Honors for Amundsen 



7 



MONUMENT IN MEMORY OE SIR JOHN 

 FRANKLIN 



Erected on King Williams Land, where the 

 relics of his party were found 



portions of the Mississippi. Finally, in 

 1861, we have the voyage of La Salle, 

 the most untiring - and enthusiastic of all 

 the explorers of the West, prompted by 

 desire for adventure, by love of trade, and 

 the wish to add to the domains and in- 

 crease the glory of France. He passed 

 from the mouth of the Illinois to the very 

 delta of the Mississippi. 



Time would fail me if I were to speak 

 of the various influences of different na- 

 tionalities on the Mississippi River. The 

 Spanish, French, and English all have 

 joined in giving its magnificent valley 

 that cosmopolitan population which is 

 typical of strength and progress the world 

 over. 



It was inevitable that this splendid 

 empire should belong to one nation. It 

 was made to be both a geographical and 

 a political unit. In the early days of the 

 Republic this ultimate unity was con- 

 stantly kept in mind. When, later in our 

 history, an effort was made for the sev- 



ESKIMO AT HERSCHEL ISLAND 



erance of the states bordering upon its 

 waters, those who made that attempt 

 stood athwart the pathway of destiny. 

 Their embattled legions could not suc- 

 ceed, for it was fate that the valley of the 

 Mississippi should be part of a united 

 whole, and that the Mississippi River 

 should flow on to the sea through one 

 great country. Its valley is now, and must 

 in greater degree in the future, assume a 

 preeminent position as the heart of the 

 nation, the source of its great political 

 movements, and the most progressive 

 portion of the globe. Approximately 

 two-fifths of the area of the United States 

 and half of its population belong to this 

 valley. 



NO LONGER A HIGHWAY OE COMMERCE 



Among the great problems of common 

 interest to all the inhabitants of the val- 

 ley, the foremost is that of navigation. 

 In the ante-bellum days, the Mississippi 

 was one of the world's great waterways. 

 But for thirty years navigation there has 

 been in its decadence, a condition which 

 has been very correctly depicted by our 



