Do any of these names mean anything to you? Bernhard Warkentin, Simón de Arocha, Louis Dufilho Jr., Bernhard Warkentin, Henry Bessemer, or Blanche K. Bruce? Their names didn’t ring a bell with me either but if you are interested in the current immigration question in general, you should know who they are. The names and their stories were written about and portrayed by actors on the History Channel’s — AMERICA: PROMISED LAND THE TOOLS THAT BUILT A NATION.
1) Simón de Arocha — Without him and his vaqueros, there may not even be the United States as we know it today. He was a Hispanic immigrant in the 1770s, as well as a legendary cowboy. He was tasked by the Founding Fathers with leading an expedition to get 9,000–15,000 cattle to Louisiana so that the cattle could be used for food for a starving colonial force. Simón de Arocha and his vaqueros herded the cattle on an unprecedented 500–mile trek from Texas to Louisiana to deliver the desperately needed food source. The colonial soldiers were starving, and without sustenance, George Washington knew they would lose to the British. The desperately needed resources once delivered by de Arocha helped tip the balance of the War. Simón de Arocha received a handwritten letter from Thomas Jefferson giving him thanks for saving our new nation. Every time you put out your American flag, you can do that in part due to a Hispanic immigrant and his cowboy vaqueros who helped win the Revolutionary War when we finally became free of tyranny.
2) In 1816 French immigrant Louis Dufilho Jr. became America’s first licensed pharmacist in New Orleans. But that wasn’t his main contribution to the United States. The trade ships that made New Orleans a prosperous hub also brought life-threatening diseases, including the deadly Yellow Fever. New Orleans swamps were a fertile ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes, and the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1853 would ravage the city, killing one in six people — including Louis Dufilho Jr.’s brother. Louis Dufilho Jr. is given credit for discovering the scientific approach in treating Yellow Fever. He did it by using the bark of a Peruvian tree called quinine. Quinine went on to help treat and save lives during future epidemics. A year later, Louis Dufilho Jr. joined the Howard Association, a precursor to the Red Cross. Through the Howard Association, he went on to treat over 130,000 victims of various diseases — including Yellow Fever which had previously claimed his brother. Every time you get bit by a mosquito today, you usually won’t die, because Louis Dufilho, Jr. lived as an immigrant in the U.S. at a time in history when he was needed. Louis Dufilho Jr. cared enough to find a way to help his brothers and sisters in need. All 130,000+ of them.
3) Bernhard Warkentin — was the son of a Mennonite miller from Ukraine, who is credited with setting up the wheat industry in what we now call Kansas. He traveled 10,000 miles from his home to try and eke out a living for his family. He ended up starting America’s golden bread basket farming crop with the seeds he brought over from his home in Ukraine. He had packed them in a chest that has been passed down to his many descendants and is still in existence today. In the May 1910 Saturday Evening Post, the secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, F.D. Coburn, stated, “Thirty years ago Kansas was not much of a wheat-growing state… At the present time and for the past ten years Kansas has led the nation in wheat growing, and much of the credit for making Kansas a great wheat state belongs to one man, the late Bernard Warkentin, of Newton, Harvey County, Kansas. It was through his efforts that a wheat variety is known as Red Turkey or Russian hard winter wheat made the Sunflower Commonwealth famous and rich.” Next time you eat a piece of bread, an immigrant from Ukraine, Bernhard Warkentin, is one of the reasons why America is so rich and plentiful in wheat which in turn helps feed people all over the globe.
4) In the 1850s, a British immigrant, engineer Henry Bessemer (1813–1898) developed the first inexpensive process for mass-producing steel. Both iron and steel had become essential materials which were used to make everything from appliances, tools, and machines, to ships, buildings, and America’s infrastructure. Next time you go buy a car or go to work in a high-rise building, think of Henry Bessemer who is one of the reasons you can do both safely.
5) Blanche K. Bruce, an African American immigrant slave was one of the first African Americans ever elected to the Senate in 1875 from Mississippi. He had lived life as a slave but once freed after the Civil War, he found a way to educate himself and became a leader during Reconstruction. Prior to obtaining his Senate seat, he established a school for black children in 1864 because he realized that education is one of the ways out of poverty and despair. Blanche K. Bruce then went on to become a Senator in 1875 and by 1881 he was appointed by President Garfield to be the Register of the Treasury, the first African American to have his signature featured on U.S. paper currency. Every time you judge someone based on the differences between you and them, think of Blanche K. Bruce, who started with so little, endured much, and still found a way to live the American Dream.
Lesson learned? It’s not about where someone comes from. It’s not about how educated they are, or what race, religion or sex they are. It’s about learning the lessons our OWN history has taught us. These stories are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many stories of immigrants making a difference in government, medicine, law, war, and peace. If you pay attention to the stories of yesterday, today and possibly tomorrow when you pick up your next paper, book or magazine you will find their names and the positive mark they have made on our lives.
If we decide as a nation to keep the immigrants out just because we don't like the way they look, or the language they speak, their educational level, or because they didn’t come into the country the ‘right’ way, ask yourself did the first descendants in your family do it the right way? Maybe.
But before you state, yes they did I ask you to ponder the following. The laws of today weren’t on the books then. Now that they are we must follow them and the mandates that help make this country great. BUT……the system we now have in place for immigration isn’t working because, with laws, you need a dose of understanding in current events transpiring in the world around us. If we fail to notice the impact of our laws and the domino effect they may have throughout the world, then we cannot really be surprised when fascism, socialism, communism, or another hundred ‘isms’ are born and come our way with the intent to harm us through terroristic violence that grows through hate and fear.
History’s evil rulers and dictators have proven time and again that their power is created through fear-mongering and frenzied messages that push people to become followers or non-followers. Each side refusing to even listen to the other side. That’s when dialogues shut down. Negotiations are unheard of and compromise is not thought of or offered. That’s when only violence and war remain.
Every immigrant has a story behind them. Without learning it destiny may play out in a totally new direction that may not be the result you expected. Has anyone ever thought that it may be the one immigrant you don’t let in that may have one day found a cure for cancer? Or maybe that one immigrant and his family would have found a way to feed the hungry or stop another war or a thousand other things which may or may not happen because we just didn’t allow our law and order immigration policies to be integrated with thought and knowledge of the immigrant and the reasons for their need to live in our country. We must learn about the immigrant seeking shelter in our wonderful country. Most laws come about because history has proven we need them in place for everyone’s safety. However, there are laws that come about that integrate safety and understanding and those are the ones we should create and use as an example going forward with immigration policies.
The people written about above lived and died here for a reason. It was their destiny. By blindly following those in leadership no matter what political party you follow, no matter who is President or in power we do ourselves and this great country a disservice. Ask your area’s political leaders, ask your neighbor, or ask your friend, have they ever heard of the immigrants above, or heard any of the stories of the immigrants seeking shelter today?
If they say no, remember when we blindly follow anyone, any policy or any group without questions to learn and understand, we quit hearing anyone who doesn’t agree with us. In the end, if we quit hearing people’s opinions who differ from ours, we never learn, grow or change. If we cannot and do not change, who do we become?