The San Francisco call., 1910-08-28
Memories of the Pioneer DAYS
on the Plains Recalled
at Cheyenne
Former President in Address to
the Cowboys Lauds the
Frontier Virtues


tooay had TO show him in the way of
DEEDS OF skill and daring and said that
me spirit Of the west was still alive
PIONEER DAYS REC ALLIED
As Colonel Roosevelt watched the
cowboys at their work heard the In
olans yell and saw the familiar sights
or more than % years ago, when he
was plalnsman, the spirit of il all
came over him again and he climbed
down from the fag draped reviewing
stand and mounted a big white horse.
he galloped around the half mile track
al trontier park and past the crowded
Eranostand, while cowboys yelled IN
dams gave their WarEhoop and the
rest Of the crowd Joined in tremen-
oous shout He dismounted after one
tap, SmllnS bis delight and went back
10 has place 10 see the rest Of the fun.
The celebration at the park. which
is set III the midst OF the brown plains
81 wyoming. mile and half north OF
the city, was the star attraction of the
day Theodore Roosevelt was the star
attraction at the park. and Sand Creek
came next sand Creek is said TO sbe
the wickedest horse IN the world and
after q long combat he bested Al Whit
neT, one Of the most skiIlful horsemen
Ilst the west has. Colonel Roosevelt
watched the struggle. and after il was
over he shook the hand OF Whitney and
C0mplimented him.
-Four COW girls had a half mile race
ou horseback next. Joella Irwin who
Is l5 years old. appeared in short white
trousers on the back of Brownie and
she caught the colonel's fancy Be
fore the race began he beckoned to
her and shook her hand She had two
bad falls from her mount yesterday
aaa was badly shaken up. but refused
to withdraw. She won the race today
md Colonel Roosevelt called her back
to him 10 tell her how glad he was.
Governor Brooks introduced him and
for half an hour Roosevelt talked to
she crowd
IT viii be a bad day for America
the end Of America-if the average
american loses the quality OF being
dead game man. he said. That caught
Jhe fancy OF the cowboys. who cheered
him wildly.
TRIBUTE To THE WEST
IN opening his address Roosevelt
paid an eloquent tribute 10 the great
west and the pioneers who had blazed
The pathway for progress. In part he
said:
No man can really understand
our country and appreciate what IL
really Is and what II promises un-
less ne mas the fullest and closest 4
sympathy with the ideals and as
llrsuons OF the west. The prime
reason for this is to be found in the
fact that the Westerner is so good
an American He is an American
nrsI and foremost; for this is the
great lesson. friends. that all OF US
need 20 learn and 70 keep, the les
son that ii is unimpOrtant whether
man lives north or south, east or
west. provided he is genuinelN and
ia good faith an American, that he
feels every part Of the United
states as his own. and that he Is
honestly deslrous 10 uphold the in
terests of all other Americans in
Whatever sections OF the country
Chey may dwell
MUST BE PROGRESSIVE
] have used the word progress.
The west stands for growth, for
progress SO must the whole
american people sstand- A great
democracy must be progressive or
il viii soon cease 70 Be either great
or democratic. No nation, no state,
no party, can stand still II must
either 90 forward or 90 backward;
and Il becomes useless IL IL goes
backward. Therefore I greet you,
men Of the west, and I stand for
progress, as all men must stand
who are progressive.
The pioneers and their immediate
successors Won victory only by
proving that they possessed the
great. n1asterful qualities which lie
at the foundation of national
greatness There are certain well
nearing men Of intellectual cul-
uFatlon, but lacking mental and
moral robustness, who complain
contiDuaiIy that they find American
arc, and especially the life OF those
american communities emerging
from the pioneer stage, crude and
without genius or beauty. Genius
Is hne thing for q nation, but
character is q stin finer thing, and
though beauty is good, strength is
an even greater good.
THE FROETIER VIRTUES
There is need at present to en-
courage the development Of new
a9llTticS which can be brought TO
high perfection only by 3 kind OF
D
but these new qualities can only
supp plenent, and never supplant, the
old. homely virtues. The need for
me special and distinctive pioneer
virtues IS as great as ever In
otacr words, as our civilization
grows older and more complex
while ii is true that we need to
develop men whose lives are de-
voted wholly 10 the pursuit of spe-
cial objects il is yet also true that
we need greater and not a less
development Of the fundamental
frontier. virtues. These virtues in
clude the power Of self-help, to-
gether with the power of Joining
with others for mutual help, and.
what is especially important, the
Ieelng OF comradeship, OF social
We need not strive for the gen
cral social betterment Of the peo-
PIE IS a whole, and yet TO encour-
age individual liberty and set high
reward on individual Initiative up
70 the point where they become
in continually and earnestly striv- :.
ing for this betterment of social
and economic conditions in our
complex industrial civilization. we
should work IN the old frontier
spirit OF rugged strength and cour-
age, and yet with the old frontier
spirit Of brotherly comradeship and
good viii.
HATRED OF WRONG
do not mean that we should re-
frain from hating wrong On the
contrary, / would preach fiery
wrath against wrong. But l would
not preach such wrath against the
wrongdoer, save in those cases
where his wrongdoing is due to evil
moral attributes on his part, and
not to wrong or false system.
OF which he is almost as much the
victim as the beneficiary Some
times a wrong represents the delib-
crate wickedness of the wrong
doer, in which case the remedy is
10 punish him: but sometimes 1t
represents the effects Of a false
social system, IN which case the
right course is to alter what is
false in the system. Both prin-
ciples need to be kept in view as
guides to our conduct, and II is
necessary sometimes to work in ac-
cordance with one and sometimes
in accrrTa nee with the other.