THE CALL OF THE LAND 



eyes fill as I think of the history of suffer- 

 ing on the part of those splendid men and 

 women who pressed to this land when a 

 wilderness, not knowing whither they went. 

 What unknown numbers were cut down or 

 shot, died of thirst, of snake poisons or weed 

 poisons, laying down their lives alone, with- 

 out a friend in sight to whom they could 

 whisper last words ! These sufferings of the 

 earliest settlers did not cause those who 

 started later to shrink back. On and on the 

 immigration rolled, until the whole land 

 was conquered. 



That material pioneership has been re- 

 ferred to in hundreds of history books. All 

 boys and girls read about it in school. Civil 

 pioneership followed. It has not been so 

 much discussed, but it forms a chapter in 

 the history of America that ought to be writ- 

 ten, quite as important in its way as the 

 other not so replete with accounts of dan- 

 gers to life and limb, but still testifying to 

 infinite resolution. I mean the establish- 

 ment of county lines, of county seats and 

 courts, of schools and school districts, and 



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