| Show valley forge an earnest effort as made to pass the ithe bill before congress to convert into a national park the I 1 historic hia camp MOUNT VERNOI As A it ie Is today grounds ot of alley iorge I orge here where wash ington and his hl men passed the bitter winter of 1778 17 78 A mall small portion ot of the tract ha has been acquired by the state of 0 pennsylvania and the well pre gerred ered brick building in which washington had his headquarters la is now owned and cared tre for by a patriotic body formed it at the centennial center nial lal of valley ley forge but the larger a and equally historic portion of the tle field on abl h the eol alers llers camped aud suffered luff ered a till in the handa hands ut print privet owner owners the enta and other landmark landmarks are gradually era dually vanishing it Is desirable that the whole tract be acquired fc the national government overn ment and be fo er r ved ai as a national park as in the case of the chickamauga H and gettysburg Getty burg battlefields it is a curious fact that the movement to preserve pr cerve historic grounds of his hi kind at the national expense has come only ince the civil war the idea teem seems to bare bave started artel tr tel from the treat great cemeteries where so many or of the soldiers old ler of the civil a ar r he lie burled rl near where whore they feil fell T the he extension of ot the reservA reservation tiou to include the whole field of con conflict flici and to pree pre err verr its his bli landmarks under federal author ity was wits a natural step from front thil his begin ding aing at last it has dawned upon the people that it may be well to extend the same process to tho the more important revolutionary battlefields private associations ond and city or state governments have done some good work in this direction but it la Is only of recent years that the plan for or national reser tation has had any serious consideration there has been talk of baking making such a park of the historic grounds at saratoga where burgoyne surrendered to gates the proposition to preserve the valley alley forge t Is one that appeals till still more strongly to the imagination of the patriotic american for or the suf u ferincz of that terrible winter te testa d the nerve of washington 11 and of his bis patriots even more severely 1 than the dangers of battle it Is strange range that the idea of reserving BerrIng re this spot as not acted upon a century ago when the bole tract could have been bought tor for a trifle it should be bought now and guarded ai as sacredly as mount ver non 1 |
