The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-07-21
THE WESTERN PIONEERS.

Abstract of an address delivered
before the Pioneer Society of Cincin-
natl, o., by Rev. E. w. Whitney, pas
tor of the First Universalist Society.
The year 1888 is notable from the fact
that it marks the hundredth anniver-
sary of the settlement of the old North
west Territory, from which several of
the most fourishing Western States
have been derived. Centennial cele
brations at Marietta, Cincinnati and
other places, recall the hardships of
the pioneer days, and the sturdy char
acter of the men who founded the great
West.
1t should not be forgotten that they
embodied large measure Of self-sacri-
fee. From the long settled towns of
Massachusetts, and Connecticut they
chieRy seams, andAsaar~seaehing gzsthe
unsubdued regions of the West were
obliged to forego many comforts and
conveniences they had learned to prize.
Not the least of their privations must
have been the separation from kindred
and friends to whom so much of the
delight of life is due. At times those
hardy men must have regarded their
life as a species of exile, for they were
separated by many weary miles from
their childhood homes, and from the
centers of American commerce and cul
ture. Perhaps they found a subtle joy
in such sacrifices from the thought
that by them a new and powerful state
should be founded in the very heart of
the American continent. Certain it is,
that those who enjoy the ample fruits
of their labors, can never honor too
much the generous spirit of these early
settlers.
A large degree of energy was also
necessary to accomplish so great an
undertaking. From such task the
idle and indolent would shrink. They
would surely prefer the comforts and
security of the established East. Only
the active and venturesome would set
out upon journey so difficult, and beset
with such a number of hardships. The
detachment which left Danvers, Mass,
December l, 1857, under the command
of Major White, and the company
which Col. Sproat led from Hartford,
Conn, Jan. l, 17SS, made slow and
tedious progress, not only from the
severity of the weather, but because
the heavy snowfalls impeded the way.
In the Alleghanies the obstacles seemed
insurmountable, but with amazing toll
they made way through the trackless
drifts of snow, and at last in safety
reached the Yonghiogheny. With tire
less zeal they felled the trees and built
the rude boats in which they foated
down the Ohio to the mouth of the
Muskingum. At once they began to
build the fortified camp, their earliest
home. BY their efforts forests we're
felled, fields made fit for cultivation,
homes erected, towns and cities estab-
ished, and the foundations of eiviliza-
tion broadly and strongly laid.
Courage of no common order was
needful to undertake so dangerous a
task, but the pioneers were largely
composed of veterans of the Revolu-
tionary War, and by seven years Of con-
flict had learned to shrink from no hard
ship or peril. Timid men would have
refused to face the dangers of cold,
exhaustion, wild beasts, and Indians,
incident to the long journey. Arrived
at their destination difficulties seemed
only to have begun. Five years of
Indian warfare crippled their resources,
decimated their numbers, and but for
the undaunted 6rmness of Gen. Put
nam would have annihilated the infant
colony. Add to this the failure of their
treasurer, the persistent ridieule and