The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1910-09-01


station on time LAS morning, and no |
sooner had 1t come to stop than |
the sturdy figure of the colonel appear
ed, for he was anxious to see again |
the cattle men with whom he once
lived AS he stepped down to the
ground a great shout greeted him
the real yell Of the range, uttered by !!
an escort of 1000 cowboys and cow
girls detailed to act as the ex-presi-
dents bodyguard. That 1t sounded
good in his ears was made evident by
the happy smile that spread over his
countenance.
Mr.. Roosevelt's visit and the speech
he delivered later in the day formed
the elimination of the annual. Frontier
Days celebration wnich had attracted
to the city thousands Of persons from
all parts of the west and a large num-
her of tourists from more distant Sec
lions of the country.
Colonel Roosevelt's Speech.
Out in the open air, under the blue
sky, vast crowd assembled to hear
the former president speak. and 1t
heard one of the most important
speeches he has made since leaving
the White House. His address was as
follows:
When, at the close Of my hunting trip
in Africa, reached the borders of civili-
zation, the first invitation I accepted was
this, to visit the capital of Wyoming on
the day when the people Of the frontier
camo together to commemorate their
achievements: was glad it was so, be-
cause I have q peculiar feeling for the
men and women of what used to be called
the Ear West" and especially for those
Of the cattle country. For number OF
years I lived on a ranch on the Little
Missouri sharing work and play, good
fortune and bad fortune, with my neigh
bors; working on the roundup serving
as delegate from the Little Missouri
roundup district to the Montana Stock
growers association, and even at times
acting as deputy sheriff at my end of the
county count those years as among
the most valuable of my life, because
nothing breeds such community OF feellng
as to work with ones fellowmen at their
life tasks, and to learn to know their
feelings by actually sharing them. The
man Of the west, throughout the success
sive stages Of western growth, has al.
ways been one Of the two or three most
typical fgures-indeed. am tempted to
say the most typical f1gure-in American
life, and no man can really UNDERSTAND
Is and what it promises unless ne has
the fullest and closest sympathy with the
ideals and aspirations of the west. Ine
prime reason for this is to be found IN
the fact the westerner is so GOOD an
American. He is 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 It is unimportant
whether a man lives north or south, east
or west. provided he Is genuinely ana IN
good faith an American. that ne 1ee,s
every part Of the United States as his
own. and that he is honestly DESTROYS to
uphold the interests of all other Ameri-
cans in whatever sections OF the country
they may dwell
A hundred years ago, when men spoke
of the west they meant the country De-
tween the Alleghanies and the mississippi.
T7iftv 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 Whlch
you whom I am now addressing lead your
lives and do your work. has grown uE
within nv own lifetime. I myself saw
and took part in the closing years of the
pioneer period, and 1t was my great PRIV
ilege to work side by side with the pio'
uecrs-the ranchmen. the miners, the
row-punchers the mule-skinners. the bul
wha tx ers-who actually opened up the
country. I have seen the herds and focks
~ the cattlemen and sheepmen supplan
the game; I have seen the fortunate
movement by which the small farm mas
tended gradually to take the place OF thf
GREAT unfenced ranch. I now travel II
avery comfort on railways across lands
which. when first rode across them
were still the home Of the Indian and tn
eSufralo; and find cities where one cal
obtain not merely comfort. but luxury, II
fine places where thirty years ago Their
was not a building beyond log hut or :
dobie house. The men who did this worl
were enga ged in the final stages OF con
uuering the continent; and 1t was thel
privilege to do one Of the great works
all time, to do their part in the perform
ance of an epic feat III the history oA III
progress Of mankind.
West Stands for Progress.
have used the word progress. TIL
west stands for growth, for progress. $
must the whole American people stanc
A great democracy must be progresslV
or it will soon cease to be either grea
or democratic. No nation. no state n
marty. can stand still. 1t must either 6
forward or go backward: and it become
useless If it goes backward. Therefore
greet you. men of the west, and I stan
for progress as all men must stand VIII
arc progressive.
The pioneers and their immediate SUI
cessors won victory only by proving this
ties which lie at the foundation of M
tional greatness. There are certain wei
meaning men of intellectual cultivation
but lacking mental and moral ROBUSTNESS
who complain continually that toy fir
American life, and especially the life I
those American communities emergir
from the pioneer stage. crude and will
out genius or beauty. Genius Is M
thing for a nation. but character 10 ST
finer thing, and though beauty is goo
strength is an even greater good. TT
men who have made this great republ
of the west what it Is, and especially tt
men who have turned 1t inte continent
commonwealth, have possessed in tt
highest degree the great virile virtues
strength courage, energy. and undaunt
and unwavering resolution. Their typic
leaders-of whom Abraham Lincol
though the most exceptional. was Il
most typical-have possessed keen int
Iigence, and character not mere
etrone- hut lofty. O. character exalted