The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-10-04
A WONDER NATION INDEED.

A WONDER NATION INDEED.
Tho pageant staged in Chicago the other
day called attention IN most vivid manner to
tho incredible development which has taken
place on this continent within tho span OF a
single human life. The onookers were i'm
pressed not 40 much with the fact that prairie
schooner drawn by oxen was treverslnE the old
Lakeside trail 20 Fort Dearborn which few
decades ago was nothing more than a dust lnden
trail through tho cottonwoods which bordered
lake Michigan and across the prairier OF an un-
inhabited waste 10 tho armed outpos. OF CIV
iiization hoped 10 erist later on. now one OF the
most modern and bustllng thoroughfares in all
tho world as with tho sudden realization that
the man who drove the prairie schooner Mon
day had himself driven n similar vehicle In those
other days--that tho metamorphosls had actual
Iy taken place within tho span of life of n single
human being
That is the incredabie thing. Any country
endowed by nature wa, the domain over
which the stars and stripes unfurled 10 years
ago must needs develop into n teeming popula-
tion; but never in all the worlds history has
domain developed 30 rabidly has this land
which then was still largely under the jurisdic-
ton OF It's aboriginal owners, whose resources
were little than suspected. whose very
ttls was sti moro or less in dispute between
three claimants
when the prairie schooner was the means OF
transport from the settlements OF the east TO
Fort Dearborn. the Mississippi valley. was stili
largely fiction and the great west beyond
no-msn's land OF unexamped romance and
adventure. Tho prairies and plains were In
habited by buffalo and other game, tho food
preserves OF countless tribes OF Indians who
were encrgetically intcrposng objections TO tho
further encroachments OF the white race.
Today all OF that territory is n veritable store
house OF wealth and prosperity and content
ment. The buffalo atfordtng the means Of sub
distance to tho hardy pioneers who dared TO
enter the unknown regions, has played his part
and disappeared save In artificial parks and
pastures whore the species Is being preserved
for the entertainment of posterlty. The once
proud races OF free men who originally owned
ana esercised Jurisdiction over tho great plains
and tho mountains. have either been assmlated
by tho onward marching hordcs from the At
lantic seabosrd. have succumted TO disease or
arc gathered In miserable fragments on tho
various reservations throughout the west.
And where these were wont 70 dsport them
selves In primeval abandon, great cities exist
served by every modern invention and conven-
made to return great wealth to their owners
and contributions to the food and feed supplies
OF tho world. when Fort Dearborn was estab-
lshed as protective outpost for tho human
society that had its conter the Atlantic sea-
board, and which itself was in its very swaddlinp
clothes. score OF Civilizations that now stand
outstrlpped by the then experimental republic
in the western hemisphere. were hoary with age
Tho ocutcrs OF culture. OF wealth, OF authority
OF learning were all east OF the Atlantic Tn,
political world dominance was TO be found or
the continent OF Europe. and few there wer,
who even suspected that there was being planted
in the west seed which would In less than
hundred years grow into civilization whlcl
acknowledge as the most wouderous and pow
orfuI OF all the earth.
Such arc TIE h!sh hshts in that wondorou
period which started with the prairie schooner
trayersing the lakeside trail from the Atanu,
seaboard to Fort Dearborn and which In u
years has developed civilization that has mas
tered the air. In the life OF a single human be
ing the republic OF the west has Rccompllshc,
moro in government. in the arts, in letters II
invention IN statecraft in commerce, IN indus
try than any other human society IN an IN
history OF man accomplished IN a thousau,
years
How did this come about ani what Is tn
ultimate destiny OF n nation 70 richly endowe
ana so wonderousy blessed? Those are ques
lions which are worthy the careful and carnce
study of every citizen Of the republic,
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