Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1877-10-05
She Daily grfss aud pukntaiau.
yANk DAKOTA.
Friday Evening, October S, 1871
The Daily Press and Dakotaian.

OulCc vi 1IllEU street, between RrOa0wav AND
Cedar-Dunack's Block.
BOWEN 3 KINGsBuRY, Publishers.
PASTORAL ODE.
Delivered by Hon. J. !. Kidder at the Ter.
ritorial Fair, Oct. 4, 1871.
DAKOTA.
1t was nature, and the job was given,
To build . territory under heaven
To suit the various needs of men of peace,
Wherew want should find decline and wealth
increase
As steady as the years; where blooming
Should dwell, and make q blessing of the
wealth;
Where man could breath q luxury in the
air
So full that every breath might he a prayer
To live forever in such genial cline.
Ant let eternity seem on with time;
Where willing growth from the prolific soil
Should make most sweet the of
toll;
Where, browning labor With thejoys o please:
Water and earth should spread . scene to
please
The idle hour, which yet not useless is
If from a well-earned rest we take our
bliss;
Bene 18th the great tent Of the equal sky
That smiles aud gives with rare ~benignity;
III were given this great creative task
"What uould ye,r du!" l hear So e yankee
ask.
I'd do as nature did. Not one iota
Should my creation differ from Dakota.
That is, to start Nth. If 'twere perfect made
To answer every want, man were betrayed
To utter idleness, and nature then
Would, ~soulless, be superior to men.
If coin should yield abundant without toll,
AS did the widows meal, and cruise of oil,
Men might sit idle till the time to die.
Too lazy to do aught but prophecy.
But here the happy medium is hit:
You scratch a little-Nature laughs at it.
side,
And autumn grins in doughnuta, almost
fried.
Disturb the virgin plain that's lain abed
Till this late hour-it blushes pumpkin seed,
Stick little %fruitless saplings in the soil,
And in a few years, without further toll,
Eve might come here, had she a mind to
dot ..
And stuff herself with unfor5idden fruit;
Nor need her huttering bosom feel a quoke.
Norshe ask Adam; ibid you see the anake?'
She might the lesson learn, we since have
learned:
The fruit need not be bitten that is earned,
Here nature gives to nan a grand domain,
Diversified by valley, hill, and plain;
When lakes lie basking in the golden light,
Or mirror heaven with all its stars by
night;
Where roll the rivers, and meander rills
Wound like q silvery scarf around the hills.
Here the rich grasses in luxuriance wave,
And flowers a garden make DER winters
grave.
Here lines of timber DER the rivers brood,
The elm, the willow, and the cottonwood,
White oak, and ash and walnut grace the
scene,
And apples, plums, and cherries grow be-
Orchards implanted by the h lunar hand,
But by heavens bounty lavished on the
land
And through the long forgotten centuries
The grape has shed its fruit in rural peace;
The wild hop with MYSTERIOUS prescience
grown
Towards the nearest tree, and made its own.
The strength of others, as . woman clings
To him who guards her, though she weeps /
or sings.
In long and vide procession come and go,
And feed in peace upon the pastures sweet,
Or shake the earth with thunder of their
feet;
The elk and antelope range Ger the plain,
And the fur.hunter' ssport is not in vain;
And when some western Walton takes his
reel,
The glorious electricity to feel,
Whose poles so negative and positive
Are, one q man, and one q trout alive,
The slippery, freckled. beauties of the flood
Repay his appetite for fun and food,
And make cen recreation teach a boy
Lessons as full of wisdom as 0 fjoy.
Talk of our neighbors in this fertile west,
Montana, Idaho, and all the rest.
In all that..makes q land forever dear.
Dakota has no rival, if q peer.
D.:l~. L.. -.onJ o~,.n,o e f,.4:l. 80 /