by
Ernest Hogan
I’ve
always been curious about the Mexican War AKA the Mexican American
War. It’s the war that created the world I live in. If it hadn’t
happened, there would be no such thing as Chicanos. The American
Southwest would be Northern Mexico. We’d be living in an alternate
history, an alternate universe.
For
some reason, going to school in California, the war was barely
mentioned. Bizarre. Imagine schools in South not teaching about the
Civil War.
I’m
always on the lookout for materials about it, but they are hard to
come by.
Even
Hollywood dropped the ball on this one. Where are the movies with
John Wayne leading the Marines into Mexico City? The only mention of
this is in the Marine Hymn:
From
the Halls of Montezuma
.
. .
So
when I found The Mexican War Journal and Letters of Ralph W. Kirkham
edited
by Robert Ryal Miller, at a fantastic bargain price, I went for it.
The
book consisted of a personal journal and letters that Lieutenant
Kirkham, from Springfield, Massachusetts, wrote to his wife, Mrs.
Catherine Mix Kirkham. They were not written for publication. What
the historians call a primary source. Honest. Uncensored. You’d
need a time machine to get a closer look at the war.
Which was different from wars as we know them. Low-tech Napoleonic war left
cities mostly intact, so Kirkham enjoyed music, theater, circuses,
and museums after conquering. He was also there for an earthquake,
and climbed Popocatepetl before the end.
As
for the people:
The
Mexican women are very graceful, more so than ours; but as for being
handsome, or even pretty, it is all a mistake. Nine tenths of the
people resemble the Cherokee Indians as much as possible.
He
considered not looking white to be ugly. Most whites felt that way
back then. Many still do today.
As
for Mexican morals:
No
one could believe how low and depraved these people are, and
instances are common of men selling their wives, and sisters, and
often their mothers and daughters. The clergy, generally are very
immoral and ready to stoop to the lowest acts of villainy and
wickedness.
But
he did note that the Mexicans were fond of flowers, birds, and
paintings.
As
for the availability of good help:
.
. . servants
are not to be had at any price, and I am sorry I did not take a good
black boy with me from New Orleans.
Were
American military officers allowed to buy slaves? And take them on
military campaigns? I’m imagining John Wayne having a slave boy fix
his breakfast before a battle . . . More research is in order here.
Bullfighting
appalled him:
It
is certainly the most cruel amusement that I ever witnessed.
As
cruel as war? But then war is business, not amusement. At least it
was back then.
And
the war did take its toll:
How
many more of our brave officers and soldiers shall we lose before we
are conquerors of this miserable race, God only knows, but I hope and
pray not many.
Ah,
“this miserable race.” It does look like white supremacy, and
Manifest Destiny were the justifications for the war -- that, and the land grab.
The
United States of America did take Mexico City/Tenochtitlán,
conquering the country. I often wonder why they (or should that be
“we?”) only kept half. My theory is that it’s another race
issue: A brown majority would have changed things. President
Francisco Villa might have made Spanish the official language in the
early 20th century.
Democracy
can be a dangerous thing.
Ernest Hogan, author of High Aztech,
will be judging the Second Annual Somos en escrito Extra-Fiction Contest.
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