The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1921-01-20

The men who made Vermont were
b the advance guard Of the American
! army Of conquest Of the West. They
D did not come for religious purposes.
! They were satisfied with both religious
: and political conditions In the older
, communities. But they wanted more
! land and richer fields. They were not
pushed out; they were invited in. II
! was not undesirable conditions behind
them, but attractive opportunities be-
! fore them, which were the dynamic Of
the movement In all the settlements
Of tie maritime Atlantic plain, it was
! not so much the desirability Of the
: new region which effected the change
Of home as the dissatisfaction Of the
Immigrants with conditions, some
times economic, sometimes religious,
sometimes political, in the countries
of the old world But the opening Of
Vermont was the beginning of new
movement with a new motive. The
vast continent had begun TO beckon
Generations had come at last which
could turn their backs definitely and
forever on the old world, and who felt
their fortunes bound up solely with
the rev, Then was begun the real
conquest Of the continent, and in this
conquest the men who made Vermont
were in the forefront and opened the
highway for the great horde which
followed them, the vast army, larger
than ever an emperor commanded, Of
the American Western pioneers.
The settlement of Vermont has It's
kinship, not with jamestown and Ply
mouth and Massachusetts Bay, but
with the extension Of American terri
tory over the vast interior The orig
inal Vermonter was not the weak sue
.cessor Of John Smith and John Alden,
but the precursor Of the Western
frontiersman. Ethan Allen and Dan
iel Boone were brothers in spirit,
pioneers Of a new race, the stalwart
men who subdued the continent and
wrought for America its home. 1t il
a FAR cry from the Pilgrim Fathers.
with their Cambridge learning, their
psalm singing, and their missionaries
TO the Indians, 60 the Green Mountain
Boys, with their buckskin brooches,
their rude, brusque speech, and their
beech seal for Tories, bat across all
the miles Of forest and prairie the
Green Mountain Boy is own brother 10
the COW boy OF the plains and the
trspper and fur-trader Of the Rockies.
The older communities Of the Atlantic
soaboard have contributed much to the
life Of the nation. They have promot-
ed culture, swaycd national policies,
developed American industry, and pre-
served a stable finance. But the ma
tional domain, the continent whose
broad extent is the foundation Of the
American culture, whose
wealth has enforced the will of the
nation, furnished food for her indus
try and saved her finance, was won by
Lhe pioneer with the squirrel cap. He
mas had too little honor in american
history. His rough speech and forbid
ling exterior have not especially com
nended him TO those who write books.
His vices have been plain enough in all
90 many instances-coarse language,
in drink, anger that
,urned fiercely, hatred Of an enemy
hat lasted till death. But his virtues
re also discernible-he could fell tie
argest trees and ford the widest riv-
RS, he could shoot straight and wait
or his range under fire, and take care
4 himself alone in the forest in the
cad Of winter; he was afraid Of moth
ng under Gods open sky, and his boy
ould take up his axe and rife at an
ge when European offspring are
earcely out Of the cradle. If virtues
re qualities which God needs for His
york, the qualities Of the American
ioneer must be judged less harshly
han our drawing room doctrines have
cen inclined.
The men who made Vermont were
ioneers Of pioneers-the ambitious,
iseontented, restless element from a
ommunity made up Of eager and inn
etuous spirits. The American viii
erness had already begun 70 do its
.erk with them. Their clan had been
aimed for $50 years in the conquest
T the forest They knew the manner
the god of the land. They knew It's
7mc and how 70 hunt and fh. There
as 10 need Tor Thousands u them to
asve. os az jamestown, while expert
ents were being mgde .H trying 70
.ow European crops e. The European
81 They bad learned TIE rev life
crary fcr tra new world rd they
ed into e heart with TIE eaeer-
$ = non who were creating 4 ncw
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