Patterson we ask you to accept this trust on behalf of the city of Kearney." Mayor Patterson in a few words accepted the trust and expressed the gratitude and appreciation of the people of Kearney. Following the unveiling services the procession formed again and marched to the opera house, where the speakers on this occasion were heard by the audience which filled the house, the aisles and the halls. Dr. A. O. Thomas presided. All of the speakers expressed their appreciation of the grand work done by the chapter. Prof. Clark of the Normal school said: The life of a nation is organic. It is developed along certain lines by specific organs. The functions of its life, however, are subdivided. There is the judicial, legislative and executive. But there are certain adventitious orders not included in the general classification. These orders lend life to the nation, either by anticipating the future or preserving the past or present by means of education. The Daughters of the American Revolution performs all these functions. I am proud of what has been done in Kearney; of what the Fort Kearney Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution have done. "It is said that Americans are losing their hero-worship. I believe as Carlyle did that hero-worship is essential and that the nation that does not have it is degraded. "We appreciate the efforts of the pioneers and of this organization in perpetuating the memory of those efforts, which has been so effectually done through the leadership of Mrs. Norton." Mrs. Oreal S. Ward, of Lincoln, Nebraska state regent, Daughters of the American Revolution, said that our ancestors for the first one hundred years were too busy making history, in conquering savage foes and subduing wildernesses to appreciate the importance of their own work which we are now perpetuating. Then followed a statement of the objects of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a great patriotic society, the work of which is so little understood, and closing with a tribute to the pioneers and congratulations to the THE UNVEILING, JUNE 9, 1910. From left to right. Mrs. Shallenberger. Governor Shallenberger, Nebraska. Mrs. Oreal S. Ward, State Regent, Nebraska. Mrs. Andrew K. Gault, Vice-President General, N. S. D. A. R. Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton, Regent Fort Kearney Chapter. The Hon. John W. Patterson, Mayor of Kearney. General John Lee Webster, President State Nebraska Historical Society The Rev. R. P. Hammons. Mr. Edwin B. Finch, at the Flag. Kearney Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Andrew Gault, of Omaha, vice-president general of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, was next introduced. Mrs. Gault denied that he society was organized for pink teas and to show good clothes. The society is organized for patriotic purposes and for marking historic spots, and will go forward in the fulfillment of that purpose. S. C. Bassett, secretary of the Buffalo County Historical society, spoke briefly of what the monument meant to him— a mark of the trail and a marker for the thousands of graves of those who died in the wilderness. The Hon. John L. Webster, of Omaha, president of the Nebraska State Historical society, said the exact location of the trail and the unveiling of the monument was of little significance compared with the fact itself. Another important thing in connection with the event is the fact that it is part of our written history. We are making history and others are writing it. Blot from your memory what happened yesterday and you will have no conception of what will happen to-morrow. The spirit of patriotism is preserved in history. This monument is a marking of history, of the manhood of the pioneers who opened the trail to the Oregon country, to the great northwest. In his closing address Governor A. C. Shallenberger added his congratulations to all who have participated in such a historic event. The program was interspersed with appropriate music and closed with the singing of "America," by the audience, led by Mrs. Steadman, and dismissal by the Rev. C. B. Stephens. So were the exercises concluded but the monument itself will stand by the road where thousands and thousands will read its message and feel the greatness of the west as they have never felt it before. It will translate its mute message to generations who will never have known the real west as it was when the great Oregon Trail was blazed; it will give to future generations the power to appreciate what the pioneers did, the manner in which they did it, and the innate worth of the pioneers themselves. |