Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1888-04-26
DUDLEY w. RHODES, RUFvs KING,
Secretary. President.

"A
DUDLEY w. RHODES, RUFvs KING,
Secretary. President.
THE END OF THE PIONEER PERIOD.
A hundred years ago the State OF
Ohio was an almost unbroken wilder
ness The beautiful river" from
which 1t takes its name had been ex-
plored by few eager expeditions, but
IN all its borders was not house nor q
white inhabitant, the silence of savage
life bro0ded over nature. The virgin
earth waited for the race that was to
develop 1t resources. Here the red man
roamed, hunted, made love and war,
unconscious of approaching troubles.
But the white man came, and saw, and
conquered.
At the close Of the Revolutionary
War, many of the noble defenders, of
our nation found themselves without
empioyment-patriOts who had sacri-
feed home and property in the struggle,
and now were as strangers in the land
for which they had fought, and their
martial occupation gone. But they
were men of energy, character, enter
prise, and manhood; many were men of
culture and education, but with the
strong native sense and "mo:her wit"
necessary for the pioneer. They longed
to play further part in the history of
their country, to repair their shattered
fortunes, and regain their liberty and
prosperity.
A country can be cleared of the
primeval forest but once. Sometimes
gradually by the overflow of civiliza-
tion, but the pioneers of the West were
actuated by the spirit of conquest; they
were athletic, brave, aggressive, and al
though many are forgotten and un-
known, each one is worthy ofaH honor,
and an enduring place in the gratitude
of his successors. They were race of
heroes. To subdue the wilderness, to
convert the painless forests into fertile
fields, and to make the wilderness to
blossom like the rose, these noble pion-
eers came from home of comfort and
luxury, and with stout hearts and
strong hands, went to work to prepare
for us land whose superior in all the
resources which make men happy,
prosperous, hOnored, does not exist in
any other portion of the globe. And all
this has been accomplished within a
century, within the life time of many
now living; but still, a great portion of
our history exists only in tradition,
dim and indistinct; before they pass off
the stage of action may we of later
generations collect into durable form
their dim and hazy memories and fad
ing traditions.
Time would fail to recount the sturdy
experiences of the rugged pioneers, for
it was not only subduing the savage,
in improving the wilderness, but in
delving into the depths of the earth for
coal and iron, in the erection of furnace
and mills, in the construction of the
now superseded canals, in the building
of our railroads, in the various manu-
factures and business development
which we of to-day inherit and enjoy.
Substantially within the present CEN
tury a new world has been discovered
and improved and filled with homes,
schools and churches; religion has been
extended and made known to all man
kind; women have been given almost
an equality with man; steam has been
utilized, and even now is being super
seded by electricity; the earth is in the
throes ofa new birth, old isolations are
abandoned, and old prejudices are
thrown to the winds. To-day in wealth
and rank Ohio ranks third among the
States of the Union, and first as "the
mother of great men,"
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