The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1895-06-22
OREGON PIONEERS.

Yesterday was Pioneer day, and
quite number of those who crossed
the plains and first settled in this far
away portion of the country congre-
gated in Portland to celebrate the
growth of the empire which they
founded. At every annual meeting
the number of pioneers become less:
but as the ranks are thinned those
remaining are held in greater esteem by
the people who came later and enjoy
the results of the work done by the
first home-builders.
Oregon did not present many at
fractions to emigrants in the forties or
fifties, and the journey to this far-off
western country was only undertaken
by the harder and more determined
class of citizens. Little was known of
what is now termed the northeast in
those years, and the resolute adven-
turers expected to immediate them
selves in wilderness for long years.
Lewis and Clark had made the journey
down the Columbia in 1904, and
Irving in ''Astoria" and Captain
Bonneville" had pictured very little
that would induce settlement in this
region. Then the dispute between
Great Britain and this country regard
ing the status of the people was not at
all inviting to the home-builder. Oro-
gon was not considered of much i'm
portance to the United States, and if
it had not been for the perilous ride of
DR.. Whitman across the continent
perhaps the British flag would now be
floating over our lovely state.
But the hardships to be endured.
and the determined class who were
willing to encounter them, ''made the
survival of the fttest'' peculiarly
adapted to those who felled our forests
and laid the foundations for future
progress. Unlike the gold-seekers of
California they came here to reside
permanently, and to impel the growth
of the country. Men of pluck and en-
ergy, they have left their impress
upon the state. They builded wisely
and strongly, and they can now view
their work with lasting satisfaction at
what has been accomplished. The
elements of characters they have i'm
bibed in their conflicts with nature in
its widest aspect have been those
which make men courageous and self
reliant. This development has made
them citizent of sterling integrity, fit
pillars upon which the superstructure
of free institutions may rest. If Ore
gon has not forged ahead with the
same rapid strides of other portions of
the Union her growth has been SUBJ
stantial and lasting, and no fear need
be entertained that there will be any
retrograde movement. She will retain
what she has acquired, and there is
strength and solidiIy in the advance
ment made.
Those who have come in later
years cannot fully appreciate the de-
privations suffered during the first
period of. settlement. Now railroad
and telegraph lines bring us in quick
with the outside world;
in former days roads were hewn out of
almost impenetarble forests, and a
5iresome journey of long months were
1ecessary to bring the settlers in
ouch with the east. We who are
'eaping the results of arduous labors
should pay the highest honor to those
who undertook and accomplished the
,ask, and should never tire of hear
ing the story of how Oregon was first
'edeemed from savage domain to the |
abode of civilization. Time has taken |
many to the silent shores, and |
hose who remain are nearing the |
evening of life. In a few years |
hose who came in the fifties will have |
been numbered with the silent |
majority, and years will lengthen the
,ridge between the past and present;
,ut their memory should be kept green,
Ind the builders of this empire in the |
lorthwest-now known as one of the
arrest states in the galaxy of the
be entitled to the last
ng gratitude of all coming genera
ions.