Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-09-06

| for building Pioneer way SO Inal zIu-5
ture generations may travel 1t and l
recall the glorious achievements Of the
early pioneers, the men who settled
the Pacific northwest and made it
American territory this young old
pioneer cared not a whit what others
thought Of him. He did care, though,
for what they thought of his project,
and at every opportunity he told the
people about It and urged their CO..
operation,
Picturesque Abode.
At the Lewis and Clark exposition
In Portland two years ago talked
with Ezra Meeker from time to time
He was a Feature" Of that exposi-
coy house made Of a section Of a gil
gantic Washington tree followed out
and rooted over with canvas. IT was
a strikingly picturesque abode, delight
fully appropriate to- the occupant and
the occasion. There sat Ezra Meeker
selling his books to, those who would
buy, talking. with his visitors about
the old days and the new days and
discussing his pet scheme for person
ally retracing tile; trail and having it
restored In bis tree house, the room
being at least fifteen feet fn diameter,
Mr. Meeker had relics Of the old days.
II never met saner. man than Ezra
Meeker. He Isl a widely travelled man.
He has known both wealth and pov-
erty. Early In tie: Washington terri
tory days he discovered that hops
grow with remarkable fecundity In
that region. He, planted great hop
yards and waxed wealthy from the
product In those. days he was called
the hop king. 55s.
Daniel webster and other fasteners
strongly opposed the acquisition Of the
4 Oregon country Webster held that all
the country beyond the Rockies was
i barren desert, worthless wilderness.
and made some comments on the
/ worthlessness OF that region which
look like hilarious hnrnor today. But
4 Webster was serious He knew little
or nothing of the great west beyond
the backbone of the mountains. The
fight for Oregon which meant great
4 deal more than the present state of
that name, was carried on by the pio,
neers was Waged by Ezra Meekel
q and men of his stamp, who drove OF
teams across that trackless, worth.
less" wilderness. 1t was waged also
by men like Benton and DR.. Lewis
4. n. Linn In the United States senate
both of them from Missouri and both
q able to show what Webster COULDN'T
4 see. Linn really began the battle il
the senate, and after he died Benton
took up the. struggle. The state oi
& Oregon has named counties for LiIE
4 and Benton.
4 The United States did not get all
& OF the original Oregon country W.
got the territory now comprised In the
three states Of Oregon, Washington
and Idaho and d small portion Of tws
other states, but the greed Of Greaj
Britain and the dilatoriness Of sonas
B OF our own statesmen robbed us OF, tf,s
rest of It. The slogan of, "a fftty.foul
forty or fight is well remembered. al
meant that by right OF discovery and
n exploration the land was ours up II
the parallel Of 81 degrees 40 minutes
marking the southern boundary d
what was then Russian America. By
Il final compromise we got the southern
part, and England took the northern
3 section. Had America held out fol
the whole Of the Oregon country til,
al United States now would extend in al
d nnbroken line from the tip end o
i Florida TO the ley cap Of northernn1os
y Alaska Wouldn't It have been worti
Z while