Page:Oregon Literature by Horner.djvu/13



Long ago the scholars of the East passed the lamp of learning from England westward to Boston, the front door of America. And from Boston the lamp lighted the way of the pioneer across mountain chains, mighty rivers, and far-reaching plains, till the radiance of its beams skirted the golden shores of our majestic ocean. Then it was that the song of the poet and the wisdom of the sage for the first time blended in beautiful harmony with the songs of the robin, the lark, and the linnet, of our valley. These symphonies floated along on zephyrs richly laden with aromas fresh from the field and flowers and forests, and were wafted heavenward with the prayers of the pioneer to mingle forever in adoration to the God of the land and the sea. This was the origin and the beginning of Oregon literature.

A fearless people among savages, the Oregon pioneers surmounted every obstacle, for they had graduated from the hard training school of the plains and had suffered severe discipline known only to the early settler. Hon. George H. Williams, attorney-general of President Grant's cabinet, said: "When the pioneers arrived here they