BANCROFT LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA THE PIONEER The Pioneer By ,. S. Mercer Price $1.00 Printed and bound by The Henneberry Company Chicago E / M Copyrighted, 1913, by A. S. MERCER All rights reserved BANCROFT LIBRARY THE PIONEER Lovingly dedicated to the Pioneers, their children and children's children withersoever dispersed aronnd the globe, by the author. Preface USHERED into the lap and nourished from the breast of a Pioneer Moth- er, it is but natural that I should have imparted into my being strong sym- pathies for the pioneers. As a little tot I sat in a circle around the yule log fire on Christmas Eve when the pioneers of the neighborhood were gathered and listened to the stories of the hardships, endurance and by vicissitudes of the early pathfind- ers. The Indian Chief Shabona, the white man's friend, with his tribe still tarried in our vicinity and he was a frequent visitor at my father's house. During all of my earlier years my chief associations were with the pioneers who were domiciled 11 13 THE PIONEER around. In fact, with the exception of a few years spent at school my entire life has been associated almost continually with these heroic characters. I have studied them from the tangent of every possible arc of their life circle. I ought to know them and I do from Alpha to Omega. The picture that I have drawn in the fol- lowing pages of these heroic characters is not a fiction nor a fancy, but one of real personalities. The pioneer was not the product of any particular section of the country. Latitudinal and longitudinal lines cut no figure in their development. The southern, the middle and northern zones stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific all knew them and recognized their sterling qualities. They were the same in- dividuals wherever found, their thoughts, THE PIONEER 13 impulses and actions the same. At this time there are but few of them left, gener- ally they have crossed the great divide and their spirits have found their way and they are seated high up in that "house not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens." In the United States there are practically left no fields for the pioneer to conquer. He has blazed the way to every section and millions have followed him to happy homes, but his children are left who should point with pride to their forbears, and treasure lovingly remembrances of them. I am proud to be able to give to the world a true and honest description of these wonderful individuals. The ac- knowledgment of their worth comes late, but people will appreciate it even now. 14 THE PIONEER BOOKS IN PREPARATION BY COL. A. S. MERCER Reason and Instinct This will be a book of two hundred and odd pages. It will demonstrate beyond any question of doubt that our so called dumb animals and wild beasts have the same reasoning capacity that boastful men possess. A lifetime's experience has given unnumbered examples showing clear dem- onstrations of rashoshunation if not phi- losophy. These stories will not be bor- rowed from newspaper reports, but will be recitals of things really seen. Will probably be on the market the first of the coming year, and should be a wel- come visitor to every house throughout the land. Price, $1.50. THE PIONEER 15 Rhythms From the Log of the Duphuny Gluh This will be a book of four hundred or more pages. It will consist of a little phi- losophy, a good deal of landscape word painting; actual experiences and true sto- ries of frontier life. There will be some pictures founded on facts and a few in- stances where the imagination will be given full sway. Will be on the market about May I, 1914. Price, $2.00. "THE PIONEER" By Col. A. S. Mercer THE word "pioneer" opens up an end- less chain of thought and sheds a halo over our land from ocean to ocean. Scarce a league of terra firma, from the sun-kissed shores of the southern seas where the orange yellows on the tree, the grape purples on the vine and nature delivers her stores with open hand, to the frozen north where only the lichen clings to the rocks as a pledge that the laws of production have not been repealed, but has thrilled at the tread of this matchless fore- runner of civilization. The branches of the trees of the prime- val forests of the Atlantic seacoast bowed to the pioneer as he approached, with rifle 16 THE PIONEER 17 and axe, with a welcome as sweet as a maiden's kiss. As he advanced, the prairies this side of the Alleghenys covered themselves with red, yellow and purple blooms as a greet- ing and a promise. The great American desert, stretching from the Missouri to the Rockies the backbone of the continent forbidding as it was to the average man, held out tokens to this dauntless spirit and bade him not despair. Then the mountains raised their heads across his pathway for thousands of miles, robed in white and skirted with green. Each towering peak that kissed the sky and each spring that bubbled up and trickled down over moss covered rocks, 18 THE PIONEER meandering midst evergreen shrubs and ferns, were veritable sign manuals to seal the invitation to come and rest in their shade and drink of their limped waters. Once the summits of the Rockies were scaled a panoramic view was spread before the wondering eyes, illimitable, brown and sear, yet withal entrancing. Desert