The Rangers Are Coming

by Phil Walker

  He went through the very same process of learning about the Grand Conspiracy from Arcadia, who’s memory was now regarded even more highly by the public as the Mother of America. His shock was significantly more profound than Taylor’s, and his introduction to a living, breathing and unchanged Arcadia almost caused Gallagher to faint. Taylor enjoyed the entire scene immensely, just as Arcadia said he would.

  Gallagher went through the same extensive briefing and the viewing of the Master History video. So many things had changed, or never happened because of the 1770 intervention, that Gallagher had a hard time believing that the leaders of the country he loved had behaved in such foolish ways. Nevertheless, he was fully prepared to accept the actual nature of the United States as a clear and vast improvement.

  The time had come for the United States to unveil its new contribution to the world. A press release with lots of maps, high quality color pictures, and schematics of the canal was prepared by Gallagher, and approved by the President and released to the world’s newspapers, which did not have the capability of printing the color pictures, but could print the maps and the carefully drawn rendering of the canal. Taylor made sure his ambassadors delivered the full packet of photos and details of how the canal could be used to the head of every country in Europe and Asia.

  The announcement created a global sensation. The British redoubled their efforts to build the Suez Canal and were fully aware the American effort was appreciably more difficult. Nevertheless, they congratulated President Taylor along with the other leaders of the community of nations. A fleet of ships about to depart from Europe to Asia and vice-versa, changed their sailing plans immediately and were grateful for not having to face the difficult passage around the South American horn, and the considerably shortened time to reach ports in China and other places along the Pacific Rim. They found the fees for using the canal were high, but very reasonable compared to the extra time it took to make the longer voyage.

  Once more, the mystery and wonder of what was going on in the United States became the subject of speculation in every quarter from the head of government offices to the local pubs. The world got so many things from America…high quality goods of all kinds and at prices, no country in the world could match.

  The anecdotal stories that came back from the crews of the trading ships that sailed into the ports of America were often scoffed at. The idea that you could travel the length of New York city in an underground train; or that none of the buildings were made of wood, but were actually built with stone and steel; or that the streets were all paved with a dark, hard surface; or that there were lights burning without fire along every street and inside all the buildings, were generally discounted in the same category as sea monsters. If the people who were laughing only knew, the sailors were just seeing the tip of the iceberg.

  As one of his last official acts in office, Henry Taylor presided over the official opening of the Panama Canal and the passage of the first ship, a large new American freighter. As Arcadia reminded him, “Make the first ship a freighter, not a warship. The symbol we want to convey is strength in peace, not war.” Taylor thought that was very sound advice. A long line of ships was waiting to pay their money and sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean in 20 hours, instead of two months.

  38

  The Great State of Sioux, United States

  Arcadia’s return to the land of the Sioux nation in 1844 was much different than her last visit in 1774. In that visit, Arcadia came to save the Native Americans. On this visit, she came to celebrate them. On her first visit, she had descended from the air as the Spirit Mother. On this visit, she stepped off the train at the modern railroad station in Rapid City. When she had come before, she was wearing her ceremonial silver/white dress. This time she had on a pair of jeans and short sleeved polo shirt.

  The last time the Lakota had quivered in fear, this time they came forward with smiles and hugs. Arcadia greeted the Governor of Sioux in the native Lakota language. He laughed and responded in the same manner saying, “It’s so gracious of you to return with the words of our heritage on your lips.”

  Arcadia laughed too, and said in English, “It’s been so long since I learned Lakota, I was afraid I would mess it up.”

  “You were perfect, Madam Arcadia,” said Governor Adam Blackthorn, also in English.

  “Please, just Arcadia, and no Spirit Mother or any other ancient honorific,” she laughed.

  “You are most welcome,” said the Governor, “when you called to say you would visit us while everyone else was preoccupied in Panama, we were honored.”

  “I had to make an inspection visit to make sure you guys are not causing trouble on the reservation.”

  “What a thing to say,” groaned the Governor, “but I have read the history that no longer exists, and am happy to say we are all doing quite well and I haven’t lifted a single scalp all day.”

  The whole party of greeters and Arcadia had a big laugh at that, and headed off to the main street where a big crowd had gathered and cheered as Arcadia came out of the train station. There was a podium set up and Arcadia joined the Governor on it. He held up his arms and said into a microphone. “It has been many years since the Spirit Mother came to our grandfathers and showed us the way to freedom and a better life. We welcome her back today, with joy and gratitude!”

  There was a huge ovation from the big crowd. Obviously, Arcadia would have to say something. “Thank you all so much. I don’t make public appearances anymore, but the people of the Great Sioux nation are wise. You know that I appeared as a Spirit before, but know today that I am only flesh and blood and are happy to help me keep my secret from the superstitious white men.”

