Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1904-06-30
VALLEY FORGE
TO BE,
PRESERVED

Ii the shades Of the great departed
ever revisit the scenes Of their earth
ly struggles, then the bleak heights Of
valley Forge must have witnessed a
joyful gathering of illustrious ghosts
lately, for at last it seems assured
that the historic camp ground, to the
extent Of 1000 acres, is to be pre-.
served forever as a national park.
1t Is intended to restore she sacred
spot to the condition it was in at the
time of the heroic self-sacrifice of the
revolutionary army. The entrench-
ments are to be cleared Of the century
and quarter accumulation Of rubbish
that almost obliterates their lines.
When the committee in charge of
arrangements has thus secured the
historic ground for the people, each
state whose sons suffered and died at
Valley Forge for the independence of
the nation will be invited to mark the
particular spot where it's own regi.
ment of patriots camped in the dread
full winter succeeding Washington's
repulse by Howe at Germantown.
To the tourists who toll up the hill
to the intrenchments of Valley Forge,
after visit to the quaint little house
in which Washington made his head.
quarters, the most astonishing thing
about the encampment is that a cen
| fury and quarter of effort by the ele-
ments has failed to make any impress
sion on the solid earthworks.
The rifle pits are filed with dead
hnx ~
| that were once cleared of timber in
| order to give the sharpshooters view
of the points in danger of attack, and
| some of the advanced posts are dis
| tinguishable only because of the signs
| describing them; but the lines of the
trenches are plainly discernible.
| Fort Huntington, with it's fringe of
| tall trees, stands grim as ever in the
| foreground as one looks down from
an angle Of the entertainments, and it
| requires very little imagination to see
the mouths of the cannon pointing out
of the embrasures and the CLEAN of
the sentrys bayonet as he parades be-
hind the wall. From this same angle
the valley stretches in peaceful beau
| ty, two or three old-fashioned houses
| are the only structures in sight, and
the white column erected by the
| Daughters of the Revolution to the
dead who lie buried all around is the
most conspicuous mark on the pas
toral landscape.
| Except for the presence of the rail-
road at the foot of the hills on which
are the entertainments, and the tele-
| graph poles lining the white stretches
of highway, Valley Forge seems just
as it is pictured in the stirring days of
the revolution.
The roadway up which the tourists
toll, every other person armed with a
camera, is roughly made path that
has probably received very little at
tention since the time of the camp
Trees that have fallen or been cut
down since Washington wintered at
Valley Forge are strewn around the
ground; the stones that were brought
to the lines to strengthen the defences
remain just as they were placed by pa
triot hands.
Take a map Of Valley Forge en-
campment made in Washington's time,
and every point can be traced, every
fort located and the position of each
headquarters defined. In fact, the
work of restoring Valley Forge to it's
original condition will not be so diff
cult as may seem at first sight, so per-
fectly preserved are all the. lines of the
encampment
Should it be decided, as seems like
ly, to rebuild the huts in rows, just as
they stood during the winter of suf-
fering, it will not be hard to arrange
the camp in the form assumed when
the colonial troops settled down 10
await the coming of spring. If the
various states represented in Wash
ington's army at Valley Forge unite
to rebuild the camp, each state under
taking to restore that portion in which
its own soldiers lived, there will be
no trouble in pointing out the exact
spot in which were GcSrtered the par
ticular shoeless and shivCring patriots
who claimed that state as their birth.
place.
It is an open qu estion in which partic.
uar shape the camp will be restored
Some want il to be a military post
Others would like to see it an exact
reproduction of the original encamp.
ment. These are questions that can
be threshed out in the future. The
fact that Valley Forge is to be religi
ously guarded from vandal hands and
remain forever the property OF the ma
ton is sufficient cause for congratula.
ton at present.