The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1908-09-04


pa ssed back and forth over the Union
Pacific between Denver and the coast
will remember the Ames monument
standing on the crest of Sherman hill.
This is the highest point on the line
of the old Union Pacific railroad at
apex Of the divide between the drain
age of the Platte and the Green
rivers. 1t was erected to the memory
of Oakes and Oliver Ames. 1t is a
pyramid of granite, constructed OF
solid blocks Of enduring stone, sixty
in height, the summit being $3.50 feet
above sea level. On two OF its sides
appeared inscriptions reading: In
Memory of Oakes Amcs and Oliver
Ames." On two sides were medalions
or tablets on which appeared the Inca
ments of the two shovel manufacturers.
Since the railroad grade was thrown
to lower level So as to place the
monument several miles off the main
road of travel the whole character of
the monument has been changed in
some mysterious manner for it no
longer stands as tribute to the mem
Ory of the Ames brothers. On its
rugged sides is now inscribed en-
eoniums to the late General William
Tecumseh Sherman in xwhose honor
the hill was named before the Union
Pacific was built over its serface.
General Sherman fought great In
dian battle there before the civil war,
and now this great mass OF stone
eDtomizes his greatness as warrior
while the name of Ames, the practical
founder of the great overland railway
has passed from the memory of man
SO far as the monument is concerned.
1t is only another reminder of the
beautiful sentiment in Kingsley's
lines: $50 fleet the works of man,
back to the earth again, ancient and
holy things fade like a dream" In
looking through our political retros-
pect it seems possible that the reason
is divine. Death will mold in calm
completeness the statue of his life.'
Prophetic were these words uttered at
the dedication OF the Oakes Ames
Memorial hall by the president of the
Massachusetts state senate. No mans
name is inscribed more indelibiy in
history of the great industrial move
ments of the century than that of the
Massachusetts shovel maker who came
nobly to the assistance of the projec-
tors of the Union Pacific railroad
when that band OF steel connecting the
Pacific with the Atlantic was first pro-
posed.
He was president Of the Union Paci-
tic from 1866 to 1871, and a director
in the various companies and enter
prises auxiliary to the parent COM
pany. Both of the Ames brothers had
unbounded faith in the future Of Colo
RADIO and the whole rocky mountain
region. Ingratitude Of petty politi-
clans resulted in inflicting calumny
upon the name of Cakes Ames that
should never have rested there. But
those who knew him best never ques-
TONED his integrity and his own
financial reverses resultant from his
labors in developing al unknown re-
gion we're the best proof OF it.
1t was he, more than any other man
who made possible the building Of the
road, the pioneer of transcontinettal
systems. Oakes Ames was member
OF congress from 1862 until 1872, and
it was during this period that calumny
fell upon his name In what was known
at the time as the credit mobilier scan
dal of President Grants adminis-
tration. Through the Vaccinations of
Ames in congress the credit of the
nation became impaired over some
sort of bond issue in connection with
the roads congressional land grant
and in this way his name was dragged
in the dust and he was abused like a
horse thief. 1t may have been this
transaction and the fear of public
censure that the inscriptions on the
monument were transfgured by the
subsequent directors Of the road, but,
however this may be, it is better in
nounce to let the matter drop, for it is
not our province to inquire too deeply
into such things.-Field and Farm,
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