gloom was there, but pine-clad hills and grassy knolls lifted their heads as signs that all was not bad. Last came the slopes of the Pacific, their giant trees, verdure clothed hills and sunny vales laughing in glee and warbling joyous notes of welcome to him who dared ap- proach. Who was and is this pioneer who came forth to spy out the land? He was the THE PIONEER 19 gift of the creator. A man who loved his fellow men. A man every pulsation of whose heart was sympathetic. That restless spirit that gave up the sweet caresses of loved ones near and clear; that broke away from friendships lifelong; that threw aside the treasures and allurements of developed and organ- ized society and, taking his life in his hands, boldly marched out into wild and unknown regions, was actuated by some motive higher than the love of adventure or the lust for personal renown. Analyzed from the standpoint of his life on the frontier the conclusion is irresisti- ble that there were two underlying motives that governed his actions and determined his life work. First, he loved his race and 20 THE PIONEER desired to get out from under the influence of the rapidly spreading idea and practice, crystallized in the modern expression "do your neighbor before he does you." He believed in the brotherhood of man. That kindness and benevolence to that brother should be the rule not the exception. Seeing everywhere about him the con- verse of this, he grew nervous and longed to change his environments. Second, there is a subtile influence that surrounds us all, weak in some, strong in others, which stimulates a desire to go forth and do something different from the conventional and in harmony with natural laws. What is the source of this desire comparatively few understand and fewer still stop to consider. The truth is that it is a part of the Divine plan. THE PIONEER 21 Away back in the early days of our gen- ealogy the command went forth from the Creator "Go ye out into the world and sub- due it." With the command came the moving spirit, the longing to "go out" and do our part in the great work of subduing nature making it contribute to the wants and necessities of him who was created in the image and after the likeness of God. Looking down the ages we discover this as a more or less active characteristic of the human race from the time of the first wrestling match in the garden when Adam shirked and cast all the blame on the woman even down to the present day. Thus we have before us the pioneer un- masked. He stands there the exponent of love, faith and honor a holy trinity. 22 THE PIONEER Love the cornerstone, faith the superstruc- ture, and honor the polar star that even guides and controls. Search the annals of every frontier settlement from Plymouth Rock to the golden sands of the Pacific and the records will show that every latch- string hung on the outside. That such as he had freely he gave unto all comers ; that welcome, the sweetest word in all lan- guages, save love, was written in big let- ters above the door, blazoned on every approach and beamed from the face and eyes of every member of the household. That no sorrow laden individual ever came without receiving the fullest measure of sympathy and comfort. That each one helped and sought the good of his neigh- bors as conscientiously as he sought his own that the helping hand was ever out- THE PIONEER 23 stretched to all. That in case of sickness there was ever a watcher at the bedside administering without money and without price. When the pale horse stalked into their midst, loving neighborly hands closed the eyes, fashioned the shroud, dug the grave, made the coffin and tenderly laid the form away in the dust of which it was made, to sleep the last sleep and rest from toil and pain. Generally there was no minister to lead the exercises and some neighbor, perhaps uneducated in the choice of words, dropped the sprig of acacia in the open grave as a symbol of the faith that though gone from earth the loved one still lives ; said a few plain words that came from the heart, unalloyed; re- peated the Lord's prayer he had learned to lisp at his mother's knee, and bowed, 24 THE PIONEER uncovered, in the presence of death and the assembled mourners. These records prove the unimpeachable honor, as well as the loving manliness of the pioneer. His word was his bond, his law and gospel. No written bond in double the sum, with the pound of flesh as penalty, was given or required. To ques- tion one's word was to impugn his honor, and trouble followed. Unfettered by stat- utory enactments, free as the wind that swept o'er mountain and plain the free- man whom the truth made free his actions were shaped and controlled by an innate consciousness of right, which, being in harmony with the convictions of his neighbors, formed an unwritten law as binding as the sentence of the highest THE PIONEER 25 court and as unalterable as the statutes of the Medes and Persians, or the laws of nature that hold the stars in place. There seems to be a general disposition among right thinking people to accept the Ben Adhim idea of love of fellow men as a close approximation to real Christianity. The little poem by Leigh Hunt entitled "Abou Ben Adhim" illustrates very clearly the kind of men who made up the list of pioneers : "They loved their fellow men/' 