The Butte inter mountain., 1903-10-02
CONCEDED THAT LOCAL DELEGATES
WILL SECURE THE PIONEERS
CONVENTION NEXT.
WHITFORD TO BE PRESIDENT
Butte Man viii Probably Be Made Head
OF ociation-Proceedngs at
Great Falls Today.
SPECIAL TO THE INTER MOUNTAIN.


sight seeing. This morning they were
taken about the city in carriages, visit
ing all the points of interest. The long
line of carriages, with their occupants of
gray boards, had the appearance of
great parade.
Then, at II o'clock, the association met
in the east room OF the courthouse The
meeting was short and pleasing. The am
nouncement was made that the pioneers
were to consider themselves the guests of
the Boston Montana Mining company.
Adjournment was taken Immediately
and the entire party, escorted by William
Scalon and John Gille of Butte, Super
intendent Wheeler of the B. & M. smelters,
and other officials, took street cars to the
Il. & NJ. smelters There they visited the
big plant and saw it in every part. Fol-
lowing this they went to the Smelter Club
house, where they were entertained at
sumptuous luncheon.
Early in the afternoon the party crossed
on the suspension bridge to the fair
grounds, where they joined 5000 other
people in helping to make the closing day
OF the Cascade county fair success.
This evening the business session will
be held. At it DR.. 0. b. Whitford of
Butte most probably will be chosen prcsi-
dent, though John Caplice of the same
place also has been mentioned. It is
practically certain that the association
will vote to meet next year in Butte. ].
u. Sanders will be reelected secretary by
acclamation.
Tomorrow morning $50 of the pioneers
will go by special train to Fort Benton
TO visit the old head of navigation on
the Missouri"
The address to the pioneers. delivered yes
terday by I. +. Collins president OF the
citation, was notable. In it Mr. Collins
skctched the carly history OF Montana, going
back to the first exploration by NJ. dc la
Vcrandrc, under authority OF the French gov
crnment. in I74s. He dwelt especially Upon
the Lewis and Clarke expedition, the subse
quent operations Of the fur and trading conf
panies and the establishment Of the Jesuit mis-
sions. lie also spoke of the government
explorations from 1859 to 1856. and Of the crca
~tfon of the territory In 1864. Proceeding lie
described the placer gold excitement and the
attendant immigration. Alder Gulch. Last
Chance Guch and other famous camps were
recalled by the speaker. Continuing, lie said:
"The men and women of the decade of 1900
1870 did not come here as dependents or under
contract to labor at a stipulated price. but the
flower and youth of our country east of the
Mississippi river, from all the states, with a
shores of the Pacific, formed the nucleus
around which was founded the character and
shaped the destinies Of our state.
I'VE can describe in the nations OF today,
from their institutions, laws, habits and deyel.
opment, the character OF their founders or
pioneers. The universal law that like begets
like is applicable to nations and states as
to individuals. and the early settlement of
Montana with the development which has fol.
lowed i'll its trail--thc superstructurc which has
been reared upon the foundation then laid
shows the moral intellectual and physical
worth of those who did the work.
'When we revive the recollectons OF those
days, no matter how affectionately we may
look back TO them, where we rccollect Our COM
rade in the mountains or on the plain. about
the campfire in the cabin, in the drift or in
the drain ditch, in the gravel pit or the
sluices, or on stampede to new found
gnlch; whose sterling loyalty and worth and
manhood will be sweet memory SO long as
life shall last. we cannot help but call to mind
the suifcrings. privatons, sickness laborious
efforts and pers of those days, which tried
the material that man was made OF. But these
are the things, together with the joys and
pleasures and excitements and rewards of life,
which put in natures crucible come out the
nnalloyed gold of life and form the germ
which gives strength and character to the stale
for all time to come 1t was these men, who,
unpretcntious prospecting trips, went into
every mountain range, into every guch and on
to every bar, to places never trod before, and
with Drawn and brain explored and delycd and
prospected well that the thoroughness of it
was never known before. They blazed the
trails made the roads and overcame the OBJ
stables in their way with a courage and fear.
lcssness equalcd Many of them lost
their lives in the contest, but future genera
tions will vie with one another in recounting
| their valorous deeds. They replaced the herds
OF wild animals with countless thousands OF
domestcated cattle, horses and sheep, subdued
| the savage, settled and reclaimed the valleys
and foothills, SO that Montana is the home oil
thousands of prosperous ranchmen and
| farmers, and paved the way for millions yet to
come and enjoy the independent life of the
stockman, the farmer, the merchant and the
| professional man in and about and around the
| everlasting mountains and plains of our state.
| And last, but not least, they have discovered
| and developed with money taken out of the
everlasting hills, the richest, most extensive
| and most lasting quartz lodes OF copper, silver
and gold the world has ever known. These
| arc the men who were the leaders in moulding
the destiny Of the state, who were the central
| figures in enacting its legislation and creating
| its constitution; they created Our common
/ school system, which is one of the best in the
! land they established the public institutions
4 OF the state. With such record the pioneers
il may claim that their work is as enduring as
the everlasting granite of our Rocky Noun
tans and will be appreciated and remembered
| as long Montana shall be known.
/ every word that has been said concerning
the men applies with greater force to the pio
neer woman OF Montana. They were the sal
of the earth, and no words of mine can depic
i the yeneration, regard and respect OF the pio
neer men for the pioneer women of the COS
/ This and future generations owe them deb
which cannot be paid in words. Enduring
monuments should be raised to commemorat,
i their share in pioneer history. No one suffered
more hardships OF endured more privations il
those early days than the wives, mothers ant
daughters. When death, sickness, distress, dis
couragements and disappointments came the,
were the angels Of mercy who administered II
the wants of the afflicted and distressed. Til
Sweetest memory OF the pioneer when reflect
ing upon the times which tried mems souls, j
| the acts and deeds of those noble women
who, with a patience never worn and neye
complaining, labored early and late with al
endurance and application never exceeded
There is not pioneer but what remember
H..