Journal of a Cowboy
The Monroe Doctrine leaves both men disquieted
As the two French cowhands huddled up to the bonfire, Jean-Luc handed Jacques Duval a tin cup of hot chamomile tea. It was an enameled pewter cup. He had found the chamomile plants along the trail that they were blazing, surprised that neither the bison nor the starving cattle had eaten them. He explained to Jean-Luc that local folk referred to the plant as “manzanilla” because when it was brewed, its tea tasted rather like the essence of apples.
Jacques received it gratefully, because it might help him ward off the evening chill. Jean-Luc was rather silent and he seemed to be preoccupied with something on his mind. Jacques stroked his chin, gazing over at the other horseman. He asked him: “What’s on your mind this evening, mon ami?”
“I was just thinking that, even despite all of the hardships along the trail, you and I are still very blessed indeed,” replied Jean-Luc. “People and animals all live and die, all at the mercy of Divine Providence. The United States are slowly expanding with many growing pains, but we can never surmise what will happen to us from sunrise to sunset. It never ever even crossed our minds that as soon as we arrived in the United States, that we could have been expulsed from here by order of the government itself,” JeanLuc replied.
“Come again?” Jacques Duval said, pausing in mid-slurp from his teacup. “What have you heard? Is there some trouble brewing on the horizon?”
“It is nothing that has just started,” Jean-Luc said. “It has been going on for a few years.
It was outlined in a speech to Congress in 1823. It was a law named after President James Monroe and it was a direct warning to all European powers that no further attempt to colonize or settle the United States would be allowed or tolerated. They wanted no military interference in the Western Hemisphere coming from any European Nation. The United States would view such an act as a potentially hostile move on their part.”
“You and I aren’t European powers,” Jacques Duval smiled over to him.
“The American Congress might see us as potential threats to The Monroe Doctrine,” responded Jean-Luc. “A young nation can imagine spies coming from anywhere that might try to undermine the stability of the emerging country.”
“Who could possibly suspect a couple of ole cowhands, such as us, of trying to overthrow a government?” Jacques Duval wondered out loud.
“England, Spain and France were all trying to get their clutches into Mexico,” Jean-Luc countered. “A Hapsburg Emperor named
Maximillian and his Empress, Carlotta, were trying to ‘Frenchify’ Mexico. They even moved into Chapultepec Castle there. The United States of America was trying to recover from its own Civil War and, thus, the Monroe Doctrine took political precedence over all else.”
The discussion about The Monroe Doctrine left both men with a sense of foreboding. They wrapped themselves in their tarp blankets and turned on their sides, somewhat disquieted. In the darkness, Jean-Luc could hear a muffled whispering. He listened carefully to the obscure words: “Notre Père, qui es aux cieux, que ton nom soit sanctifié. Que ton règne vienne. Que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel. Donne-vous aujourd’hui notre pain cotidien. Pardonne-nous nos offenses, ainsi que nous pardonnons aussi à ceux qui nous ont offensés et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation, mais délivre-nous du mal. Ainsi soit-il.”
Jean-Luc drifted off to sleep more at peace now. He had recognized the words of “The Lord’s Prayer” — in French, just as his mother had taught him when he was little.