Omaha daily bee., 1898-06-24
DEDICATION or rub wiGwAM.
pottn wuttnmi County Adds Its BiG
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Tcpec to the Exposition.
The dedication Of the Wigwam erected by
the Council Bluffs and Pottwattamie County
Exposition association near the Iowa build
ing took place at 1 O'Clock yesterday after
noon in order to allow the visitors to attend
this ceremony as well as the dedication of
the state buildings, The tall yellow Wigwam
was crowded with people from Council
Bluffs. Pottawattamie county and other
Iowa points when President A.. c. Graham
called the assemblage to order and intro
duced Rev. G. w. Snyder OF the English
Lutheran church of Council Bluffs, who de-
livered the invocation. President Graham
then expressed the thanks of the Potta-
wattamie county committee for the assist
ance which had been rendered the commit
tee by the people of Pottawattamie county
and Council Bluffs in the way of money and
in other substantial ways. Mayor Victor
Jennings of Council Bluffs was the first
speaker. He reviewed the history Of the
struggles of the committee in the work Incl
dent TO the erection of the building. He dis
cussCd the resources of Pottawattamio
county at some length and expressed the
hope that the people of the county will
make the building their headquarters on
the grounds. He said:
Ladies and Gentlemen; We have met here
today to dedicate to the uses of this great
and grand exposition this contribution from
Pottawattamie county and the city of Coun.
ell Bluffs. AS the head of the municipal or
ganiEation of that city it becomes my duty,
as it is my pleasure, to speak for her on
this occasion.
To those familiar with the beauties of
Council Bluffs. who know of its enterprise
and thrift, who are proud to claim a place
in its citizenship, 1t is unnecessary for me
to enter into details. To those, however,
who simply know that there is a city called
Council Bluffs. but who have not tested It's
Inequalities nor witnessed the unfolding of
its many and varied industries. II afords
me qualification to say that within gunshot
of this spot, yet hidden almost completely
by the eternal hills lies a city Of 10000
Intelligent, Industrious, Contented ami
happy people. 1t is the capital city of the
largest county in the state. a county con
tanning 5S2. l56 acres of the richest land IN
the face of the globe. 1t is second, If. in
deed, it is not the first, city in the world In
the magnitude of its agricultural imple-
meut trade. Implement Row" comprising
blocks upon blocks of mammot ware
houses into which the roads from the east
pour trainloads of implements daily, and
out. of which these same goods go daily by
the dozen lines of railroads TO almost every
quarter section of this great transmissis-
sippi territory. 1t is a city of schools and
churches, and its educational and moral
tone is second to that of no city of its size
III tDt tIlltu hldN'o IL II al Nv VI lui
women and brave men, as attested by the
avidity with which its daughters are taken
from the homes of their parents to homes
of which they are the inspiration and the
head, and by the number of soldier boys it
has contributed to Uncle Sans armies.
This city of Council Bluffs, anxious to
contribute in material way to the success
of this Transmississippt Exposition. and,
because of it's nearness. feeling an almost
proprietary interest in 1t, unanimously de-
tprminpl Mt the very mention Of this great
undertaking-the fruition of which we are
witnessing today-to be ittingly repre-
scented here. This determination led to the
purchase of stock of the exposition, to the
calling of public meetings and the organ
iZatiOn of an association whose duty 1t
should be to see to it that Council Bluffs
should be seen and known by all who came
within these enchanted grounds during the
period of the exposition. 1t was a difficult
task assigned to these men, but nobly have
they discharged 1t.
The wigwam tells better than can words
of mine the wonderful. the miraculous de-
velopment of this transmiSsissippi country.
The football of the red man, following his
well known trails, has given place to the
whirr of the electric motor as 1t moves
along the glistening lines of steel. The
smoke of the "wigwam" has faded away be-
fore the smoke from factory and forge. The
silence of natural peace has gone forever,
succeeded by the never-ending hum of in
dustry. The plains and valleys are no
longer the waste places of the earth, but
have been made the garden spots and gran
aries of the world.
To the purposes of this exposition this
is today given. To the city
which gives it in part l cordially invite you.
The trails are palmer than they were a half
century ago and the hearts of our people,
like the doors of their ''wigwams," are ever
open to you. We want you to come and
break bread with us, smoke with us the pipe
OF peace, rest body and mind in the ~prettiest
and, going back over the years, find a new
meaning in Longfellow's lines:
Very spacious was the wigwam,
Made of deerskin dressed and Whitened,
With the gods of the Dakotas
Drawn and painted on its curtains.
Spencer Smith, one of the pioneer lawyers
of Council Bluffs, spoke at length of the
hardships and experiences of the pioneer OF
the prairie. Judge Walter L. Smith, a mem
Der Of the district bench of Pottawattamie
county, was the next speaker. He spoke
rapidly, sketching the history OF Pottawat-
TAME county and passing quickly to the
present status of affairs in the county, re-
ferring to the mortality statistics as show
ing that the average life of the man who
takes up his residence in Council Bluffs is
$50 years. In closing he welcomed the peo-
pie to the Wigwam and invited them to
make 1t their home. The music for the
occasion was furnished by the Apollo Man
dolin club of Council Bluffs, an organization
OF young men, who delighted the audience
with the excellence OF their playing.
InSt Nfyhf M shn rEs