Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1920-06-02
THE ADDRESS OF WELCOME AT
THE BACKBONE PARK DEDICA-
x TON.
(By E. NJ. CARR

AASs~A :
their welcome; that these ponderous
walls and palisades, dressed IN inc
rich green yerdure Of the early spring
bid you welcome.
The grass beneath your 1eet' 'ne
sky above your heads and the river
that circles about you all join IN eS-
tending their welcomes.
| trust that everyone taking part
IN this dedication is an admirer "
trees and to express my own person
al feelings permit me to borrow words
witten by Joyce Kilmer, the poet VINO
gave his life for his country IN ths
great world war:
81 think that shall never see
A poem lovely as tree.
4 tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet nowlns
breast;
a tree that looks at God all DAY
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
4 tree that may in summer wear
A nest Of robins in her halr'
IInon whose bosom snow has iain'
Who intimately lives with rain
Poems are made by fools like me
But only God can make a tree.
These cliffs and rocks and WOOD
lands and river and springs ana ma
tive pines were designed by tneif
creator for holiday grounds, and the
fact that a great state. Represented
here today by its honored governor
and other state officers, Is about
to undertake their protection
for the purpose for which they
were designed affords good reason
why we should all rejoice and all IN
dulge in the prophesy that when mar
BILE wears away and monuments are
dust, Iowa, beautiful Iowa, will still
be here loyalty fulfilling this trust.
The peaceful splendor Of this Back
bone Park, rich in the things that
make a man love his country, will be
enjoyed for time by us pioneers and
the children of pioneens, and there
after it will continue to descend as a
rich heritage to'our children's children
until earthly time shall be no more.
Who is there that can not see,
through the hazy veil Of the future,
countless multitudes entering here to
enjoy themselves. and to- have their
minds enlarged and their hearts made
more tender and true?
Away down by the great ocean,
Boston has it's Common, and who has
not heard of the Boston Common!
But that Common, when compared TO
this Iowa Common, this Backbone
Park, Is like an anthill unto noun
tain.
And this Backbone Park is a plo-
neer in the field of Country Parks
/ like that word pioneer, for l crossed
to the western shore Of the Mlssis-
sippi when but a six year old boy, ana
ippi when but six year old boy, ana
our prairie home few miles south
west of this park, was close TO q
pioneer trail one of those arteries tna'
fused life blood into half a continent
and vitalized upwards of score o.
states. My reverent affection goes
out to the pioneer. Into those trans
the roads and highways of the Worlt
conyerged. In the covered wagons
of those Pioneers there were people
from different countries, with diner
ent customs and different manners
but their common hardships and com
mon dangers wiped out all dlstlnc
lions, leveled all classes, made ira
ternity reality and gave Leadership
to the strong.
Those pioneers heard and answere'
the supplication of Mother Earth whel
she said:
I am the prairie and the mountain
side, untitled since time began,
Yet do dream of motherhood, whel
man,
One day, at last, shall look upon m!
charms
And give me cities like children t.
my arms.
And the man with the ak and thu
gun was a courageous nation builder
for no coward ever became a pioneer
When the westward march of these
nation builders outran the laws o
organized society, they became law
unto themselves. They organized
vigilence committees that ran the
criminal gunner so far down the
canyon that they never came back.
The spirit of the pioneer is our ma
tional spirit; spirit that pushed our
frontier back to the Pacific Ocean
and the Arctic Circle; spirit
that threw its dynamic forces across
great ocean, and helped to push