The Coolidge examiner., 1932-04-29


eral are armed
The pioneer man has been sung of in plen
ty too often the woman pioneer is fOrgotten
the heroics belong to the male, but his mate
gave in pride and faith so that her sons and
his might know what is the meaning of a mans
life and a woman's spirit adventure.
I'VE take up the task eternal
And the burden and the lesson,
Pioneers, o pioneers!'
. .
In the light of this writer's words "She had
a Spirit Sense Always she was buoyed in
her heart by the thought that she was in the
service of a Higher Power, working in the Lords
vineyard-a bleak enough one as it turned out
to be-" it is interesting to note that the final
selection for the Marand memorial was not
that of a woman holding a rifle, an axe or a
scythe. Instead it was woman carrying under
her arm a Bible!
AS Mr.. Casey says, one of the models that of
the Puritan woman ('The Pilgrim Mother Waves
Farewell" shown above) is not the pioneer wom-
an most Americans will have in their minds
eyes But even though this woman, because of
her garb may not well represent the pioneer
woman Of other sections Of the country and Of
other periods, the fact remains that the Pill
grim woman and the Puritan woman of Massa-
them a special need of honor is due.
.
fitting tribute to them was paid at the dedi-
cation of the Pilgrim Memorial Fountain in
Plymouth, Mass. in 1925 by Mrs. George May
nard Minor honorary president general of the
D. A. r. when she said:
On their monument we say: They brought
up their families in sturdy virtue and living
faith in God without which nations perish"
After daring the perils of the unknown
ocean and the still more unknown land, after
sharing with the, men all the hardships and
privations and sufferings of voyage of weeks
in cOckle-shell of boat and landing on a
desOlate and savage coast in the dead of
winter, inhabited only by wild men and wild
beasts, after experiences that might well over
come the hardest and most gallant nature,
they settled down to the making of homes,
with a faith in the daily presence and guild
ance of God which sustained them in every
hour of need
Through hunger and starvation, through
sickness and death which exacted the toll of
half their number, they toiled on and endured,
looking only toward the goal of their high
calling in Christ Jesus.
We hear far more about the Pilgrim Fa-
Tiers than we do about the Pilgrim Mothers.
While in no way wishing to detract from the
rightful glory of the Fathers, nevertheless,
it is time that the world realized the part
that these women played in civilization. 1t
is time that history took note of them. Rarely,
if ever, are they mentioned by name except
in the geneaOgies, by specialists in Pill
grim history. Their names, with few eXcep-
tions are not household words in tongues,
like those of Miles Standish, William
Bradford and the rest They figure only in
the passenger list of the MayhOwer and only
as Mary or Katherine" etc, wife of SO
and SO. The family names of but few are
given. The names of literally
known, not the baptismal name being
recorded These latter figure solely as the
wives of the Fathers, without further identi-
fication
We may read the tragic list for ourselves.
The wife of John Tilly-whO was she? By
what she called in those terrific
years of sorrow and suffering? The maidserv-
ant of the Carvers-who was she? What faith
fulness and courage must have been hers to
adventure Yet her name is lost and her
identity sunk in oblivion.
We have inscribed on our fountain all the
names that are known; we have cut them into
deathless stone, that all coming generations
may read and remember. And have so
indicated the nameless that they may share
in the immortality of the rest. Unknown sol
diers of a future nation, salute you
% by Western Newspaper Union.)