  That got another huge ovation. Arcadia continued, “I am here today to celebrate your wisdom, your progress, and your success. There are no people in all this biggest country in the world with whom I am more proud!”

  The Governor led Arcadia off the podium and escorted her to a large ATV. It was open at the top and she and governor drove slowly down the main street of Rapid City waving to the cheering people who were lined up four deep for a mile.

  They reached the grounds of the state capitol and pulled around the curving entrance that was lined with flowers and a lush green lawn. The building was very different, uniquely Sioux, but it was beautiful. The pillars at the entrance were carved with intricate figures.

  The governor’s office was fairly traditional. It was large with a big table at the front and chairs and a couch facing his desk. He waved Arcadia to a seat. “I know you are paying special attention to us, and your letters and calls are very much appreciated. We have never had as much as we have today.”

  “You and your predecessors did a masterful job of convincing all the tribes to relocate within the state boundaries I set for you,” said Arcadia, “I’m sure that was not easy, nor was it easy to become ranchers of buffalo instead of nomadic hunters. However, you are all alive and I thank God for that. Because you didn’t fight a war you couldn’t win, you preserved the majority of your population. Not having to worry about disease saved more of you than a war would have. The result is you have one of the most populous states in the country.”

  “We still think it was quite a wonderful thing when a very nice lady hinted that we ought to scratch around in the Black Hills for hidden treasure.”

  “How much gold have you recovered,” asked Arcadia?

  “Oh only about $50 million dollars, worth,” said Adam. “When you add in our meat production from several million buffalo, and the wonderful wheat and corn we grow along the Platte, using the irrigation techniques our children learned in the schools and universities, the State of Sioux is quite wealthy.”

  “What about alcoholism,” asked Arcadia?

  “Alcohol is illegal in this state, and our churches do a good job of keeping the evils of Satan from tempting the people. We still have some problems, but we manage.”

  “How many of your men have you managed to get
into the Rangers,” smiled Arcadia?

  “Over 800, at the present time, but you already knew that,” said Adam.

  “And great soldiers they are. Some of them are serving at our embassies in Europe, the people are scared to death of them. Plus we put an entire company of them along the border with Columbia while we were building the canal. The racial similarities made for an easier time for both sides.”

  Arcadia spent a week in the big State of Sioux. She saw the huge herds of buffalo, being driven by men driving speedy ATV’s. She saw the miles of corn and wheat crops. She saw a number of neat and tidy towns and villages, and she was very impressed with the capital of Rapid City with a population of over 75,000 people. The Sioux had made the most of their opportunity. They had excellent schools, and a thriving middle class. A big crowd turned out to send her on her way. She thoroughly enjoyed her ride on the train back to Washington. She received no more notice than any pretty, young blond woman would have gotten. Arcadia loved the anonymity.

  Henry Taylor rode out of office with the respect and gratitude of the entire country. They had no problem is selecting his vice President Charles Gallagher as the new President in the November 1844 election. It was a custom, albeit secret, that all new Presidents went into a comprehensive planning session between the election and the January inauguration with Arcadia and her staff of experts. The purpose of the meetings were to review the historical records and to determine which events or discoveries, if any, had a direct impact on the United States.

  Arcadia put the list up on the screen for everyone to review.

  1842: Anesthesia used for the first time.

  “I think we can add the family of anesthetics currently in use to our list of products that can be purchased in trade with other countries,” said Arcadia.

  “You realize that the anesthesia they are talking about is common ether,” said one of the doctors. Our anesthetics are delivered by IV drip. The global medical community is still not even up to using needles. We would have to be able to demonstrate the entire process of introducing fluids to a body. Do we want to go that far?”

  “That’s a very good question,” said Arcadia. “We would still maintain the integrity of the products, of course, the outside medical community is not going to be able to synthesize the drugs, manufacture the needles, plastic tubes, or IV bags. However, we have come to our first crossroad of involvement by the United States in global affairs. Others will begin to come along in growing numbers in the near future, and we will deal with them on a case-by-case basis. As I see it, this one is easy. It’s entirely humanitarian in nature, like the food we sent to the British a half century ago. However, the techniques and the training to use these products are going to have to be taught in person. We sure aren’t going to bring doctors here, so that means a team has to go to Europe and teach the procedure in their big medical schools.”

  “I realize a lot of care must be taken by the docs not to reveal more advanced medicine than we want them to know,” said the Director of Public Health, “Frankly, Arcadia, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to put in a pitch for going public with the vaccines for the common diseases. These diseases are still killing a lot of people in the outside world. We can prepare a cocktail of vaccines that are delivered by needles that will cover measles, whooping cough, pertussis, mumps, polio, and Tuberculosis.”