26 THE PIONEER Abou Ben Ad him and the Angel Abou Ben Adhim, may his tribe increase, Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw, within the moonlight in his room, Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, An Angel, writing in a book of gold : Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhim bold, And to the presence in the room he said, "What writest thou?" The vision raised its head, And, with a look made of all sweet accord, Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord." "And is mine one " said Abou, "Nay, not so," Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, But cheerily still ; and said, "I pray thee, then, Write me as one who loves his fellow men." The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night It came again with a great wakening light, And showed the names whom love of God had blessed, And lo : Ben Adhim's name led all the rest. THE PIONEER 27 The pioneer was not always a scholar, but he was always a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. He was a dia- mond in the rough, perhaps as a rule, but occasionally he was found possessing the polish and learning of the collegiate. This I discovered to my amazement in the spring of 1861 on the beach of Puget Sound, a few days after my arrival in that sunset land. Strolling by the water's edge, sniffing the invigorating salt air and revelling in the magnificent view of the Olympian range of mountains fifty miles across the blue waters and green forests bordering Admirality Inlet, suddenly I came upon a middle aged man shaving and shaping ox yokes under the shade of a bower house on the sea-girt shore. Ar- rayed in pants and shirt carrying all of the 28 THE PIONEER patchwork colors of Joseph's celebrated coat, I accosted him as an old timer and among other inquiries asked as to the healthfulness of the country. This was his answer: "It is generally supposed that the constant inhalation of an aqueous atmosphere is deleterious to the lungs, but my experience here fails to verify the opin- ion." Here was a sentence not only cor- rect but one in which the most exact terms were employed and the fewest possible number of words used to express the de- sired meaning. Naturally I sought his further acquaintance and learned that he was a college bred man who had "gone out into the world to help subdue it" and was a true soldier in the frontier battalion. Such experiences as this were not un- common in truth, the pioneer averages THE PIONEER 29 up a good deal higher in intelligence and resourcefulness than does the average por- tion of the human race, taken as a whole. As confirmatory of the statement that the true pioneer was always a willing help- er, I may give some further personal expe- rience. When I located in Seattle in the spring of 1861, there was less than one hundred people in the town and about half that number in the surrounding country settlements. Everyone was pleased to see a newcomer and especially so if he had come with a family. On his arrival, if he desired to take up land, and become a farmer, some one was appointed to show him the vacant claims. Having made his selection, the preacher, the doctor, the ped- agogue, the merchant and half a score of others, with axes, saws, frows, etc., all car- 30 THE PIONEER rying a lunch, accompanied the stranger on foot or by canoe as there were no horses and wagons to his claim, and be- fore nightfall there was completed a com- modious cabin, clapboard roof, puncheon floor and a door with wooden hinges, the latchstring of rawhide left hanging on the "outside." This was not the exception but the rule for many years and the practice prevailed from the rock-bound coast of the Atlantic away to the pebbly beach of the Pacific. The hardships, sufferings and endur- ance of the pioneer never have been and never can be fully told. They mark the darkest, most sublime, yet from a historic standpoint the brightest page in American history. It was one constant battle to the death, notwithstanding the rainbow prom- THE PIONEER 31 ises held up to lure him on. Words are inadequate. The marvelous descriptive powers of a Victor Hugo and the magnetic speech of an Edward Everett are as pale as moonbeams to the searching rays of a mid- day sun on Sahara's desert sands in their weakness to draw the picture of this hero of hssS9 in his westward, conquering march. We of today ride in our carriages over macadamized roads at our leisure, or fly across the continent in palace cars on busi- ness or pleasure bent, admiring the beauti- ful homes that line our way, and going into ecstasies of delight at the panoramic views of mountain, plain and gorge with- out a thought of him who led the way. But for this courageous individual such things could not be. 32 THE PIONEER But for the pioneer who fought his way step by step amidst vicissitudes and perils great, across the Alleghenies, the black dia- monds of Pittsburgh would still lie buried in their earthy fastness ; her hundred hills covered with residence and business pal- aces would still be clothed in nature's garb ; her millions upon millions of annual products be unknown in commercial marts. But for this same pioneer, who literally waded the swamps of western Ohio and Indiana, reeking as they were with ma- laria and smelling of death, Lake Mich- igan would be