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Show Hf 'h'lSlBi The Lewis and Clark Expedition. f IjSPnB The American Historical Magazine has an cx- HB flliSH tended account of the expedition of Lewis and IF wKBk Clark from St. Louis to Oregon and return in Hi ;!49H 1804-05-OG. The details of the journey have often H! ' jfl( been given. They make a record of hardship un- 'it'mwBn complainingly borne, of dangers calmly met, a liMB record of unconscious heroism and devotion to H8 twyBBj duty of the very highest order the whole achieve- Bl 'JwSHK! ment as fine as can be found in all the pages H v 8ctWB' of history. Perhaps no two men could have been H "IImIIHk selected who would have done tho work so well, Hgj ; mhHHp for both training and instinct they wore per- Hh mSmSm- fectly fitted for the work, and their finding and H ' ' IxnHH' securing the services of the indomitable Indian H I'jnflH1; woman who was at once the cook, the pilot and H I '5flB the inspiration of the travelers, was the best evi- HH 9HHe dence supplied that a merciful Providence was XBg , iiJSBIK watching and keeping tho account. HI i ilBflfll But to the thoughtful person tho significance B&E1 VuiflBBI of the journey is more than all else. The young WBm wlXHH republic was weak and poor, and its greater half BUl 'CjuR was but an unexplored wilderness. The existence H 'flflB of its westorn shore was only known by the re- H TlHHIi ports of a few snip masters, and they seemed more WBa ''nSfls' like legends than reality. However, they gave Kfffl li'SllK the latitude and longitude, so that it was possible EjgJ - iitSIK to compute the distance in an air line. But'iiat Hpl v4'g9Hflj obstructions lay in the way none could es., ate. Hfl !;MIW The seal of the wilderness was upon it, WUen Columbus started on his voyage he had no conception concep-tion of what its length would be, but he knew that the most he could meet would be the ocean and its storms. But Lewis and Clark could make no estimate of What mountains would uprear their crests in their path; what rivers and deserts, what fierce tribes would dispute their way. But an impelling power prompted President Jefferson to have the mystery solved; the same impelling force drove on the two resolute men, who accepted the trust to draw the veil from the face of the mystery that bound that region about. It was a link in the chain of events prepared in advance by destiny which, beginning with the . settlements on the eastern seashore, gave live generations of brave men the discipline necessary to first meet a great war, then to found on a now theory a nation; then, under new lights, to illuminate il-luminate and people a mighty wilderness and round into form such a nation as the world had never , before seen. The boy of three score years ago studied lessons les-sons by a torch light or the light of a tallow dip. The boy of the present day has but to touch a button to flood his room with light. But the boys of old learned their lessons quite, as perfectly as they do now. The trains that sweep over the continent now go blazing through the nights aflame with electric elec-tric lights. But not one of them has half the significance sig-nificance that had the feeble torches lighted by Lewis and Clark. One is but the result of perfected per-fected invention and mechanics; the other was a light kindled by heroism to light the path which Destiny had marked out for a guide for the innumerable in-numerable feet that were to follow. By and by some genius will paint a moving picture to give an object lesson of our nation's majestic career. On that panorama one of the most thrilling pictures will be that Lewis and Clark journey. The audacity of it, the obstacles in the way, the heroism that met those obstacles, the fight against hardships, the way the dangers were met, the surrounding desolation, the awful loneliness, the constant apprehension of mightier obstacles in their front; the final triumph all in all it will make a picture to stir men's blood and quicken their pulses as long as men pay tribute 1 to courage, high endeavor and devotion to duty. I |