  “I’m emotionally on your side, Doc,” said Arcadia, “but the population of Europe is now over 200 million. We don’t have the facilities for producing that much vaccine. If we made it a priority, we might be able to build the labs to turn out that much and more, but it looks like a 25 year job to me.”

  “I guess you’re right,” said the Doctor, “I guess we’ll have to put vaccinating the world on our ‘to do’ list. However, anesthetics are a much more manageable problem. We do have the production capabilities to keep up with that demand.”

  “How big a team do you need,” asked the President, speaking up for the first time?

  “Not too big. If we demonstrate the procedure in England, France, Spain, Germany, and Austria-Hungary, it will spread to the rest of the world. That means five teams of half a dozen docs; make it about 30 or 40 people.”

  “Why don’t we just send one team to a medical school in England and let them spread the procedure,” asked the President?

  “Politics,” said Arcadia, “None of these countries get along with each other very well in the first place. If we just gave the drugs and the procedure to the British, they might not share it. In any case, the other major powers would believe we were giving the British special treatment. We have to send our teams to all the big powers and deliver the new procedure at about the same time.”

  “Of course,” said Gallagher, “the United States is strictly neutral and acting in the best interests of everyone.”

  “Right,” said Arcadia, “I think we should put together all the pieces of this project, start producing a steady supply to sell to the Europeans, and assemble our teams. Let the President know when you are completely ready and then he can pass the word of our intentions to the Ambassadors.”

  “Are all our historical reviews going to be so complicated,” asked the President?

  “Not really,” said Arcadia, “look at the next item on the list.”

  1843: The first wagon train sets out from Missouri.

  “I guess we won’t have to deal with that,” said Gallagher.

  “Or the next one.”

  1844: First publicly funded telegraph line in the world—between Baltimore and Washington—sends demonstration message on May 24, ushering in the age of the telegraph. This message read, "What hath God wrought?"

  “This was a big deal in early America, but now we do so much more. The event will never happen.”

  1844: Millerite movement awaits the Second Advent of Jesus Christ on October 22. Christ's non-appearance becomes known as the Great Disappointment.

  “We’ll broadcast this on the church channel. It will give our pastors lots of fodder for sermons that say that the ‘Second Coming of Christ’ is none of our business.”

  1844: The Great Auk is rendered extinct.

  “I don’t suppose we can do anything about this,” said the President.

  “We could send a ship to see if there are any Auks left,” said one of the staff, “and if there is we could maybe bring home a few to add to our national zoo.”

  “I’d vote for that,” said the President.

  “Then that is the way we shall have it,” said Arcadia

  1844: Dominican War of Independence from Haiti.

  “This one is going to come as quite a shock to the state of Hispaniola,” laughed the President.

  “The next three are really not something we need to think about,” said Arcadia.

  She scrolled down on the screen and stopped at the next entry. “This one needs our attention,” said Arcadia.

  1845–1849: The Irish Potato Famine leads to the Irish diaspora.

  “Something like five million Irish migrated to the United States as a result of this famine. A million in the first year of 1846,” said Arcadia. “The Irish are one of the important groups of immigrants for our country. They will make good Americans, and make significant contributions to our society. The problem is dealing with the numbers. In real history, a lot of the Irish were shoved into substandard housing in New York and Boston and suffered from poverty, low wages, and disease. I think we need to take them in and then quickly disburse them in groups to several states. Most of them are farmers and the one thing we have plenty of is open land. Maybe we can grubstake them with seeds and equipment on credit. But we can’t have them clogging up our cities.”

  The next item was, 1846–1848: The Mexican-American War leads to Mexico's cession of much of the modern-day Southwestern United States.

  Events such as this just disappear into the river of time,” said Arcadia, “next item.

  1846–1847: Mormon migration to Utah.

  “It’
s OK for the Mormons to migrate to Utah,” said Arcadia. “In real history they went by wagon train. Personally, I consider this religion a heresy, but at least it’s based on the resurrection of Christ, which makes them a lot more attractive than the Muslims. I recommend that the President contact Brigham Young and make a deal to send the whole bunch of them on trains. They can unload their wagons and finish the trip to ‘the promised land’ as best they can.”

  “I’ll make the arrangements,” said the President.

  Arcadia scrolled the list.

  1847: The Bronte sisters publish Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey.

  “Nice.”

  1847–1901: The Caste War of Yucatán.

  “Not relevant to our history.”

  1848–1849: Second Anglo-Sikh War

  “Ditto”

  1848: The Communist Manifesto published.

  “An important book with multiple ramifications, but not for this century.”

  1848: Revolutions of 1848 in Europe.

  “Don’t even know what this is.”

  1848: Seneca Falls Convention is the first women's rights convention in the United States and leads to the battle for suffrage and women's legal rights.

  “Obviously, another historical relic”