a veritable dead sea save for the fish that swim in its waters and the wild fowl that wing their passage o'er its surface. Chicago, the marvel of all peo- ple, and of all ages, would have no exist- ence its countless arteries of trade that THE PIONEER 33 lead toward the setting sun would never have been vitalized. The great west, home of millions of free, fearless people, would today be inhabited by only the beasts of the forest and plain, and the red man, still untutored, carrying the tomahawk and scalping knife. The great hope and uplifter of the race free homes would have failed to do its work. Let us go for a moment with this pio- neer as he ventures forth. In the early days of the western pilgrimages the wife and babe in arms rode the one horse be- longing to the family. The husband and father leading the way on foot with gun and hunting knife and loaded down with parched corn and blankets. If there were 34 THE PIONEER older children they followed in single file, as there were no roads, not even a trail. Trusting in God and his unerring aim, he crossed over mountain and plain, pick- ing his way through forests dense, wading streams and camping where the shades of evening fell upon his pathway. In this manner the sun by day and the milky way by night, his chart and compass - hundreds of miles were traversed, every foot of his route bordered by wild beasts and the lurking foe of the paleface the painted red man. The quality of men and women who dared the hardships of pioneer life, phys- ically, mentally and morally was such as to leave an imprint upon the future that time cannot destroy. Not only were they THE PIONEER 35 pure in mind and heart, with a loving-kind- ness as sweet as that emanating from the garden of Gethsemane, but they possessed undying energy and courage unsurpassed in ancient or modern warfare. The pioneer came, not like an army with banners, buoyed by the concord of sweet sounds from string and wind instruments and the touch of shoulder to shoulder as they marched, sweeping all before them; but in groups of twos and three treading their way through trackless woods and over burning sands, passing at myriad points the bleaching bones of those who have essayed to pass before them. These white landmarks, glittering in the noon- day sun are the milestones of our western civilization, at every one of which should be erected an altar, built of shining gran- 36 THE PIONEER ite, decorated with precious stones and be- dewed with the breath and tears of mil- lions of heart offerings at the sacred shrines. Realizing the early conditions and studying the character of the men and women who accepted them, still forging ahead into the unknown, we are enabled to arrive at a fair estimate of the sterling mettle of their descendants and picture in our mind's eye what their influence is to be in the molding of opinions and the con- trol of the land they captured and peopled. Thus through all the pathless realms came our forbears, planting the seeds of an aftermath that was to grow into shapely man and womanhood and form an imperial part in shaping the destinies of a great nation. THE PIONEER 37 Following closely behind these outriders and seed planters of a permanent and healthy civilization came the second crop, men and women fashioned largely after their forerunners, filled with hope, purity of purpose and endowed with sublime courage. This was the era of the Prairie Schooner, lovingly and faithfully de- scribed by Gertrude Ray, of Carrolton, Ohio, under the caption of the Empire Ship I have sung my songs to the stately ships That are sailing the seven seas, But today I sing of a cruder craft that Laughed at the lulling breeze. Of the Prairie Schooner quaint and slow, With its dim and dusty sails, A phantom ship of the long ago, Adrift in the grass grown trails. Westward ho. Westward ho. 38 THE PIONEER Out where the winds are sweet and low, And the grassy cradles swing and sway, The Star of Empire takes its way. Westward ho. Ere the bellowing steed of steel and steam Had startled the sleeping deer ; Where the curlew whistled its timid call To the gray goose nesting near, Through the fair fresh prairies, hushed and hid Where the wild wolf made her den, There came this land-launched schooner Manned by bronzed and brawny men. Westward ho. Westward ho. Out where the bold brisk breezes blow, And a young world walks in the fields of May. The Star of Empire takes its way. Westward ho. And in that marvelous ship that sailed To the shores of the wondrous west, THE PIONEER 39 Was a mother who caroled a song of joy To trie babe at her happy breast ; And stowed away in the good ship's hold Were a book and a plow and a pen, And a sickle and seeds yea, all God needs For the making of matchless men, Westward ho. Westward ho. Out where the golden harvests glow, And the builders are building day by day, The Star of Empire takes it way. Westward ho. These "phantom ships" set their courses to every point of the compass and after stormy passages anchored on the broad plains of the trans-Missouri, in the moun- tains, valleys and on the slopes of the Pa- cific. Their wakes were veritable trails of blood, but the heroic sailors forming the crews of these scattered sails stood to their guns, and, notwithstanding their thinned 40 THE PIONEER ranks, finally conquered a lasting