The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-03-06
For tha ! E /, !,

1t was the anniversary OF the day which gave
birth to Washington. The morning sun had
tinged alike with golden hue the towering ridge
and extended prairie Of the western world. The
dav itself seemed formed in commemoration of
that event, which was to give to the young
America the fostering care of parent hand, to
cherish the tender germ until it had acquired
strength to burst upon an astounded universe in
form of free end christian nation. Heaven had
designed that he, who by the mighty energies
of his mind, should reduce chaotic mass into
we'll regulated Government, should present in
his own person the combined virtues which adorn
the character of the Christian, the Citizen and
the Soldier Whilst an admiring world accept
ed him as pattern worthy of imitation, the eyes
of grateful nation were turned to the hand that
had dlspelled the cloud of their oppression, that
it might gather in retrbutve justice Ter the head
of the Tyrant who strove to crush them Such
were my thoughts as stood upon the summit
of RIDGE overlooking the sFather of Rivers"
beside the solitary grave which contained the
remains of Du Buque and his friend, the great
Washington of the Red Man. What an union
of discordant elements was here! The son of
polished France rests in the grave of the savage
aborigines of the western wilds. In life the
Chieftian was the friend of the Pioneer, burying
beneath the bonds of love, the memory of the
injuries his race had sustained from the white
man. In death their dust returned blended to
its mother earth. Oh, what an example this to
the professor of Christianity! What lesson to
the selfexalted being, who, blessed with all the
advantages which civilization affords, dares lift
his feeble voice against the fiat of Omnipotence,
and taking his own misguided s'reason" for his
rule of action, proclaims the right of vengeance
his, and not an attribute of that Deity to whom
alone it belongs. AS l stood beside the grave,
me thought the very atmosphere seemed balmy
with the breath of God. The spirit of the i'm
mortal Washington seemed lowering as guar
dian angel over the happy republic which claim
ed him as its Father. Legends and traditions
of the Red Mans history followed in rapid sue
cession through my mind as my gaze was direct
ed to the bright landscape before me, whilst
the curling smoke from the white mans cot
tage too plainly told that the wigwam of the In
dian had been forced to seek it's resting place
still near to the setting sun. In the distance
lay the city of Du Buque. But few years ago
little hamlet resting the river s border, shell
tered the heads of few who had left the haunts
of civilization, to rob earth of her hidden treas
ures for mans emolument: now the hammer of
the artizan, the pen of professional employment
and the busy movements to and fro of mercan-
tile men, are but keeping pace with the rapid
growth of the city, while the stately spires of
her churches, and the chaste beauty of many of
her private residences, proclaim her acceptance
into an enlightened world.
As turned from the contemplation of this
scene and met the bright eyes of the happy
group which surrounded me, the contrast was
yet more forcible. On the side of the mound
where had roved in delight the wild Indian maid,
culing flowers from the prairie to deck her tiara,
now strolled the fair and graceful daughter of
the Anglo Saxon by the margin of that stream
over whose bosom she had glided in the canoe
propelled by the strong arm of her lover, stood
the modern vehicles which had conveyed us to
the spot The past, the present and the future,
rushed like a torrent through my mind. The
grandeur of nature, the Wondering memento,
the occasion, the wreathed smiles of the captiva-
ting group around me, each contending for mas
terry in my thoughts, furnished fund Of grand,
solemn, commemorative and fascinating enjoy
ment too wild and deep to be tanned into Ian
guage.
After spending several hours wrapped in conf
mingled admiration of the scene, we returned
by delightful drive over the highlands to the
upon others, shall ever dwell upon the recol-
lections of my visit to the grave of Du Buque,
as one of the happiest "reminiscences of my So
iourn in the West. w.