The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-08-27


commemorate their achievements;
was glad 1t was SO, because l have a
peculiar feeling for the men and wo-
men Of what used 70 be called the Tar
West and especially for those of the
cattle country, For nurnber of years
/ lived on ranch on the Little Mis-
souri,. sharing work and play, good for
tune and bad fortune, with my neigh
lbors; working on the roundup, serv-
ing as delegate from the Little Mis-.
souri, roundup district to the Montana
Stock Growers association, and even
at times acting as deputy sheriff at
my end OF the country. / count those
Years as among the most valuable Of
Imy life, because nothing breeds such
community of feeling as to work with
ones fellow at their life tasks, and
to learn to know their feelings by act
Iually sharing them. The man of the
west, throughout the successive stages
of western growth. has always been one
OF the two or three most typical fig
lures-indeed, am tempted to say. the
most typical f1gure-in American life,
and no man can really understand our
country and appreciate what it really
is and what it promises unless he has
the fullest and closest sympathy with
| the ideals and aspirations OF the west.
/ The prime reason for this is to be
/ found in the fact that the westerner
Is so good an American. He ia an
American first and foremost; for this
| is the great lesson, friends, that all
/ of us need to learn and to keep, the
lesson that 1t is unimportant whether
man lives north or south. east or
west, provided he is genuinely and in
good faith an American that he feels
every part Of the United States as HIS
own, and that he is honestly DESTROYS
| to uphold the interests of all other
Americans in whatever sections of the
country they may dwell.
The Old West.
| "A hundred years ago, when men
spoke of the west they meant the
country between the Alleghanies and
tie Mississippi. Fifty years ago the
white mans west took in Minnesota,
Iowa and Kansas, and then skipped
across to California and Oregon. The
country OF the great plains and the
Rockies, the country in which you
whom am now addressing lead your
| lives and do your work, has grown up
within my own lifetime. myself saw
and took part in the closing years OF
the pioneer period. and 1t was my
| great privilege to work side by side
with the pioneers-the ranchmen, The
miners, the COW punchers, the mule
SINNERS, the bull whackers-who ac-
| tually opened up the country. have
seen the herds and flocks of the cat
tlemen and sheepmen supplant the
game; | have seen the fortunate
movement by which the small farm
has tended gradually to take the place
| OF the great unfenced ranch. / now
travel in every comfort on railways
across lands which when / first rode
across them, were still the home of
the Indian and the buffalo; and
find cities where one can obtain not
merely comfort, but luxury, in the
places where thirty years ago there
was not a building beyond a log hut
or a dobie house. The men who did
this work were engaged in the final
stages of conquering the continent;
and it was their privilege to do one
OF the great works of all time, to do
their part in the performance OF an
epic feat in the history of the progress
OF mankind.
West Stands for Progress.
IT have used the word progress The
west stands for growth, for progress.
So must the whole American people
stand A great democracy must be
progressive or it will soon cease to be
either great or democratic. No nation,
no state, no party, can stand still. It
must go either forward or packard;
and ii becomes useless if it goes
backward. Therefore greet you, men
OF the west, and / stand for progress
~ al m~n must stand who are pro-
gressfve.
"Thc pioneers and their immediate
successors won victory, only by prov
Ing that they possessed the great,
masterful qualities which lie at the
foundation of national greatness.
There are certain we'll meaning men
OF intellectual cultivation, but lack.
ing mental and moral robustness, who
complain continually that they find
American life. and especially the life
of the American communities emerg-
ing from the pioneer stage, crude and
without genius or beauty. Genius is
fine thing for nation, but character
beaSty is good. strength is an even
greater good.
"The men who have made this great
republic on the west what 1t is, and
especially the men who turned 1t into
continental commonwealth. have
possessed in the highest degree the
great write virtues of strength, couf-
age. energy. and undaunted and un-
wavering resolution. Their typical
leaders-of whom Abraham Lincoln.
though the most exceptional was the
most typical-have possessed keen in
tsaligence. and character not merely
strong but lofty, character exalte.
by t;Ae 7aot that great power was ac-
oompsnied by high and fine deter
mination to use this great power for
the common good, for the advance
ment OF mankind. Tho pioneer days
are over, save in few places; and the
more complex life OF today calls for
greater variety Of good qualities
than were needed on the frontier.
There IS need at present to en-
courage the Development OF nav abiIi-
yaSs which can be brought to high per-
2ection only by q kind OF training
useless in pioneer times; bat these
new qualities can only supplement,
and never snpplant the old. homely
virtues; the need for the special and
distinctive pioneeS virtues is as greas.
as ever. IN other words, as our civili-
cation grows older and more complex.
while 1t is true that We need to de-
velop men whose lives axe devoted
Ill 49, 81