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Show Pioneefs ! jQi Pioneers ! if5' Mi s N rff ySMsfi ? r- I A i 1 vi rE' S-.fe A - x5?t?t l one, maybe. One or two of the figures may not iVJ I :s:3 appeal because of their classicism, for the f CKff f Rf4 - TKMadonn.a &f,r U10del t0, e chSen Tv te 4f itSv.f rr' Is ' jf'T' Vv" VV ra rTx-,il V3S -""""v lcan' not Greek or Italian. A noble-looking UU '4 I s 'fH 0l" e - 5-M mother is to be found among the dozen. Sev- '1. ! Zhl eral are armed. . pf.l It .-S'V The pioneer man has been sung of in plen- ' ' J$Jy K 'ri' ty, too often the woman pioneer is forgotten; 'Sj''l FTb'$l t " the heroics belong to the male, but his mate L j C i gave In pride and faith so that her sons and J ssWb" 4rW4!'l$Vfsl his might know what is the meaning of a man's Nw"1 sst&MitJ S!'V?'' life and a woman's spirit adventure. ( v v J ' ' ' ' " " iM " "We take up the task eternal t-n virV And the burden and the lesson, TheRoneer-SS fe?5! Pioneers, O pioneers!" " Tamily n.or.Ten: ,VJ 4 , tC" , 8 In the light of this writer's words : "She had By ELMO SCOTT WATSON K' ' a Spirit Sense ... Always she was buoyed in HE setting aside of one day in the year, f ' i -! her heart by the thought that she was in the 'Tfl the second Sunday in May, for spe- service of a Higher Power, working in the Lord's HT'rX' Cial observance as Mother's Day has tfF 1" -L, vineyard a bleak enough one as it turned out , UJfW been a custom of comparatively re- L si ""'$1 t0 be'" u is interesting to note that the final cent development in this country but ' C ?H selection for the Mnrland memorial was not "CWM; one whose sentiment has appealed 1 3 that of a 'K"oman holding a rifle, an axe or a XaV strongly to all Americans. Similarly, fe.A.f " ' fej scythe. Instead it was a woman carrying under the offering of tangible evidence of Y her arm a Eibie! jf our debt of gratitude to one particu- - TTtfr - As Mr. Casey says, one of the models, that of lar type of mother, who had so much ' CLL- I the Puritan woman ("The Pilgrim Mother Waves tO do With the buildinfr nf nnr nntinn thp ninnppr tiTi'.i10Ki. pwoxo tt ni u i one, maybe. One or two of the figures may not appeal because of their classicism, for the model to be chosen must be of itself American, Amer-ican, not Greek or Italian. A noble-looking mother is to be found among the dozen. Several Sev-eral are armed. The pioneer man has been sung of in plenty, plen-ty, too often the woman pioneer is forgotten; the heroics belong to the male, but his mate gave in pride and faith so that her sons and his might know what is the meaning of a man's life and a woman's spirit adventure. "We take up the task eternal And the burden and the lesson, Pioneers, O pioneers !" V V V V In the light of this wrlter!s words : "She had a Spirit Sense . . . Always she was buoyed in her heart by the thought that she was in the service of a Higher Power, working in the Lord's vineyard a bleak enough one as it turned out to be," It is interesting to note that the final selection for the Marland memorial was not that of a woman holding a rifle, an axe or a scythe. Instead it was a woman carrying under her arm a Bible! As Mr. Casey says, one of the models, that of the Puritan woman ("The Pilgrim Mother Waves Farewell" shown above), is not the pioneer woman wom-an most Americans will have in their minds' eyes. But even though this woman, because of her garb, may not well represent the pioneer woman of other sections of the country and of other periods, the fact remains that the Pilgrim Pil-grim woman and the Puritan woman of Massachusetts Massa-chusetts were the first pioneer mothers and to them a special meed of honor is due. ? 7 ? A fitting tribute to them was paid at the dedication dedi-cation of the Pilgrim Memorial Fountain in Plymouth, Mass., in 1925 by Mrs. George May-nard May-nard Minor, honorary president general of the D. A. R. when she said: On their monument we say : "They brought up their families in sturdy virtue and a living faith in God without which nations perish." After daring the perils of the unknown ocean and the still more unknown laud, after sharing with the men all the hardships and privations and sufferings of a voyage of weeks in a cockle-shell of a boat, and lauding on a desolate and savage coast in the dead of winter, inhabited only by wild men and wild beasts, after experiences that might well overcome over-come the