, 1902-06-20
The Pioneer,


ject, The Pioneer"
A sturdy figure stands upright
against a dark background of pines,
with his hand he shades his eyes as he
looks toward the setting sun. His pack
horse browses peacefully near n
mindful of the danger on all sides,
Wild animals creep softly in the deep
woods. Family outlined against the
still rosy west are snow capped peaks.
covered on their lower slopes by som
Der pines. The night falls and the
great moOn, rising. floods the plain
with white light, showing the sturdy
~forerunner of civilization sleeping. sol
itary by his camp fire. the stiffness
broken only by the sounds Of night.
Then the air grows cool and damp;
the stars pale and disappear; the first
drowsy twitter Of birds is heard.
Aroused by the awakening life about
him, the sleeper stirs and 500 is push
ing on again, V toward the west.
Deep in the painless forest he builds
his rude hut. The treams and woods
furnish his livelihood; the skins OF
beasts, his raiment; and far from hui
man habitation, he lives his lonely life;
oft times beset by cold Il hunger;
pursued by wild beasts and still wild
er men, he wrests from nature his
slender s~ustenance.
To this man is due the settling OF
all the great western country. He il
was who left home and kindred and
friends, to plunge into the wilderness
on foot II alone.
In 1903, just after the Louisiana pur-
chase had been completed, President
Jefferson dispatched an exploring par.
ty into the great northwest, under the
leadership Of Merriwether Lewis ana
William Clark. This little party set
out with great expectations, as the
president hoped through them to learn
Of eXhaustless riches of many kinds,
in the interior of the country he had
bought from France.
Friends of the men, however, pro
phesied countless misfortunes for
them; their very starting was unpro-
pitious, for when they had left what
was then the United States and at
tempted to cross our newly acquired
territory, the Spanish governor re-
fused to let them pass, stating that he
| hnl mt hnan Officially nnfifnl Of thn
purchase. Going into winter quarters
they awaited the approach OF spring
before taking their way across the
continent by the longest, hardest route
that could be found.
Hindered thus both by man INT ma
ture is it any wonder that nearly three
years were consumed in making the
journey which now requires less than
a week? These men have long since
passed away, not knowing nor W.
dreaming Of the vast possibilities of
the country whose world old solitudes
they were the first to break"
After this expedition, men of all
nationalities, hunters and t%rappers; eX-
plorers II adventures, poured into
this western country, and these men.
rough and unkempt, with 10 knowledge
save that which nature gives, have
bewn out of an UNEMPLOYED continent.
the greatest nation the world has
known. (These mem They have gone
down to their graves unwept and un-
known, but the paths marked out by
their weary feet have not been lost:
railway tracks cross and recross the
mountain valleys where a hundred
years ago only the red mar and the
beast Of prey could find a path. The
following in his track.
1t was but a little more than a cen.
fury ago that the pioneer left the strug.
Cling colonies and pushed on to the
west; in a few years even the Missis-
sippi states were settled; thinly to be
sure. but they were no longer the vir-
gin forest. The typical pioneer can
live only in absolute freedom. so once
again he began his westward march.
Drawn on by the golden promise Of
the sunset Ii dreaming deans. pic
tured for him in its glory, he reached
the Pacific and stopped by natures
boundary, stayed his steps. rested for
a while; but Don his resting place be-
came the Eldorado sought by many.
Toward the north he turned. but still
logging his footsteps came his enemy.
progress. Even now we find him at
times in the great unsettled west. He
comes to the city perhaps once a year.
for provisions: an object of curiosity
to many; Of pity to a few. But this
great shaggy, taciturn creature whose
only delight is in the freedom Of ma
ture, needs not YOU pity. Point out
to him a wilderness. give him his axe
and he is content.
In the future his course must be to
the southwark, to the Dark continent
and the wilderness around the Amazon.
When once he penetrates the heart Of
these unknown wilds, we may hope for
much. Endless vistas open out before
us as we look-rolling prairie and dark
forests-peaceful hamlets and thriv-
ing cities where now solitude reigns
over jungles and fathomless realms of
space.