Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/223

 Two COMMONWEALTH BUILDERS. 215 k k After this active, eager life had passed and failing health gave him ample time for retrospective meditation, he realized that he had lived through a grand period of pioneer history and remarked, as he looked forward into the future in store for the rising generation, 'I do not know that I would ex- change the rich chapters of my own life for all the future op- portunities of these young men.' ' ' For he was the pioneer geologist who, by his own original research, caught the first glimpse of Oregon 's oldest land as it rose from the ocean bed; he saw the seashells upon her oldest beaches; watched the development of her grand forests; saw her first strange mammals feeding upon her old lake shores; he listened in imagination to the cannonading of her first volcanoes and traced the showers of ashes and great floods of lava. He followed the creation of Oregon step by step all through her long geological history and then entered with enthusiasm into the industrial and educational development of her present life. "But, above all, infinitely above all, he prized and labored for the noble character of her sons and daughters. Is it any wonder that his heart was full of gratitude to God for having guided him into such a rich heritage of life?" The following statement of Professor Condon's published contributions to geology, by Chester W. Washburne, appeared in the Journal of Geology, Vol. XV, No. 3, April-May, 1907 : "The death (February 11, 1907) of Professor Thomas Con- don ended a life little known among scientists, yet a life of considerable service to geology. to have no desire to publish the results of his study. There are but few papers, only eight strictly geological, and one book, published over his name. But the writings of the sci- entists of his day Le Conte, Dana, Marsh, Cope, and others are full of references to Dr. Condon, and all of them ac- knowledge his contribution to science by exploration and theory. so enriched our knowledge of Tertiary vertebrates. Here he found some of the specimens of three-toed horses on which
 * ' Professor Condon was an unusual man in that he seemed
 * * Condon discovered the famous John Day beds which have