hardiest and most gallant nature, they settled down to the making of homes, with a faith in the daily presence and guidance guid-ance of God which sustained them in every hour of need. Through hunger and starvation, through sickness and death which exacted the toll of half their number, they toiled on and endured, looking only toward the goal of their high calling In Christ Jesus. We hear far more about the Pilgrim Fathers Fa-thers than we do about the Pilgrim Mothers. While in no way wishing to detract from the rightful glory of the Fathers, nevertheless, it is time that the world realized the part that these women played m civilization. It is time that history took note of them. Rarely, if ever, are they mentioned by name, except in the genealogies, or by specialists in Pilgrim Pil-grim history. Their names, with few exceptions, excep-tions, are not household words In our tongues, like those of Miles Standish, or William Bradford and the rest. They figure only in the passenger list of the Mayflower and only as "Mary" or "Katherine," etc., wife of So and So. The family names of but few are given. The names of some are literally unknown, un-known, not even the baptismal name being recorded. These latter figure solely as the wives of the Fathers, without further identification. identi-fication. We may read the tragic list for ourselves. The wife of John Tilly who was she? By what name was she called in those terrific years of sorrow and suffering? The maidservant maidserv-ant of the Carvers who was she? What faithfulness faith-fulness and courage must have been hers to follow her master and mistress into such an adventure. Yet her name is lost and her identity sunk in oblivion. We have Inscribed on our fountain all the names that are known; we have cut them Into deathless stone, that all coming generations may read and remember. And we have so indicated the nameless that they may share in the immortality of the rest. Unknown soldiers sol-diers of a future nation, we salute you! by Western Newspaper Union.) ' 4 . By ELMO SCOTT WATSON HE setting aside of one day in the year, 4f $i the second Sunday in May, for spe-BT spe-BT fV, c'al observance as Mother's Day has , &y4(f been a custom of comparatively re-j.v re-j.v cent development in this country but "yy one whose sentiment has appealed Usr strongly to all Americans. Similarly, JkNv tile offerlnS of tangible evidence of our debt of gratitude to one particu- lar type of mother, who had so much to do with the building of our nation, the pioneer mother, has also come about only recently, but with a great abundanca as though to make up for the former neglect by the very number of memorials to her. An early American poet in paying tribute to "The Mothers of the West," once flung this challenge chal-lenge to his fellow-countrymen : Their monument! where does it stand? Their epitaph! who reads? No braver dames had Sparta, No nobler matrons Rome, Tet who or lauds or honors them, E'en In their own green home! The Mothers of our Forest-Land! They sleep in unknown graves: And had they borne and nursed a band Of lngrates, or of slaves, They had not been more neglected! But their graves shall yet be found, And their monuments dot here ajid there "The Dark and Bloody Ground.". Had this poet lived until now he would have found his answer in many places besides the "Dark and Bloody Ground" of Kentucky. He could be taken over the splendid national highway, high-way, known as the .National Old Trails Road, and In twelve of the cities on that road Beth-esda, Beth-esda, Md. ; Washington, Pa. ; Wheeling, W. Va. ; Springfield, Ohio ; Richmond, Ind. ; Vandalia, 111. ; Lexington, Mo. ; Council Grove, Kan. ; Lamar, La-mar, Colo. ; Albuquerque, N. M. ; Springervllle, Ariz., and Upland, Calif. he could be shown tatues upon each of which Is this inscription "The Madonna of the Trail. N. S. D. A. R. Memorial Me-morial to the Pioneer Mothers of the Covered Wagon Days." V v v v Nor would this chain of memorials which link the Atlantic and the Pacific be the only monuments, monu-ments, erected to perpetuate the memory of the women who followed the star by destiny westward, west-ward, which he could be shownr For recent years have seen an Increasing plumber of Individuals In-dividuals and patriotic organizations giving evidence of a determination to pay a tribute to the pioneer mothers of their communities or their states In some enduring