Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1870-02-19

these thoughts, (" Yet the dead are there"
Much as l love that poetry, greatly As I
admire the venerable bard who has given
such prestige to American literature, yet
how cruel was he to tho home Of my adop-
ton! Methinks he stamped on the region
the grim idea of the fitness for charnel
house. Will you risk life there, for it
may be your lot, out Of the presence and
far removed from all you hold dear, there
to fall alone, unwept and unmourned? Win
you take mother, wife, sister, child to such
. place? That sublime composition made
me-, whom schoolboy, imagine this north
west coast and the mighty Columbia, the
drsamiest and most inhospitable Of earth.
An idea, whether just or unjust, moulds
the history Of passing events That one
surely passed into history, and impressed
Oregon with solitude 50 profound, it we're
almost sacrilege in men to attempt to dis.
turb So, at least, seemed to believe the
American Government, and many leading
American statesmen, for nearly half GEN.
y,and although To American women set
the example by which the presence here of
thousands of men, women aud children
should have dissipated this spell, yet still
it clings to the region, like the fab!ed shirt
Of Nessus, and even now the great North
ern Pacific Railroad incnrs its greatest hos.
tility because those who never visited
these shores cannot appreciate the vast
importance, resources and desirability Of
North West America. So with the weap-
on Of, ygroundless prejudice, soi-disant
statesman damnify the country, aud call
the shortest route across the American
continent within the United States, clear
est of obstacles aud freest from obstruc-
ton by SHOWS, Siberian trail These are
the curiosities Of our history, endowing it
with lively interest -
In this Past, no feature is more attract
i've than the early life Of the American
pioneer We used to call these the "emi-
grants" That word was not applied to
those who go out of the country, but those
who had found their way into Oregon, af-
ter having crossed the great American
plains, bringing hither their families, their
flocks and their herds-indecd their all.
Misnomcr though the word may be -
used by US, it is too sancti6ed by bitter ex-
pcriences; hs-aassh!.;:ps anaa CANCERS topermiit
the. adoption Of substitute. Early incor-
porated in the -yernaoular Of the coast, it
is now iuseparably attached to the land
itself. 1t is household word to our peo-
pie, sanctioned by universal usage and hal
lowed by the most interesting Of associ-
tions. These emigrants were American
men, women and children, who came 10 es-
tablish here future American State. The
hardships and sacrifices these pioneers en-
dured, which few now can realize, entitle
them to our lasting admiration. May I
quote now from an intelligent officer Of the
navy, Nieut. Neil NJ. Howisou) who visit
ed Oregon in those days, q graphic des-
cription of these emigrants, their tolls and
trials: stf e+
The priyatious aud sufferings Of the first
overland emigrants to this country, are almost
incredible, composed as they were of persous
who, with families of women and children, had
gathered together their all, and appropriated
it to the purchase Of means to accomplish this
protracted journey. They would arrive upon
the waters OF the Columbia after six months
hard labor and exposure to inuumerable dau-
gers which none but the most determined Bpir-
its could have surmOunted, in state ofabso-
Lutte want Their provisions expended and
clothes worn out, the winter beginning TO de.
seend upon their naked heads, while NO house
had yet been built to afford them shelter: bar
tering away their wages and horses for few
salmon, dried by the Indians, or bushels of
grain in the hands Of AFapacious ispeculators
who placed themselves On the road to profit by
their necessities, famine was STAYED offwhile
they labored in the woods to make RATS, and
thus Goat down stream to the Hudson's Bay
Compsny's establishment At Vancouver.
g Throughout the Winter, these enteyprising
people were, with few exceptions dependent on
the Hudson Bay Company for the bread and
meat which they ate, and the clothes which
they wore stern necessity, and the clamors Of
suffering children, forced them to duplicate
credit and assistance, which to the honor Of
the company, be il said, was never refused.
Fearful, however, Of demanding too much,
many families told me that they liyed during
the winter on nothing more than boiled wheat
and salted salmon; and that the head of the
family had prepared the land for his first crop,
without shoes on his feet or a hat on his head. !"
Does not the blush rise to your cheek,
when the apathy of tho government Is put
in contrast with the earnest seal Of these
American pioneers. For the sake Of such,
no part Of Oregon should ever have been
surrendered. Let US, their successors,
earnestly protest that Washington Terri.
tory once part Of that Oregon, endeared
by such settlement shall not be farther
dismembsred by the cess;sn'q to Great
Britain Of . single inch Of San Juaa
Island. Let US remember the memorable
trials undergone by those men, women,
aud children to plant Amsrican homes
and free institutions in the Territory west
Of the Rocky, Mountains. Let ~ cling
more tsnaciously 10 what Vas not suzrca.
dsared by the treaty of l846s because cf
this recollection. Let the word " emi-l
grant, b enshrined in our innsOst Diemo.
ries .bscauss Of the valuable servisesia of
those who bora that name il saving the,
Ts-sitosy ip which We liveIfrom inglorious
surrender to Britain, That word may
eerye to reuniad us Of their sacri6ces, their
trisls, their hIuiliations, vhea denied tho
c,.t.,;n~ cara NJ their own government,