The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-09-12
grand consummation, the demands
of the occasion, L cannot but feel, will
ba rllito SatiSfind

of the occasion, L cannot but feel, viii
be quite satisfied.
1 have spoken of prophecy, faitl
and works as all contributory to tn
success Of this enterprise, and so, in
deed, they have been. Neither o
them could have been spared from
this, or from any weighty and i'm
posing task of human endeavor
J Forecast, confidence and labor will
accomplish whatever is within tn.
! compass of mans power. Let II:
consider little the part they have
each played in the work complete
which now, in our presence, it:
builder, the Northern Pacific Rail
road company, has "crowned with
its last hand"
Fortunately for us, neither Eng
lish nor Spanish ex plorers of the
West Coast had discovered the
mouth of the Columbia river before
our Independence was established
Fortunately, also, after that event
though both the English and the
Spaniards continued their explora-
tions on that coast, it was a New
England trading captain, Robert
Gray, of the ship columbia" that
first penetrated the mouth of this
river, to which he gave it's name,
and verified and recorded it as dis
covery which, under the rules then
prevailing, carried to his country
the sovereignty of the region drained
by the river and it's tributaries. The
accurate and circumspect entry made
in his log book by this intelligent
New England shipmaster, was the
title deed of the United States to the
region embraced in the State of Ore
gon and the Territory of Washington
against subsequent claims of discov-
cry made by Great Britain, and, in
some sort, by Spain. 1t was upon
this title that we maintained a fOO:-
ing Of joint occupation with Great
Britain, and, finally, by the treaty Of
1916, of exclusive title up to the di-
vision line of the 10th parallel. By
the treaty of Washington OF 1871,
under the arbitration of the Emperor
of Germany, our construction Of the
division line in Puget's Sound and
the communicating channels was es-
tablished. Until the acquisition Of
California, as the result of the Mexi-
can war, this region was our sole
footin" upon the Pacific ocean, and
this excited the interest and ambi-
ton of the nation for an overland
communication with this remote and
unpeOp'ed possession. Immediately
upon the Louisiana purchase in 1903,
the forecast and energy of Jefferson
was shown in the project of the sur
vey of the vast wilderness interven-
ing to discover practicable route for
migration and traffic. Congress voted
the money for an expedition to trace
the Missouri to its source, to cross
the highlands, and to follow down
the water courses to the Pacific ocean.
Lewis and Clark executed this task.
Starting from st. Louis in May,
1904, they wintered fifty miles above
the present town of Bismarck, and
came in sight Of the ocean on the 7th
of November, 1905. Commencing
their return in March, 1876, they
reached st. Louis in September OF
the same year. Thus, under instruc-
tions drawn by the hand of Jefferson
himse 1, the route now occupied by
the Northern Pacific railroad was
opened to the attention of the people
of the United States, and has from
time to time engaged their interest,
till the dream. the prospect, the pro-
ject and the effort have ended in the
work here and now. Henceforth the
transit from the Mississippi TO the
mouth of the Columbia, and the re-
turn, will be made in nine days, for
the round trip which occupied the
first explorers two years and a half
The prophecy and advocacy of a
railroad to our Pacific coast posses
sion, to the Columbia river and to
Pu, ,et's Sound, followed close upon
the first introduction in this country
of this s.stem of traffic and travel
AS early as 1891, when the arrival or
departure of u railroad train had still
of novelty even in Boston,
Il village physician in Western Mass
achusetts, DIR. Samuel Barlow, the
father of Mr.. Bar ow, of New York,
well known OH both sides OF the At
lantic as an eminent solicitor, pressed
upon the attention of his country
men, in articl S showing great fore |
cast and sagacity, the vast impor-
tance and the clear feasibility of such |
IN enterprise as that whose comp.e-
ton we this day celebrate. He |
writes, in 1887: "My feeble pen
would fail me to eXpatiata on the
substantial time-enduring glory
which would rebound to our nation,
should it engage i'll this stupendous
undertaking."
DR.. Parker, a distinguished mis-
;ionary to the Oregon Indians, who
lad repeatedly traversed the route,
n 1888 to 1888, asserted that there
Vas no more difficulty in such a rail-
'oad than in one between Boston and
Albany, and prophesied th,t the
ime was not distant when tours
would be made across the continent
IS they were then made to Niagra.
Willis Gaylord Clark, in 1898, in an
Eloquent exposition Of the subject in
| leading magazine, asseverated that
the reader is now living who will
make railroad trip across this vast
Penetrated with this
ceiling, the missionary, Whitman,
IL 1872, started on a winter journey
0 Washington across the Rocky
to awaken the state de-
,artment to the movements going
III, in British interests, to ALLEVIATE
rom us our Oregon possessions Un-
ler this impulse diplomatic negotia-
ions Were pushed and guided until
he treaty Of 1915 drew the boundary
inc be ween the two nations, and
the joint possession. Thus
Ill the early instincts and aspirations
or this transcontinentaI connection
themselves upon this North
ri route The spread of knowledge
nd zeal in the minds and hearts of
ur countrymen had to do with this
,roject and no other.
Bat the acquisition Of California.
he discovery of its till then hidden
old, the absorption Of people and
government in the terrible struggles
'etween freedom and slavery for the
OF our new domain, and,
inally, the civil war, aroused new
motives and new arguments which
Urged irresistibly the transconti-
lental connection, but diverted the
irst compliance with the political,
military and popular exigencies from
he northern to the southern and
entra! routes. Thus. once more in