Reminiscences of a Pioneer Part 11

Conclusion.

The events here recorded were seen with my own eyes, or were received from the lips of the actors therein. Hundreds of men and boys pa.s.sed through equal or greater dangers and privations than I, and are ent.i.tled to equal or greater credit. Reared in the wilderness and on the frontier of civilization, I was merely the product of environment, and lay claim to no particular distinction above those who were my companions. And yet, as I look back over the past, I must be excused for a feeling of pride in having been a part, however insignificant, in the building here on the western rim of the continent, of the mighty Empire of the Pacific.

To have seen proud cities rear their heads from a wilderness--from a cl.u.s.ter of log huts in a primeval forest--whose everlasting stillness was alone broken by the yells of savage men, the long howl of the wolf and the scream of the panther--is something to have lived for.

And yet I question if those who now possess this land of plenty--this land of "milk and honey" ever give a thought for those who "Conquered the Wilderness" and made it a fit and safe abode for the millions of civilized men and women who now enjoy its blessings.