peace that opened up the vast and golden west to the on-coming home-seeker. History will repeat the story of the Meeker massacre, the Custer extermina- tion and a few of the more noted encount- ers with the savage tribes, but who will chronic the thousands upon thousands of minor conflicts where single individuals or entire families gave their lives left their bodies as feasts for the wolves and their bones to whiten and crumble on the sun scorched plains in their struggle for homes ? Who will tell the story to future genera- tions of the heartaches, the long vigils kept and the nervous strain of those pioneer mothers in their lonely cabins, while the THE PIONEER 41 father was absent in search for meat to fill the empty larder or on the quarterly trip to the distant trading post for needed supplies and the letters from the loved ones in far away lands? Who will tell the story of the hardships endured, the great labor performed in the planting and building up of the homes scattered over an area thousands of miles square with no roads, no markets, no sup- ply stores and often no money? An un- conquered but willing nature was the source of supply and a strong arm the only key by which the storehouse was to be unlocked. Through all of these troubles the pio- neer has passed and the country is now full or rapidly filling with an ambitious BANCROFT LIBRARY 42 THE PIONEER people. The church stands on the hill; the little red school house nestles by the roadside and the home with all that the word implies, is everywhere in evidence and a generous prosperity marks the pres- ent era. As indicated in the last line of the little poem repeated, we are "growing match- less men," yea, and peerless women, whose patriotic inspirations will encircle the earth and live until time shall be no more. That the east recognizes the splendid character of our western grown men, per- haps could not be more clearly shown or more aptly illustrated in few words than by relating the following incident: Some thirty years ago a very distin- guished and greatly loved Mayor of Bos- THE PIONEER 43 ton made a trip to the then west, spending some weeks mixing with the people. Re- turning to his home of noted culture his friends gave him a public reception. Be- ing asked his opinion of the men with whom he had broken bread in the outlying districts he said: "The western man is simply a yankee enlarged." And why should he not be a yankee en- larged ? He comes of stock that, like gold, has passed through a furnace seven times heated and purged of its dross. His ideals are formed from a study of his ancestry and of necessity are high. As long as he keeps in mind the crowning characteristics of that line from which he springs, so long will he be a power against which the com- bined assaults of modern anti-democratic influence will beat in vain. Hence the im- 44 THE PIONEER portance of placing the pioneer in his true light before the present and future genera- tions, that all may know and appreciate his sturdy manhood, unswerving rectitude and loyalty to the simple forms of free government. Then to the pioneer let us say: "Ave atque vale" hail and farewell. You came as the trusted agent of the Lord. You have done your work and soon the world will know you no more forever. Search the records of all time and nowhere will be found a class of braver, more noble men, nor a class who have accomplished so much for their race, or left such endur- ing monuments to personal worth and honor. One by one as they have passed to that upper realm their spirits have winged their way to that glorious Valhalla THE PIONEER 45 where none but heroes find entrance. Again let us say: "Ave atque vale" hail and farewell. Hark. Hearest thou that soft soothing sound? It comes from the echoless shore. " Tis the flutter of angels' wings as they gather from their heavenly mansions with expectant look and beaming spirits; the voices of sweet, loving mothers who have gone before and patiently awaited the coming of their sons ; the pattering of lit- tle children's feet as they run o'er the golden street to the pearly portal. From the great white throne issues the com- mand: Open ye the gate. Ah, who comes there? Not the mili- tary chieftain with his martial tread and glittering sword, pointing to a million 46 THE PIONEER dead on sundry battlefields as his proud record and merit card of admission; not the king upon whose vassals the sun never went down and who comes with coach and six, and tasselated outriders; not the dis- tinguished citizen who dressed in purple and fine linen and sat in the high places. No, none of these, but the pioneer, weary of step but with the consciousness of work well done shining in his eyes. Again a voice from the great white throne: "Let him enter. He was the true and loyal pathfinder. He raised no brazen serpent by the roadside, but he hung the starry flag of hope on the hill- top, in the vale and the glen. His candle was ever lighted and millions have fol- lowed him to happy homes. His foot- THE PIONEER 47 steps, though oft leading o'er burning sands and cactus plains, through forests dense that teemed with countless foes ; o'er craggy peaks and hanging rocks, always pointed the way to a land of final peace and happiness. His heart was always right; his motives pure. Come now to thy recompense." *