explaining the reasons why in a state of extreme anxiety the Oglala Lakota people developed the Ghost Dance ritual, Red Cloud (Mahpiya Lúta) (1822-1909): “The people were desperate from starvation – they had no hope. We felt we were mocked in our misery and had no one to speak for us… We were faint with hunger and maddened by despair. We held our dying children, and felt their little bodies tremble as their souls went out and left only a dead weight in our hands… The white men were frightened and called for soldiers. We had begged for life, and the white man thought we wanted theirs.”

  Still, provocative U.S. General Philip H. Sheridan (not particularly fond of Native Americans) ironically said this about the officially mandated injustice, “We took away their country and their means of support, broke up their mode of living, their habits of life, introduced disease and decay among them and it was for this and against this that they made war. Could anyone expect less?”

  As to First Americans being called “Indians”, in his book “1491 (New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus)”, Charles C. Mann puts it in perspective:

  “No question about it, “Indian” is a historically and inappropriate name. Probably the most accurate descriptor for the original inhabitants of America is Americans.”

  “Walk a mile in my moccasins” is no idle Native American proverb. On the contrary, this defiant adage and this book should motivate everyone to observe October 12th (Columbus Day) from a Native American viewpoint.

  Adding insult to injury, today’s so-called white “nativists” (whose roots lead to Europe) continue to persecute brown-skinned Native Americans and Mexican-descent citizens by treating them as foreigners in their own homeland.

  Confined to reservations, Native Americans are still disrespected as a matter of policy. As if their dignity has not suffered enough, almost daily incidents abound that add to the long list of despicable acts taken against the original deed holders to this land we call America. The on-going debate involving the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe fighting for their rights is only one such example.

  In summary, it’s time to expose the absurd claim of intolerant European-descent “nativists” as a baseless contention, built on a false title to America promoted by a questionable document written without the consent of the land’s owners. Sadly for the First Americans and their descendants, the “Treaty of Tordesillas” is indeed the greatest evil that befell their people.

  Exhibit 2

  Native Americans in Texas

  Exhibit 3

  Six Grandfathers Mountain

  Exhibit 4

  The Seven Sisters of Texas

  PART I

  Chapter 1

  “We are all God’s Children”

  Señorita Miranda lay quietly on the bare ground. An extremely inquisitive child, she was lying prone in a military scout posture. Mesmerized by the activities below the hill, she tried hard not to make a sound. She even tried to control her breathing, so as not to attract attention.

  At the moment, the only one making her efforts difficult was an agitated mockingbird, intent on protecting her nest nearby. Several times, the angry bird swooped down towards her in an attack manner. If only the annoying bird would cooperate, she wished.

  Regardless, she was observing a small group of natives camped under a huge oak tree just below the berm that she now considered her very own observation post. She was sure that the Indios were not aware of her presence. Although, she had seen several of them in town, she had not been allowed to get near them, much less talk to them.

  Admonished by her mother that they were savages and that she should avoid them altogether, she had obeyed her mother. However, her curiosity had gotten the best of her. It was now a challenge; a quest. She would keep her word to her mother, but she would also get to know the natives better.

  Her sense of adventure knew no bounds. In fact, for only the second time, she had ventured the farthest she had ever been from town to see them in their natural state. In the wild and vivid land of South Texas, without a white man having to tell them what to do, they seem to act just like her own people. It had happened quite by accident.

  A few days before, she had picked this particular vantage point as her private getaway to observe cloud formations and eagles soaring high in the heavens. This was her time to daydream about what lay ahead in this strange land that was to be her new home so far away from her old casa in Zacatecas.

  She was close enough to hear them speak, but could not understand what they were saying. At times she heard Spanish words, and at other times, she heard words unfamiliar to her. At least one exchange she saw appeared to be a spat between two members of the group. She got the urge to yell out, but she was smarter than that. It had been drilled into her upon arriving at the villa not to associate with the local inhabitants because they were savages.

  Stories abounded of young white children who had been abducted, or simply disappeared, never to be seen again. Others had just walked in to their villages after many years in captivity. Now, observing them firsthand, she believed that the word “savage” was quite inappropriate.

  They were different, of course, but other than their scant dress, she didn’t think they were savages. A mountain lion is savage she thought; a bear is savage, but none of God’s people had fangs or claws. How could they be considered savages? They walked on two feet, just as she did. Wild animals were mindless, heartless creatures with the sole purpose of killing to survive.

  In her opinion, these so called savages communicated with each other and seemed to have feelings, just as her people did. She was puzzled. She still wanted to know why they were held in low regard. Why had white people taken the right to call others inferior as if they were perfect human beings?

  She had met enough whites to know that some of them weren’t very nice people. Her uncle in Zacatecas was a good example. Intently studying the strangers, a hand on her shoulder petrified her. She froze in place and slowly turned her head.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you, señorita”, the young girl said.

  “How did you know I was here?”

  “The sinsonte (mockingbird) protecting its territory gave you away. But, don’t worry. I am the only one who noticed it. I got curious and came to investigate.” The small girl responded as she sat on a large boulder nearby. She motioned to Miranda to sit by her.

  “Are you Comanches? I mean are you dangerous?” Miranda asked, as she cautiously joined her new
found friend.

  “No, we are not dangerous, but we are an odd lot. My two brothers and I are Coahuilteca. Two are Comanche trying to make their way back to their village. One is Apache. Our other friend says he has traveled far and is of the Delaware people. He comes from far away in the east where the sun rises.

  When his tribe lost their lands to the white men, his father told him to head toward the sunset as far and as fast as he could to escape them. Even though he didn’t want to, he obeyed. He doesn’t know what became of his family. He has sworn to someday go back and find them. When we met him, he was tired, hungry, and feverish.

  So, my brothers and I gave him the little of what we had and nourished him back to health. Looking toward heaven, she sighed “He nearly died on us, but the Almighty doesn’t want him just yet”.

  Anyway, we have made him a Coahuilteca. That makes seven of us. You know, Señorita, there is strength in numbers.

  “My older brother says that we are better able to protect our extended group from both mineros (miners) and wild animals. In my way of thinking, one doesn’t know which is more devilish of the two.

  Believe me, we mean you no harm. Only your people call us dangerous, because they don’t know if allowed to, we mind our own business, the way we always have. We spend most of our lives looking for food and shelter. To survive, we must get along with each other and protect what’s around us, since that is what gives us what we need, don’t you think? After all, we are all God’s children.”

  “My, how grown up you sound and how well you know the Spanish language.” asked Miranda.