Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1889-08-29
ADDRESS
Or Hon. JOHN GOLDEN,
OF WRIST DAY CITY.
AT THE PIONEER PICNIC. AUG. 22d.

or II you had invited nue. to make a
speech, should not have come. but
when you said come and talk about old
times and early days, / could not say
no.
Wo find In the Dictionary, that. the
verb Pioneer, means to go before. and,
prepare the way Tor the noun Pioneer,
or which originally meant a foot SOL
der, or foot passenger. or one who
goes before to remove distractions, or
to prepare the way for others. How
fully we who have been pioneers. APP
preciate and understand these techni.
cal definitions of the word, and yet
how incomplete and imperfect they
are. Foot passengers indeed we were
IL Is easier to walk than to ride, but,
The few household goods we owned,
the spinning wheel, and the family
oven filled the wagon, and mother and
children chinked into the spare places,
and the dog walked. Preparers OF the
way indeed were we; the roads we
built, the log bridges we threw across
the streams we did not destroy, but
left for those who were to come after.
The pioneer was unselfsh, he cared
not whether friend or foe was behind
him, IL he could make it more easy he
was glad OF IT, He felt he was in
partnership with the world, "A fellow
feeling made him wondrous kind. !"
He was the advance gnard OF an army
countless in numbers, irresistible in its
power, an army that knew no such
word as fail, and listened 70 no order
for retreat. The Pioneer was q child
of progress, he looked up not down,
Forward and not back" Behind was
the past, before him was the future.
He felt that the wise men came from
the east, and took courage. The
needle of his compass always pointed
westward, and he followed it.
Our Pioneer dreamed dreams, and
saw visions. He dreamed of the old
home on the hillside OF New England,
or the quiet valley Of New York, of
grey haired father and mother, watch
ing from the low doorway the depart
ing children, or perchance sleeping in
the village church yard perhaps of
smaller green mounds covering his
John or Kate, or of the country
church where theologic dust knocked
from The pulpit cushion, in the old
orthodox way. had so often closed his
eyes on q drowsy Sunday afternoon,
of the spelling class or singing school
where he first met the country lass.
'Who tying her bonnet undcr her chin,
Had tied tie young mans heart within"
and kept it tied forever after. His
dreams were of yesterday, his visions
were of tomorrow. He foresaw hard
--O.t,s.-.-s i'e- u t;,-s ~, bs-,i--el,-- odd
heart ache. Blue days and weary
nights, but he saw in the dim future,
the town. the village, the city, the
county, the state and empire of itself
lie Jaw thousands OF homes, and hun.
dreds of thousands Of owners happy,
happy prosperou: people. He saw
schools and churches, factories and
fertile fields, institutions of science
and learning. He saw capital and
labor, brain and body, mind and
muscle, all employed in the advance
ment of civilization and permanent
improvement of mankind, and oil of
this was the part and parcel. What
visions were these, do you wonder that
the pioneer was pioneer, brave,
cheerful and faithful.
Though these visions are grand, the
realization is prandor stili H. Ls.;il
ed better than he knew. But abun-
dant faith in the future, as the motto
of the State. If thou seekest a beau
tiful peninsula behold it here, and
thanks to strong right arm, courageous
heart, we do behold it, covered with
quiet villages, thriving cities, fruitful
fields and blooming orchards, dotted
all over with happy homes with
schools and colleges, churches and
public institutions, that tell the story
OF civilization. Grand In it's conct n
ton, and mighty in its progress. This
is the handiwork Of the pioneer, and
the ripened crop of the white covered
wagon. We look back to the old
times, end, so they were. full hearts,
and empty purses, hard work and
plenty of it. Shiveripg ague and
wasting fever were the common lot of
our early settlers. Yet they had their
share of good times too, and were free
from any plague that annoys our
children. Hard money and soft money
were not debatable questions. You
may remember the story of the man,
who, when he heard that the bank Of
Constantine had failej. said his heart
came into bis mouth when he heard of
IL, and rushed home to the bureau
drawer, when he hadn't any Constan-
tine money, or any other sort; he was
n pioneer. Butter and eggs were pin
money, wheat paid the storekeeper,
sleigh length knotty wood that would
not make fence rails, paid the minister.