The Greeley tribune., 1911-06-29
Monument UNVEILED AT
ST. VRA|N THURSDAY
BY PATRIOTIC WOMEN
Judge John T. Jacobs Delivers Principal Address
MANY From Greeley Are Spending Day At
Picnic Grounds Adjacent To Site.

1
trains, no sound Of bells OF schoo
and church, NO checkerboard o
cultivated lands, NO cities or towns
or noises Of masses Of men like dis
tant thunder. In all the wilderness
from the mountains to the Missouri
river practically no trace Of mar
save the wigwam fires and scattered
tepees OF the savages. The unbrok.
en- prairies rolled away for thous.
and miles without evidence Of civil.
lied life-billowed as lonely as the
open sea.
Desiring a post to the north for
trading purposes. about 1887. Col
onel Ceran st. Vrain came where
we now are and built this fort. Its
walls were probably nine or ten
feet high and were of sun baked
brick, the remains of few of which
you now see. Bastions were built
at the corners to rake the walls
with rife fire to prevent undermin-
ing by the savages and this entrance
at the east was closed by huge
wooden gates.
On July 10th, 1912, little file
of men Of the United States army
came winding along the east banks
of the Platte to this Fort. They
were shaggy, dusty, weary men, far
from civilization and badly in need
Of supplies. Urging their tired
horses along the east bank Of the
Platte their eyes were gladdened by
. sight Of this fort which meant a
temporary shelter for them. Gener-
al Fremont, soldier-explorer, COM
manded this little party and this
brave man alone has made this spot
historic. The following year on
July 4. he was again here and on
July 25th Of that year he returned
from the south and here reorganiz-
ed his exploring party Of that year
AN expedition that was OF great
historic results and which meant so
much to California, Oregon and the
United States-that expedition
which will always live in the his
tory Of American exploration.
We can see them now, that little
cavalcade of twenty men ~ they
prepared to depart-ytsmont the
ideal soldier-handsome, brilliant,
impulsive-without physical fear of
any kind,-persistent as death,
with all the qualities that 30 be-
come man.-the wiry little horses
eager to be away, the men mount
ing, the rapid fire of cultural In
dian words. nasal French, and En-
glish, all confounded, the clatter of
accoutrements, the pack animals
carrying their loads; Kit Carson
and his scouts in their fringed
buckskin. bearded and defiant and
resolute-faith in. man, faith in
God. faith in themselves-and al
ways ready to care for themselves
in moments of danger Two or
three peaceful Indians gazing stolid
and Indifferent, the Indian women
further back, and we may not
doubt, the little black-eyed pa
pooses rolling in the dust in front
OF the doors of the apartments. The
last goodbye is called in CHEEKY
farewell-salutes made and given.
Goodbye. Out ride the file of men
typical Of American explorers, typ
ical of soldier-explorer, typical of
the courage of the best type of
American. They ride out-some of
them to suffering, starvation and
death.
In 1s46, Francis Parkman, the
great American historian came here
riding down from the north on his
Indian ponies with his half-savage
companion. In his wonderful book
The Old Oregon Trail" he has told
OF the appearance Of this fort and
how he urged his frightened horse
past the fallen gates and into the
enclosure. The fort was then
abandoned and fallen in ruins.
We should not forget the second
step In this drama Of western civil.
ization.-that the early settlers who
followed the explorers had all these
qualities Of courage, persistence
endurance and indifference to hard.
ships. They suffered to deliver thi.
country to civilization and make 1,
. homo At for men. What We Say
ana do here today in narrow
sense 10 for the explorer and pion.
esr but IN Q wider sense We cole
brate as we'll the men who followed
and finished the work that the OK
plorer began. This monument tina,
We place here honors them as vel
as st. Vrain, and Fremont and Car
son and Parkman.
This stone is not their only mon.
ument-every happy home in thit
state and all the western states is
a monument to the work they did
every blade of useful plant which
grows is a tiny monument to the
work they did-these railroads
these wires that convey the mes.
sages and hopes of men, are all g
monument to them. Every happ,
child and woman and man that live.
here In our land OF hope is a monu.
ment to them: every bee hummins
in blossomed field huns q song OF