East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-06-16
Pioneers Have Seen Transition

! address by Col ]. NJ. Bentley, Presi-
/ dent Of Umatila County Pioneer
Association. given at Weston June
I'D
Mr. Mayor;-In replying to your
happy and hearty words of welcome,
I will only say few words on behalf
of the pioneers Of Umatilla county
and myself
We meet here from year TO year
and find great deal Of pleasure in
greeting the friends and companions
Of those DAYS long since gone by, and
yet there is certain degree of sad
ness mingled with the gladness as we
look around for the facts that greeted
us on former occasions and the
knowledge comes to us that they. too.
have gone to join other friends on
the "other shore"
Year by year the roll call becomes
shorter on this side of the dark river
and more lengthy on the other as one
by one our friends cross to that coun-
try from which none return to tell us
of their experience on that trail
We, who still remain on this side of
the "Great Divide" gather here from
time to time and can relate our sew
eral experiences and talk about those
early days when, with the bloom of
youth still upon our cheeks, We bade
the old home east of the great Rocky
mountains adieu and began the long
trail across the great plains with all
our hopes centered in the Land of
/ the Golden West" We can recall the
| many scenes by the old campfires,
some sad, some serious, some pleas
ant, some interesting, and some ex-
ceedingly funny, but all incidents that
go to make up the great book of life
which tells of the conquest of the
great western empire along the hores
of the Pacific ocean.
Not many years ago I made a trip
/ back to the old home and revisited
the scenes of former days AS l rode
along on the sprlngy, plush covered
seats of the Union Pacific coach. and
| passed many of the places hallowed
in my memory by that first journey,
when as young man I had passed
by, covering the same ground with
the slow plodding, but faithful OK
team, my mind could not help think
ing of some of the changes which
time and men and wrought not only
in the Golden West, but all along
the old trail as we'll Where once
the Indian warrior, decked out in
barbaric splendor, the fast disappear
ing buffalo and the prairie wolf held
full sway, now splendid farms are
contributing their part Of the worlds
support and furnishing homes for the
generations soon to take our places on
the scene of action. Where the pio-
neers made their evening campfires
of the earlier days and guards were
placed on duty to watch the stock
and sound the alarm on the approach
of the enemy today the fires are only
builded by weary Willies," who lie
down on the green grass for nights
rest after big feed of "mulligan," "
the "makings' of which have been
pilfered from the neighboring gar
dens and nearby hen roosts. They
can sleep secure with none to stand
guard for the pioneers have cleared
the trail of night marauders, except
their own kind
/ Friends and neighbors, after spend
!, ing "a years on the Pacific coast, A
Of which have been spent in this
county. | think l am justified in call
, ing myself a pioneer, though l real
ize that many are still living whose
j personal record is greater in years
, yet with you, my friends and neigh
: bors. have lived long enough in this
! county to see our fair country pass
from the bunch grass stage to the
state of the early homesteader, anC
J then to the rich and highly productive
. farms we see on every hand. We have
witnessed the passing away of tn
: ox-team freighters and stage coach
? and the steel rail and the locomotive
/, come to haul away our products ant
. to hasten us along in luxury on IL
:, plush cushions and today we arr
, watching another transition. and W.
2 see the locomotive slowly giving wa,
to the powerful automobile and tn
2 hard-surfaced roads, and no douo
: many of our children will still b.
: here when the S-cylinder gas wagol
8 will be superseded by the swift flyinl
D aeroplane.
b AS in the progress Of transporta
Z, tlon, so in everything else, and evei
1 we, We who take the name of 'pio
\ neers," and tell of the great things W
once did, are rapidly being pushe'