The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1917-06-15
TRIBUTE TO PIONEER Wg@@MEM
OF MONTANA PAID BY SANDERS

Much has been written of the ex-
ploits of the pioneers of Montana,
their courage and resourcefulness I'M
der trying circumstances, and their
wisdom in laying substantial foun-
dation of government for the COM
monWealth which they established,
but little has been said or written
of the courage and fortitude of the
pioneer women of the state, who
shared the dangers, hardships and
toll of the wilderness under condi-
tions which it is difficult today to
imagine
One of these women, Mrs James
Fergus, wife of the pioneer after
whom Fergus county was named
when she was laid at rest at Helena
in 1887, was the subject of a beauti-
full tribute delivered by one of the
most brilliant orators of the pioneers
of the state, Colonel Wilbur F. San
ders, in which he recalled the debt
of gratitude and respect that the peo-
pie of Montana owe to those women
who came forth from the east with
their husbands to brave unknown
perils in the task of transforming the
wilderness into what it is today.
Mrs. Fergus was the mother of
Mrs. David Hilger of Lewistown.
Tribute to Montana Women.
Colonel Sanders said in part:
"a month ago / stood by the
graves of those pioneers of this con-
tinent, the mothers and daughters
who, in the Mayflower, buffeted the
ocean storm for GO days and landed
upon the then inhospitable shores of
Massachusetts. And standing there
and contemplating their heroic lives
and all that had transpired from that
fateful December day, two hundred
and sixtyseven years ago, it occurred
to me that we had not preserved the
unities of our history. The event, in
deed, has been told in every form of
speech-a grateful posterity has re-
cited the story of their sacrifices and
toll and the continent has resounded
with their praises.
THE contribution which they
made to morality and good govern
ment, to our American civilization, is
known and read of all. But the rude
ness of nature and the harsh struggle
with savage Indians and for material
good would have demoraliZed the
Pilgrims but for the benignant in
fluence of those noble women. Stand
ing in that inspiring presence and in
my minds eye contemplating that
line of heroic women who, from that
day until now, have counted no sac
rifice too dear that they might
strengthen in all it's refining forces
our majestic civilization, it seemed
to me that we had omitted largely
from our history and song the hon.
age due our noble pioneer women.
Women Little Praised.
"Much is said in these days about
the pioneers. All people with one
acclaim honor them for their enter
prise, their intelligence, their energy
and their toll Their conquest is
deed of high emprise. But how lit
tie of all this praise is devoted to a
recital of the tolls, the deprivations,
the sacrifices and hopes, the daunt-
less courage and sublime faith of our
pioneer women who, coming here
while it was yet a savage wild, sought
to aid in planting institutions of
beneficence; who, in the face of every
forbidding circumstance, were light
hearted in their devotion to the good,
the beautiful, the true.
"The final hour has come. to one
of these pioneers. Before us are are
the mortal remains of noble wom-
an, whose rounded character of 10y
atty, courage and fidelity in every po-
sition in which she was placed was
adequate to the task imposed. She
was indeed a pioneer before she came
to Montana. To the great states of
Minnesota she carried the enthusiasm
of youth, and in the maturity of wo-
manhood became a pioneer of these
mountains. Her whole life seems to
have been along the line of our rap
idly receding frontier. All of her
years have been spent in rolling back
the tide of barbarism to the great
Pacific sea.
"And she contributed in many
places to the building up of the ex-
cellent institutions which are the
browning glory of our American con-
tinent. It has been my pleasure to
know Mrs. Fergus for a quarter of
century, She was not obtrusive, and
It required familiar acquaintance
TO detect the lofty courage the wom-
an possessed, the fidelity she mani
Tested on all occasions, the unbound
ing hospitality which made her lone