Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 15.djvu/87



MEMORIAL ADDRESS FOR F. X. MATTHIEU 79

the influence of these two men been cast, on that crucial day, in favor of British domination, the Oregon Country would have been lost to the flag.

What then of the map, and of the history of the Pacific Coast, and the Middle West? Who would now be harvesting the rich treasures of Alaska, and who would now be building the great waterway that is to divide the continent? Not only did the participants have little appreciation of all that was involved in that meeting, but its full significance apparently did not dawn upon the people of this state until after the lapse of nearly two generations. Fifty-eight years had gone by when, on May 2, 1901, a monument was erected and dedicated, upon these grounds, to the memory of the 51 dead, and as a suggestion to the sole survivor, that in the part he took in that event he had the good fortune to permanently link his name with one of the really important events of American history.

As that monument arose what must have been the emotions of the man, all of whose 51 companions had gone over the Divide, and into the great undiscovered country O'f the dead? It has been said that the three red letter days of his life were his birthday, Christmas, and the second day of May. Who would have denied to him the satisfaction, that was his in the closing years of his life, of knowing that his services were finally appreciated, and that his name was for all time to have a conspicuous place upon Oregon's roll of pioneers ? Trivial events have changed the face of history, and moulded the fate of nations. A single vote has made a President. A single vote has elected governors. A single vote in our highest courts has settled questions of even international importance, but seldom in history has a single vote involved results of greater importance than did the deciding vote of Francis Xavier Mat- thieu on the second day of May, 1843. It was but the well- considered vote of a normal man, with the average poise and balance and temperament of a good citizen. Good citizenship has been the one insistent requirement of all times. The crying need of the distracted republic upon our southern border, is not a leader, but an intelligent and law-abiding electorate.