form. The earliest of these was the statue of "The Pilgrim Mother," the work of the distinguished American sculptor, Paul W. Bnrtlett, which was erected in Trovincetown, Mass., in connection with the Pilgrim Tercentenary celebration in 1020. This same mother was also honored in the Pilgrim Memorial fountain at Plymouth, Mass., authorized by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1020 but not actually dedicated until 1025. Just as It was appropriate that the first memorial to a pioneer mother should be erected on the Atlantic coast, so It Is appropriate that the latest one in 1028, should have been erected on the Pacific coast in Vancouver, Wash. In between, in both time and location, have been erected statues of the pioneer mother herself her-self or statuary groups of a pioneer family In Worcester, Mass. ; In Elmwood, 111. ; In Topeka, Kan. ; in Kansas City, Mo. ; near Ponca City, Okla. ; In Wichita, Kan. ; on the campus of the University of Oregon at Eugene; and there are under way projects for similar memorials in other cities and states. In several cases there has been some dispute as to the appropriateness of the delineation of the pioneer mother by some of the sculptors commissioned to execute the memorials. Dis agreements have arisen over details of costume and as to whether or not the pioneer mother should be shown holding a rifle, an axe, or a scythe, as a symbol of the era in which she lived. This was especially true when 12 of the leading sculptors of the country submitted models mod-els for the statue of the pioneer woman which E. W. Marland, the Oklahoma oil millionaire, proposed to erect on the famous Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma, the last government land opened to homesteaders. The 12 different models were exhibited in a number of the leading cities of the country so that the public would be given a chance, by popular vote in each city, to aid Mr. Marland in making his selection. When the exhibit was held in Denver, Colo., it brought from Lee Taylor Tay-lor Casey, an editorial writer on the Rocky Mountain News, the following eloquent tribute to the subject of these models: The Pioneer American Woman ! Not one woman ; the composite of many women it must be. Not one of our historic heroines, but an Ideal woman, but not idealized away from her environment, that would never do ; and it must not be attempted for the sake of pleasing the purely fastidious. Think of that Pioneer American Woman I Conjure her in the brain ; but first of all consider con-sider what confronted her. Go back and learn of her antecedents and what the years must have hammered into her soul and done to strengthen her body. She had been prepared in a hard school ; not hardened or coarsened, but tempered, to bend and not to break. One thing to be remembered In making the final selection : She had a Spirit Sense. She must have had in her the soul of a martyr. The Pioneer American Woman did not come solely for her gain. Always she was buoyed in her heart by the thought that she was in the service of a Higher Power, working in the Lord's vineyard a bleak enough one as It turned out to be. She had the homesteading Instinct and this need not be overlooked; desire de-sire for a home of her own and freedom. She was looking ahead, generations ahead, as what pioneer woman in her innermost soul does not, to sustain her? She must have had that far vision ingrained within her which is not given to the male; she envisaged herself in the future of the race that was to spring from her. The Pioneer Woman was not a motherless woman. The Pioneer Woman of the West was the Daughter of the Pioneer Woman in America, dowered with the latter's courage, fortitude and resourcefulness. She was born to endure hardships; she was not . afraid of the wide waste spaces and her intuition was to better those that came after as much as herself. She, too, had a perspective, a maternal perspective, perspec-tive, If you please. The models produced by the sculptors are varied and should give pleasure among them to a great number. Hardly needful to state, they are works of art beyond question from the salon and artistic points of view because the artists chosen are already famous. One model is delightful to look at in the photograph, photo-graph, but It Is not a model of the Pioneer American Woman most Americans will have In their mind's eyes. A Puritan? An Idealized |