The Squatter and the Don

Clarence finds San Francisco “deserted, dusty and desolate” without Mercedes (109). Hubert reports that he has made Clarence $20,000 through stocks. As Clarence returns to San Diego, the narrator reminds readers that San Diego in 1873 still had a bright hope of the bounty of the Texas Pacific, not yet knowing that the railroad would go bankrupt due to corruption.

Mariano, Victoriano, and Everett meet Clarence at the San Diego wharf. Mariano agrees with Clarence’s plan to reveal his purchase to the Alamar women, though they will temporarily continue hiding it from Darrell. Clarence laments Darrell’s faith in US laws that allow “squatterism.” However, Mariano admits that he respects Darrell more than the other settlers, as Darrell has not killed Mariano’s cattle. Clarence declares himself wholly on Mariano’s side of the land dispute and comments that the offer to help the settlers turn to cattle farming was excessively generous now that he better understands the circumstances.

Mariano clarifies that he blames legislators, not individual settlers, for his injustice. He argues that the laws intended to take the “best lands” out of the hands of “the natives of California, the Spano-Americans” for “true” American resettlement (113). He outlines the racist rhetoric that increased the belief that the Spano-Americans did not deserve their lands. He argues that the choice of the Spanish and Mexican governments to give large pieces of land to few landowners was community-minded.

The men lament that there are insufficient measures to ensure that Congress follows the will of the people, which Clarence believes would be appalled by these laws if they were better educated on the happenings in California. Mariano feels, however, that there is no hope for the “native Californians.” Despite this, he does not hate Americans.

Clarence explains his plan to establish a bank with George, noting that the success of such an endeavor depends on the Texas Pacific Railroad. The two men find the railroad likely, though the narrator suggests that the ultimate failure of the railroad stems from anti-Southern prejudice in Congress. Clarence explains his wealth, which he hopes will cause Josefa to allow his pursuit of Mercedes. Mariano is optimistic.

Victoriano and Mariano join the Darrells for lunch and, that evening, Clarence goes to the Alamar household, where Josefa apologizes for her misjudgment. Clarence, in return, apologizes for his secrecy. When Josefa gives her blessing for his courtship of Mercedes, Clarence, overcome with emotion, kisses her hand, which leads Josefa and Mariano to tease him.

Over the summer, Clarence eagerly awaits a fall trip to New York to propose to Mercedes and regularly visits the Alamar house. He receives good news about the Arizona mines, which promised millions in revenue. Nightly, settlers (hiding their identities) shoot Mariano’s cattle when they wander into their grain fields. Mrs. Darrell disapproves of this action, which she feels is akin to theft. She explains that squatting, while something she finds abhorrent, is not as bad as theft because one can squat accidentally. Darrell is dismayed that his children all agree with Clarence and their mother.

George, Elvira, and Mercedes meet George’s uncle and his wife in New York; Mrs. Mechlin admires Elvira and Mercedes, whom she plans to sponsor in their New York social groups. Their trip to Newport, Rhode Island coincides with that of Gunther and Selden. When Gunther flirts with Mercedes, she reveals that though she is not officially engaged, she cannot form an attachment with him. Selden, too, confesses his love for Mercedes, and she gently rebuffs him. As summer wanes, Mercedes increasingly anticipates Clarence’s upcoming visit. George teases her that Mercedes has left an “epidemic” of broken hearts despite her refusal to flirt back.

Clarence arrives in New York on December 20, 1873. He purchases an engagement ring for Mercedes and then meets with George and Mr. Mechlin. Clarence reports significant financial success with the mines, which impresses Mr. Mechlin. Mrs. Mechlin, who supports Gunther’s pursuit of Mercedes, is initially skeptical, though she warms to Clarence over dinner. Mercedes is initially nervous but grows relaxed and happy after reuniting with Clarence. She urges him to bring the ring the following morning. He does, placing the ring on her finger and urging her to choose a wedding date quickly. Mercedes worries that the Tiffany & Co. ring he bought her is too extravagant, though he recognizes its beauty.

When Clarence goes shopping with Mercedes and the Mechlins, George cautions him against revealing Darrell’s position toward squatting, arguing that his aunt will disapprove. Instead, they emphasize Mrs. Darrell’s gentility, and Mrs. Mechlin praises Clarence and Mercedes’s good manners. Elvira claims this politeness is common among “Spanish girls.”

Clarence celebrates the holidays with the Mechlins; in January, he, Mercedes, Elvira, and George go to Washington, DC, to speak with the attorney general about Mariano’s case. At George’s request, his aunt and uncle accompany them. The Gunthers and Seldens accompany them, and their sons are sullen over Mercedes’s clear love for Clarence.

The narrator quotes The Spectator, an 18th-century publication that offered aphorisms about the wealthy; the narrator laments the lack of religious influence in contemporary morality. The narrator then quotes Scottish thinker Thomas Carlyle, decrying that Congress thinks more of politicking than the effect that its laws have on the common person. The narrator notes that George shares this opinion; similar thoughts occupy him as he sits in the House of Representatives.

The novel includes the full text of a congressional document outlining the corruption of the Central Pacific Railroad Company, which operated the track known as the “transcontinental railroad.” The Mechlin men are shocked to learn how congressmen have accepted bribes to vote against providing federal aid to the Texas Pacific Railroad, as was afforded to the Central Pacific. They struggle to see Congress as inherently corrupt despite evidence to the contrary.

