The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1939-05-26
ADVENTUROUS.
AMERICANS
By
Elmo Scott Watson
Inrnortalized by a Dam

1nlfnOTCalZeQ Dy LAIN
r ONNEVILLE dam in the Column
~ bia river perpetuates the MEM
DRY of an adventurous explorer who
was both a great success and a
great failure. In 1882 French-born
Capt. Benjamin Bonneville of the
United States army obtained leave
of absence to engage in fur trading
expedition on condition that he ex-
plore the Missouri West and
obtain information concerning the
Indians, the topography of the coun-
try and its economic possibilities.
Two years later he set out at the
head of party of 10 men.
Commercially his venture was
complete failure. He built forts in
such poor locations that the from
tiersmen called them Fort Nom
sense" Some were so high in the
mountains that they were cut off
from the outside by the first SHOWS
of winter. But his expedition was
successful in that he explored the
route through South Pass for wagon
trains and mapped the passage of
the Columbia river through the Cas-
cade mountains. Moreover he was
an able military leader for he did
not lose single man during all
his perilous journey through the In
dian-infested wilderness.
After his return to the East he
met Washington Irving at the home
of John Jacob Astor and the result
was the book ''The Adventures of
Captain Bonneville" by that famous
writer. The book was ''best sell
er" of it's time but it did not help
Bonneville's reputation greatly. He
had long overstayed his leave of
absence and when President Jack
son reinstated him as captain in
1886 many people protested that
Bonneville should have been dis
missed from the service instead.
Bonneville proved them wrong by
his conduct during the Mexican war.
which won for him a citation for
gallantry in action. In 1852 he be-
came commandant at Fort Vancou-
yer which stood 80 miles down the
river from the dam that now bears
his name. He was brevetted a brig
adler general in 1869 and died in st.
Louis in the spring of 1878.
"A Message to Garcia
Out in California lives an 49,
~ year-old retired army officer
whose name was once on every
Americans lips. He is Col. Andrew
Summers Rowan, the man who car
ried "a message to Garcia"
In 1898 war with Spain was inn
minent and President Mckinley
wanted to know if General Garcia,
commander of the Cuban insur-
gents, would cooperate with the
American forces if an army was
sent there. The man chosen to find
out was young Lieutenant Rowan.
Rowan proved that the confidence
Of his superiors was not misplaced.
Making his way through the steam
ing, insect-infested jungle, drinking
germ-filled water, living on such
food as he could find and in constant
danger of capture and execution by
the Spaniards as a spy, Rowan
found Garcia, got the information
he sought and safely made an equal
ly perilous return trip.
Rowan was taken to the White
House where he received the thanks
of the President and promoted to
the rank of Northumberland of vol
unteers. But the thing which made
him famous was an editorial, writ
ten by Elbert Hubbard, for his mag
azine, the Philistine, the following
year. This editorial, published under
the title of "a Message to Garcia"
was translated into 20 languages,
reprinted all over the world and is
one Of the best known pieces of Eng
lish prose ever written.
AS for the man who inspired it,
not until 1922 did he receive public
recognition from his country in the
form of the Distinguished Service
Cross for carrying the message to
Garcia"
Death Valley Samaritan