ments. From the days of Thermopylae (480 B. C.) to modern 

 Switzerland, the forest-bred, mountain people have no need to be 

 ashamed of their record in history! 



At the time of our Civil War the Southern Confederacy was 

 "practically cut in two by the wedge of loyal mountaineers from 

 the Appalachian chain. They startled the nation by sending 180,000 

 of their riflemen into the Union Army." And they were in no wise 

 different in loyalty and in efficiency from other mountain-bred people 

 from Maine to Georgia. 



We cannot obliterate the fact that mountain men, unassisted, 

 saved North and South Carolina and Georgia during the Revolu- 

 tionary War and paved the way for the final surrender at Yorktown 

 by their victory at King's Mountain. Neither may we forget that 

 it was the woodsmen of Tennessee that saved the day for Jackson 

 at New Orleans, in the War of 1812. It was the mountaineers of 

 New Hampshire that prevented the escape of Burgoyne at Saratoga. 

 It was in response to Ethan Allen's emphatic demand that Ticon- 

 deroga surrendered to the "Green Mountain" boys. Nor can we 

 forget that the famous "Buck-tails," the first Rifle Regiment of 

 Pennsylvania, came for the most part from the lumber camps of the 

 State.* These are only a few instances in support of this assertion, 

 but they will suffice. 



Until the millenium dawns and men cease to learn war, the in- 

 flvience of the forest, in the development of such stalwart character 

 and moral fiber, will continue to be one of the most important assets 

 of our national life. 



Dr. Charles W. Eliot, at a meeting of the American Forestry 

 Association held in Boston, Mass., Jan., 1916, said in part: — 



"I find the moral significance of these conservation efforts to be 

 deep and broad. Their chief significance for one whose life has 

 been devoted to public education is their moral significance, and I 

 find that the various movements for the conservation of the public 

 health of our people are all in line with this movement for the con- 

 servation of our forests, for the perpetuation of features of natural 

 beauty, for giving access to the forest parts of our country for the 

 purpose of outdoor enjoyments." 



"This movement on behalf of the American forests is part of a 

 widespread and deep-stirring movement for conservation in general 

 of all those powers which promote the health and happiness of our 

 people." 



* (During the Great War, competent critics affirm that the forests of France 

 played a role as important as her artillery. Had it not been for the defensive 

 screen that they afforded during the earlier invasion, the French army, inferior 

 in numbers, could not have repulsed the enemy at the Marne. The forests 

 of Argonne and Ardennes formed a barrier equal to several army corps. 

 And the wooded hills, extending east from Verdun tov^^ards the coast, played 

 an important part in the defense of that sector.) 



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