Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-06-05

mas DeeH CNdIdCleTlsliC Ol US lOHl lIe I
very first-not only the birthright of
our own children, but a gift also to I
the foreign born. Our earliest pio- I
neers were from beyond the sea, and !
large proportion of them of alien /
blood. Spaniard and Swede. Dutch, /
German and French plunged into the
forests of the new world, explored I'M !
known rivers and lakes. and built
homes in the heart of the wilderness. !
They were Of adventurous blood. or
they would never have come; their
children, born in hardship and amid
peril, we're naturally of the same
hardy stock. They possessed the
same spirit of venture, the same ply
steal strength, the same independence,
and love of land. In pressing sternly
forward they merely followed the in
stincts of their nature, taking the path
of least resistance. Free land, cheap
land, a home of their own, was the
real magnet which drew them for
ward This is no sordid thought, no
unworthy motive. The real freeman
has always been the one who possess
ed his own property. The pioneer has
always realized this fact; it has been
the secret of his labor, his enterprise,
| his hope. Here is the true foundation
stone for all patriotism. Under such
an inspiration these iron-willed men
surged westward, generation after
generation in great human waves.
/ They reached the Alleghanies and the
Blue Ridge; they found the passes,
and plunged forth into those vast
woodlands beyond. They fioated
down the rivers, and skirted the
! shores of the lakes, to the prairie
lands, and claimed their own. They
/ fought for what they took, and held it.
! They battled savagery with the rife,
and conquered nature with the axe
and pillow. They were not uncommon
men, but men with a specific work TO
do. They represented something
which has been in the human race
from the very hour of its birth; which
will remain with US forever. They
were not a class separate from their
fellows-they only composed part of
that great chain stretching back to
the steppes of Asia, and the outpour-
ing of the Ayrians into European val
leys of a great chain which shall
stretch on, and on, so long as there
is a rod of land unconquered, or a
thought unknown.
OUR GRANDFATHERs.
After these came our grandfathers,
and our fathers, bridging the Missis-
sippi and the Missouri; treking across
the great plains, and gazing forth
over the broad Pacific. These were
men worthy of remembrance; we may
well be proud that we know some
among them; that we saw them at
their mighty work; that their blood
flows in our veins. Their battles were
, fought to no stirring bugle call; no
gay flags fiuttered along their adj
!, vance; no cheering multitudes gave
them courage. Alone, and in silence.
amid grim desolation, and in the pres
/ ence of death, they lived and toiled
: and died. Yet they were only men, no
more. They were of all kinds, all
classes, all conditions: educated and I'M
= educated. brutal and gentle, strong
e and weak There is no need for me
! TO glorify them now with unstinted
, praise. They did their work, fought
their fight, and passed on. But the
2 soul. that which made of such as
these masters of the wilderness, die
J not die; was not buried in their scat
tered graves. That is as alive today
J a ever it was; and so long as meI
) live, and throb with hope, and ambi
1 ton, that soul will give new birth tC
e pioneers, and send forth those who
: will conquer the unknown. 1t is il
7 our blood, an inheritance of our race
l. part of our destiny. Every genera
e ton will produce its scouts, its thir
3 line of skirmishers, pressing forward
| TO discover a way for the great arm!
( behind; adventurous feet will treaC
the unbroken wilderness Of endeavor
: adventurous eyes will look out owe
I, unknown seas. Then, back from tina
far frontier, the traveller will return I,
tell his tale of wonder. The waters
e the sky, the earth will be challenges
e for the secrets; mysteries will be IN
n covered, truth revealed, and the lif
e of the multitude bettered by the daI
e ing of the few.
o The one and only thought which
d seek TO leave with you tonight is this
?, The spirit of the pioneer is not
a mere physical thing. 1t has no neces
e sary relationship with the blowing O
y the prairie sod or the ring of tn
E. woodsman's axe. Many a pionee
y has lived in a city attic, and breathe
s. factory smoke. Thought sweeps o.
l. in advance of action. and the drear
S comes before the reality. They tell u
r today there is no longer a frontier
e They take me into the far southwes
o the far northwest; they say. here
Is your last glimpse of the old frontier.