Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-07-08

OF the dark land. You make my feet
heavy with gifts. and my moccasins
will grow old I'm carrying them. yet the
book is not among them. When tell
my poor blind people after one more
moon i'm the big council that l did not
bring the book no word viii be spoken
by our old men or by our young braves.
One by one they will rise up and 60
out I'm silence. My people will die I'm
the darkness. and they will go on the
long path to other hunting grounds.
No white man will go with them and
no white mans book to make the way
plain. ] have no more words"
whitmnn's Response to the Call.
1t was the publication OF these words.
copied in the eastern papers. that made
Marcus Whitman heed the call of the
NeZ Perces Indians; 1t was the publ
cation of these words that nerved
Whitman to consecrate all his life to
giving the Flathead Indians the white
mans Book of Life" IL was that re-
solve 20 so in the name of Christ to
the far northwest which made 1t posi-
BILE for Marcus Whitman to save Ore
gon to the Union.
Marcus Whitman did not go to the
banks OF the Columbia to save Oregon
for the Union. He went TO the north.
west 10 save the red men for Christ.
When God calls US to one sphere of
work he will always open for us other
spheres OF labor il we will only obey
his first call. which says: Come.
Comet Come nowp'
But Marcus Whitman was a states
man as well as humble gospel mis-
sionary. Like Livingstone I'm Africa.
he saw how much could be done In
that land by the resources OF civiliza-
ton. His prophetic gaze travelled on
through the centuries, and he longed
to have that fair region under Christian
influences and prospecting under the
white mans skill aud industry. He
could hear the tramp of the oneoming
generations, as well as the creaking
OF his cart wheels by his side. There
fore, when Marcus Whitman. on the
famous Fourth OF July, 1886. with his
young bride, spread the blankets upon
the top OF the Rocky mountains. with
Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson
standing afar OF as guarding sentinels.
and dedicated that western soil OF God
and his native land. like Paul. he was
surrounded by a great cloud OF wit
nesses. In inspired vision he could
see the farmers of 1904 planting their
seeds in those valleys. He could see
those mighty forests changed into
homes and factories and stores and
libraries and schools and churches.
10 90
ing machines and see the white winged
ships like great sea gulls floating in
those harbors. And as Columbus took
possession OF the new world in the
names of Ferdinand and Isabella, who
fitted out his small feet, Marcus Whit
man dedicated this western soil TO his
two masters - to his God and to the
United States government.
Fought by Greed and seIhshness.
He dedicated this western soil I'm
spite OF the fact that all could be
said to discourage settlers had been
said in calumnious disparagement. The
Hudson Bay company wanted il left
In the undisturbed possession OF the
wild animals whose skins they were
turning into gold. They wanted it for
perpetual hunting ground. Therefore
they declared il 10 be land barred by
impossible ranges of mountains. q land
OF undrainable morasses, pestilential
and malariai. unit for the residence OF
white men, Il land given up to barba-
rism and Indian savagery. So persist.
ent were the falsehoods disseminated
by these greedy. selfish capitalists that
hOf
gon had been lying like the capstone of
the Jerusalem temple which the build
ers rejected. but which afterward be-
came the chief OF the corner All the
national statesmen, both trans and els.
Atlantic, cared no more for il than a
pearl diver would care 10 carry around
with him cobblestone. or a diamond
merchant would care 10 preserve an
ordinary pebble among his precious
jewels.
Why, so useless was this Oregon
region considered in 1912 that Daniel
Webster. then premier or President
Tylers cabinet. was willing to barter |
OF TO Lord Ashburton the whole of the |
far northwest for a few privileges for |
the American sailors to fish for cod of |
the banks OF Newfoundland. A few
years before this, TO prove his utter
Ignorance of the intrinsic value OF this |
land of the northwest, Daniel Webster.
then the most powerful member OF the |
United States senate, uncontroverted |
by Clay and Calhoun and Benton, made |
this astounding speech: what do we |
want with this vast, worthless area. |
this region OF savages and wild beasts. |
OF deserts, OF shifting sands and |
Wnirlwinds or dust, OF cactus and |
prairie dogsf To what use could we
ever hope TO put these great deserts. or |
these great mountain ranges, impene-
trable and covered to their base with
eternal SHOWS? What can we ever
hope to do with the western coast of |
5000 miles. rock bound, cheerless and
uninteresting, and not n harbor on IL?
what use have we for such q country?
MT. PRESIDENT, l will never vote a cent
from the public treasury to place the
Pacific coast one inch nearer Boston
than 1t Is now" All, met Am I going
beyond my right In declaring that Mar
Gus whitman. kneeiing upon the top OF
the Rocky mountains on the Fourth
or July. 1886. and taking possession OF
that western coast for God and the
United States. was an inspired states
man?
Whitman's Brave Enserprf.e.
But Marcus Whitman had more than
inspired vision and opened ears. He
mad a consecrated. noble Christian
heart. as well as a clear brain. He
was a gospel missionary who was
ready, II necessary, TO die IL by his
death he could only accomplish the
work which God had given him to do.
In order TO save Oregon for the Union.
In midwinter. alone, he rode straight
across this continent. He defied the
warning elements as well as savage
tribes. the terrors OF the SHOWS and
the precipices and colds as well as the
Indian tomahawks.
AFTER the Hudson Bay company
found 1t was unable TO stem back
western immIQra tion a. took aDotho. |