Milford chronicle., 1904-07-08

= these great mountain ranges, impene
= trable and covered to tlSr base witt
, eternal SHOWS? What can we eve
hope to 10 with the western coast o
5000 miles. rock bound. cheerless anC
= uninteresting. and not a harbOr on it
What use have we for such a country
Mr.. President. l will never vote a cen
from the public treasury to place th,
Pacific coast one inch nearer Bost0r
than it is now" All, me! Am l going
beyond my right in declaring that Mar
Gus Whitman, kneeling upon the top OF
the Rocky mountains on the Fourth
of July, 1886. and taking possession OF
that western coast for God and the
United States, was an inspired states
man?
Whitman's Brave EnterpTIse.
But Marcus Whitman had more than
inspired vision and opened ears. He
had a consecrated, noble Christian
heart. as we'll as cloar brain He
was a gospel missionary who was
ready, if necessary. to die if 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 detied tine
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 ii was unable to stem back
western immigration it took another
course. 1t decided to import its own
loyal English subjects from Canada
and gradually crowd the Americans to
the wall. 1t tried to do with the Amer
leans as the Americans of the east did
with the Indians. About a century
ago Joseph Elliott was the agent Of
the Holland Land company. which
owned nearly all the lumber about the
region of the western part Of New
York near to Niagara Falls. one day
a famous Indian chief of that time.
Red Jacket by name, met Mr.. Elliott
and sat down with him upon a log to
talk. In a little while Red Jacket
said. in a quiet tone, to Joseph Elliott.
"AlOve along. Joe" and Mr.. Elliott.
surprised at the request. moved little
along the log In a little while came
the second request of Move along.
joe" and a third request. Move along.
joe" and further request. Move
along. joe" until Mr.. Elliott was at the
end of the log. Then. when the Indian
said "AIOve along. joe" Mr.. Elliott be-
came angry and answered: "Why. man.
/ cannot move along any farther with
out landing in the mud" Ugh" said
Red Jacket, Just so white man in
reference TO Indian land. White man
says TO Indian. Move along. move
along, move along, until white man
pushes Indian off the face OF the
earth"
The tactics adopted by the Amer /
leans toward the Indians were imi- /
tated by tho Hudson Bay company. .
1t began settling Oregon with its own
friends. in the hope that if treaty
between the United States and Eng
land should be negotiated. leaving the
possession of the country to be de-
cided by popular vote. tho English
settlers would Outnumber the Ameri-
cans. Whitman no sooner learned the
nature Of the scheme than he set out.
winter though it was, for Washington
to put the government on its guard and
warn it against negotiating any treaty
by which the position Of Oregon would
be affected. That lonely ride from Ore
gon to Washington in the winter OF
1912 is a story Of personal intrepidity
md patriotism which ought to be i'm
mortal. Would you and / be willing
10 sacrifice for our country and our
God as Marcus Whitman sacrificed?
Would you and I be willing. if neces-
sary, to give up our all and lay down
lur lives in suffering greater than any
soldier ever suffered upon the Amer
can battlefelds?
But. as l take step further in my
study of this remarkable nation build
ar, find. as with Marcus Whitman. the
greatest of men are always the gen
lest Of men. Furthermore, / find that
he seemingly unimportant incidents
If their lives, which they did out of the
lureness and nobility of their hearts.
lave sometimes had the most far reach
ng effects in their ultimate triumphs.
Not only do we admire Marcus Whit
nan as Il patriot and a hero, but rs a ,
over and a husband. and it is a re- !
fact that his public success
vas in no small degree due to the quail ,
ties he displayed in his private life.
Do you ask how the one could con ,
ribute to the other? I answer by rap
dly drawing three verbal pictures.
scene the first: We are now standing
n the little village church of Pra.ts- =
'urg. in the central part Of New York 2
tate 1t is in the winter of 1896: Feb !
uary is the month. \ rather shcrt.
Ieavily built man of reddish hair and ]
'eard, with determination marked l:p- ]
N every lineament Of his face. is the ,
Dr. Marcus Whitman is :
lis name. \ sweet faced young lady,
larcissa Prentiss. daughter of Judge I