The Kansas herald of freedom., 1858-07-24
Disceii iiaQecps.
The Great West.

Little do we, of the present generation,
imagine what an idea is yet to be conveyed
by the term Great West" Indeed, this
might be said of every part of our country,
but particularly of the West, the South
west and the Northwest. 1t is of tie
West we speak, and we mean by that
word, the country west cf the Alleghanies
and the Mississippi river, extending to the
far-reaching Pacific, whose shores already
begin to TEEN with Anglo-American life.
The old Thirteen" grand and glorious
in the records of the past, can no longer
compete in civilization with the march of
progress in the mighty West. And this
western empire, what was it half year
ago? An unbroken and howling wilder
ness-a royal hunting ground for the un-
tanned savage, who has melted away be-
fore the science and art of the White
Man, like the mountain Inists before the
summers sun.
Great and marvellous as has been its
development, we do not yet conceive the
nature of the Republican Empire that is
to rise in the Great West. If our western
cities have not been, like those of Sarda-
napalus, built in day, we may point
to Cincinnati, Columbus, Louisville, st.
Louis, Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee,
Detroit, Keokuk, etc., with their hundreds
of thousands, and say they have been built
in the life of a man. Aye, the very spot
from which we now write, was, "three-
score and ten'' years ago, shaded by the
primitive groves first seen by the old
French voyagers! Where the fathers
brought down the noble deer and the
subtle turkey, where they met and con-
tended with the Red Man for the right of
possession, the sons are piling stone on
stone, adding house to house, block to
block, and street to street; where the wild
whoop of the savage, the howl of wild
beasts, and the sweet song of the native
bird were mingled in a common chorus,
we now listen to the clank and rattle of
machinery, the roar, hustle and life of a
mighty city, containing quarter of mill
lion of busy mortals, each pursuing in
peace his chosen avocation.
May we not, theE, even in this simple
aspect, be proud of the mighty West p
May we not point with exultation to the
triumph of labor, and peace, and safely
predict brilliant future for this vast re-
public? No matter what demagogues
may say, we are one people, indissolubly
united by the strongest bonds and inter-
ests known to men. The South and the
East have sent hither their sons and
daughters, and nobly have they represent
ed the old commonwealth. Until re-
Gently, the people of the West, like new
married couple, constantly looked to the
old homestead for every assistance, but
now we have come to feel as heads of
families-that we must rely upon our
selves. We have learned to build cities,
railroads, etc. Western rivers are navi-
gated by Western boats, propelled by
Western Machinery. Our miners have
gone down into the bowels of the earth,
and brought forth specimens Of our vast
Mineral Wealth. The black smoke of the
furnace and forge rises like ominous
clouds, revealing to us that Science and
Art have at last begun to exert their sway
over the progress and development of the
Great West. 1t is now to the West that
the East looks for market, and to it for
provisions. and the great elements OF
wealth and national greatness.
The ever potent Press is radiating true
and noble sentiments to every family, and
our public schools are directing our chill
dren's minds into pursuits of practical
utility Scientific ATtisan.