George’s visit to the attorney general is more successful; Mariano’s land ownership is certified. Elvira and Mercedes, who do not fully comprehend the political problems this will cause with the squatters, are excited by the news and consider the matter resolved. Mercedes’s happiness is interrupted by Gunther and Selden’s moroseness over her choosing Clarence. Selden’s sister accuses Mercedes of enjoying the attention, which Mercedes denies. Gunther, overhearing this conversation, agrees to be Mercedes’ friend only. When the ladies go to the Capitol, they are upset to see injured, starving Mexican–American War veterans; Mr. Mechlin notes with disgust that Congress has done nothing to aid these men.

The “New York” group, as their last activity in Washington, go to see President George Washington’s tomb. At Mercedes’s request, they also visit the dome of the United States Capitol. At Mrs. Mechlin’s urging, they return to New York for all the balls hosted in February. On the train away from Washington, Clarence muses over the Capitol building, and how the activity therein will decide Mariano’s “fate.” The men lament lobbyists’ power and that Congress cares little about helping the South. Mr. Mechlin speaks to the sad moral failings of Congress.

The group attends a masked ball, and the ladies plot how to obscure their accents to hide their identities. The group is highly entertained when Mercedes’s French accent fools Gunther into thinking she is unknown. George receives a letter announcing that Mariano has made $20,000 selling cattle; Clarence writes exhorting him to sell cattle to Clarence for $60,000. Gunther remains sad that his love for Mercedes is unrequited.

The narrator suggests that biographies should provide moral instruction to the reader rather than valorize the subject and offers that a “biographical sketch” of Darrell or the other Alamar squatters would be unflattering. Upon learning that the Alamar case has been decided in Mariano’s favor, Darrell laments that Congress has been “entirely too lenient with the conquered natives” (156). He calls them “inferior,” to which Mrs. Darrell objects. She informs Darrell of Clarence’s attachment to Mercedes, warning him against fighting with Mariano and potentially risking the marriage.

Alice Darrell tells Mrs. Darrell that all the Darrell children object to their father’s “squatterism” which has intensified since the other Alamar squatters have made him their leader, which flatters Darrell. Mrs. Darrell contends that Mariano’s offer to let the squatters retain their lands so long as they fence their fields is generous. Alice fears her affection for Victoriano will be forbidden if the family conflict continues.

Mariano receives Clarence’s offer to buy the cattle with relief as the squatters have begun killing the cattle even more quickly in revenge for the court decision. Mariano herds the cattle to his sister’s rancho to preserve them until Clarence returns to California, personally rounding them up with Gabriel and Victoriano. Alice watches this daily herding with sympathy; the squatters watch it angrily. After six weeks, a decision from the District Court in San Francisco announces that the surveyors will soon survey the rancho.

The squatters hope to prevent the approval of this survey, thus extending the time they can use the lands for free. Hughes argues that they could keep this objection an ongoing concern in the courts for fifty years. The older squatters lament that younger squatters agree with Mariano’s claim. Everett protests when Gasbang makes a crude comment that implies that Elvira and Mercedes bribed Congress sexually while in Washington to get their father’s case decided.

Darrell offers that he intends to honor his deal to pay Mariano now that the case is decided, which the other squatters see as his abandonment of their cause. Darrell agrees to wait until after the survey to offer payment and urges the other squatters to “keep quiet.” Romeo teases Mathews about having never been married when Mathews urges that “youngsters” remain quiet. Romeo, Gasbang, and Hancock allow that it was generous of Mariano to blame Congress rather than individual settlers for losing parts of his land.

Elvira and Mercedes return to California in May 1874, several weeks after celebrating Mercedes’s 18th birthday in New York. The Holman sisters visit Elvira and Mercedes, asking after Clarence, who has stopped in San Francisco for business before visiting his mines in Arizona. When Everett announces that his father will join the party later, Victoriano jokes about Darrell’s “butt-headedness,” embarrassing Mercedes. The Darrell family, sick of their father’s obstinance, awaits Clarence’s return, as they hope this will make Darrell see reason regarding his return to “squatterism.” Darrell grows frustrated with his family’s disapproval, though he is more bothered by “a lurking self-reproach” (167). When Clarence returns, he excitedly greets his family, shares news of his travels, and learns of the discontent among the squatters.

Clarence and Mercedes’s wedding approaches. Clarence visits the Alamar house, where he finds Gabriel upset over several shot cattle, apparently Mathews’s doing. The cattle were mortally injured but left to die slowly until Gabriel arrived and killed them out of mercy. George, Gabriel, and Clarence are furious. Clarence offers to take possession of the cattle officially and spread the news of this ownership change to the squatters; they do not like Clarence, but they are less determined to harm him, he argues. The three men plan to go to San Francisco after Clarence’s wedding so Gabriel may gain experience in banking. They pause their plan for a San Diego bank, though they keep it as their ultimate plan, pending the completion of the Texas Pacific Railroad.

Clarence departs for San Diego proper to send telegrams, bidding Mercedes an affectionate goodbye despite her insistence that kissing before marriage is inappropriate. She urges caution, as she had a strange dream about Clarence being lost in a snowstorm. Clarence solicits Darrell’s help spreading the news of his cattle purchase; Darrell agrees happily. As Clarence leaves for the city, he sees a drunk Gasbang and Roper, who jeer at him about purchasing land. Later, Gasbang, Mathews, Miller, and Hughes approach the Darrell house. Everett, on intelligence from his brother Webster that the squatters are scheming against Clarence, listens covertly.