Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/383

377 THE WINNING OF THE OREGON COUNTRY. 377 man, other than here and there a rude cabin, telling the wary savage or the lonely settler that within its walls the dreams of empire filled the brain of the pioneer. Here in these early days, upon the pathless prairies, and through these untrodden forests, our ancestors made their habita- tions, and in the vigor of youth began the conquest for this great Commonwealth. Uncover our heads, to those who remain! Not much longer will they bid the stranger welcome within their doors. Many of their households are rudely broken ; the companions of these golden and heroic days have long since felt the touch of death, and here and there, unattended, but not forgotten, a few re- main. It is said that when the soldiers under Napoleon at Waterloo met on the field of battle after the great slaughter, and saw the remnant of that once glorious army, they threw down their arms and embracing each other wept like children. When the few remaining pioneers meet together each passing year, and witness their broken ranks, recount their early sorrows and suffering, and treasure the precious memory of those who have fallen in the great struggle, there must come to them an affection- ate recollection of those times and a sense of pain that these reunions will soon cease. They will soon be gath- ered to their fathers. We, their children, who have felt the touch of their hospitable hand and looked into their honest faces, have received from them a priceless inherit- ance. The words spoken seventy-two years ago at Bunker Hill appropriately express our thoughts : "And let the sacred obligations which have devolved on this gen- eration and on us sink deep into our hearts. Those are daily dropping from among us who established our liberty and our government. The great trust now descends to new hands. L^t us apply ourselves to that which is presented to us, as our appropriate object. We can win no laurels in a war for independence. Earlier and worthier hands have gathered them all. Nor are there places for us by the side of Solon and Alfred and other founders of states. Our fathers have filled