Page:History of Oregon - Carey volume 1.djvu/11



The narrative of the discovery, settlement and development of the Oregon Country, in which there is so much of human interest, leads naturally to reflection upon the circumstances that brought it within the domain of the United States. Chance left the discovery of the great waterway to an American, and whatever part destiny may have had in the series of fortuitous happenings that afterwards strengthened the claims of the Americans to this vast empire, it is clear that the practicability of reaching the territory from neighboring lands, then already under the flag of the republic, and the opportunity thus afforded to begin and to continue the steady stream of ox trains across the plains, made the sovereignty of the United States inevitable.

The generation that dared the great adventure has passed away, excepting as a few survivors linger upon the stage to pronounce the epilogue of the drama of the pioneer. The deeply furrowed trail is superseded by the boulevard, and the ox wagon is transformed into the motor car, while the halting and limping despatches of the earlier time may now be delivered by the audible voice or by wireless pulsations across the vast stretches of the continent. The frugal and primitive makeshifts of the early settler have given way to the surfeit of a luxurious age in a land of plenty. Cities and ports have been builded, the flow of streams has been converted to light and power, the buried treasures of the mountains have been brought forth, the forest-clad fields have yielded to the ax and the plow, and irrigation has aided in making glad the barren places. Thousands have followed to the land by the Western Sea and have found home and comfort there. This transformation from the era of the fur trader and the canoeman within the lifetime of persons still living is "an old tale and often told."

The literature of ancient Greece has preserved for all time the flavor of the romance and the poetry of that country and of its ancient people. The stories of heroes, and the folk tales of myth and of fancy that cluster about early Roman history, have been made imperishable by poets and writers of the olden times. The chivalry of the middle ages, with its charm of romantic sentiment and incident, is imbedded in the world's priceless literature. Just so, the genius of Sir Walter Scott created and preserved for all time living pictures of Scottish life in its verdant setting of hills and plains, lakes and swift-rushing tarns. In truth, therefore, while history has its value, its province is limited, and ultimately it must be supplemented by literature; fact must be touched by the golden wand of genius and embellished with the ornament of imagination.

The search for the unknown Pacific Northwest is a story throbbing with vital interest, as is also the opening of the Oregon Trail, and the founding and building up of a great commonwealth in the Oregon Country. The mellowing of time will but add charm, without diminishing the interest of the events and the scenes of Oregon's traditions. The narratives of the courageous