the passing of the frontier-第2章

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great　river　valleys　and　up　them　yet　again；　and　at　last；　in　days　of　new　transportation；　it　leaped　across　divides；　from　one　river　valley　to　another。　Its　history；　at　first　so　halting；　came　to　be　very　swiftso　swift　that　it　worked　great　elisions　in　its　own　story。

In　our　own　day；　however；　the　Old　West　generally　means　the　old　cow　country　of　the　Westthe　high　plains　and　the　lower　foothills　running　from　the　Rio　Grande　to　the　northern　boundary。　The　still　more　ancient　cattle…range　of　the　lower　Pacific　Slope　will　never　come　into　acceptance　as　the　Old　West。　Always；　when　we　use　these　words；　we　think　of　buffalo　plains　and　of　Indians；　and　of　their　passing　before　the　footmen　and　riders　who　carried　the　phantom　flag　of　Drake　and　the　Virgin　Queen　from　the　Appalachians　to　the　Rockiesbefore　the　men　who　eventually　made　good　that　glorious　and　vaunting　vision　of　the　Virginia　cavaliers；　whose　party　turned　back　from　the　Rockfish　Gap　after　laying　claim　in　the　name　of　King　George　on　all　the　country　lying　west　of　them；　as　far　as　the　South　Sea！

The　American　cow　country　may　with　very　good　logic　arrogate　to　itself　the　title　of　the　real　and　typical　frontier　of　all　the　world。　We　call　the　spirit　of　the　frontier　Elizabethan；　and　so　it　was；　but　even　as　the　Elizabethan　Age　was　marked　by　its　contact　with　the　Spanish　civilization　in　Europe；　on　the　high　seas；　and　in　both　the　Americas；　so　the　last　frontier　of　the　American　West　also　was　affected；　and　largely；　deeply；　by　Spanish　influence　and　Spanish　customs。　The　very　phraseology　of　range　work　bears　proof　of　this。　Scores　of　Spanish　words　are　written　indelibly　in　the　language　of　the　Plains。　The　frontier　of　the　cow…range　never　was　Saxon　alone。

It　is　a　curious　fact　also；　seldom　if　ever　noted；　that　this　Old　West　of　the　Plains　was　very　largely　Southern　and　not　Northern　on　its　Saxon　side。　No　States　so　much　as　Kentucky　and　Tennessee　and；　later；　Missouridaughters　of　Old　Virginia　in　her　glorycontributed　to　the　forces　of　the　frontiersmen。　Texas；　farther　to　the　south；　put　her　stamp　indelibly　upon　the　entire　cattle　industry　of　the　West。　Visionary；　impractical；　restless；　adventurous；　these　later　Elizabethan　heroesbowing　to　no　yoke；　insisting　on　their　own　rights　and　scorning　often　the　laws　of　others；　yet　careful　to　retain　the　best　and　most　advantageous　customs　of　any　conquered　countrynaturally　came　from　those　nearest　Elizabethan　countries　which　lay　abandoned　behind　them。

If　the　atmosphere　of　the　Elizabethan　Age　still　may　be　found　in　the　forgotten　Cumberlands；　let　us　lay　claim　to　kinship　with　yonder　roystering　heroes　of　a　gallant　day；　for　this　was　ever　the　atmosphere　of　our　own　frontier。　To　feel　again　the　following　breezes　of　the　Golden　Hind；　or　see　again；　floating　high　in　the　cloudless　skies；　the　sails　of　the　Great　Armada；　was　the　privilege　of　Americans　for　a　double　decade　within　the　memory　of　men　yet　living；　in　that　country；　so　unfailingly　beloved；　which　we　call　the　Old　West　of　America。



Chapter　II。　The　Range

When；　in　1803；　those　two　immortal　youths；　Meriwether　Lewis　and　William　Clark；　were　about　to　go　forth　on　their　great　journey　across　the　continent；　they　were　admonished　by　Thomas　Jefferson　that　they　would　in　all　likelihood　encounter　in　their　travels；　living　and　stalking　about；　the　mammoth　or　the　mastodon；　whose　bones　had　been　found　in　the　great　salt…licks　of　Kentucky。　We　smile　now　at　such　a　supposition；　yet　it　was　not　unreasonable　then。　No　man　knew　that　tremendous　country　that　lay　beyond　the　mouth　of　the　Missouri。

The　explorers　crossed　one　portion　of　a　vast　land　which　was　like　to　nothing　they　had　ever　seenthe　region　later　to　become　the　great　cattle…range　of　America。　It　reached；　although　they　could　know　nothing　of　that；　from　the　Spanish　possessions　on　the　south　across　a　thousand　miles　of　short　grass　lands　to　the　present　Canadian　boundary　line　which　certain　obdurate　American　souls　still　say　ought　to　have　been　at　54　degrees　40　minutes；　and　not　where　it　is！　From　the　Rio　Grande　to　〃Fifty…four　forty；〃　indeed；　would　have　made　nice　measurements　for　the　Saxon　cattle…range。

Little；　however；　was　the　value　of　this　land　understood　by　the　explorers；　and；　for　more　than　half　a　century　afterwards；　it　commonly　was　supposed　to　be　useless　for　the　occupation　of　white　men　and　suitable　only　as　a　hunting…ground　for　savage　tribes。　Most　of　us　can　remember　the　school　maps　of　our　own　youth；　showing　a　vast　region　marked；　vaguely；　〃The　Great　American　Desert；〃　which　was　considered　hopeless　for　any　human　industry；　but　much　of　which　has　since　proved　as　rich　as　any　land　anywhere　on　the　globe。

Perhaps　it　was　the　treeless　nature　of　the　vast　Plains　which　carried　the　first　idea　of　their　infertility。　When　the　first　settlers　of　Illinois　and　Indiana　came　up　from　south　of　the　Ohio　River　they　had　their　choice　of　timber　and　prairie　lands。　Thinking　the　prairies　worthlesssince　land　which　could　not　raise　a　tree　certainly　could　not　raise　cropsthese　first　occupants　of　the　Middle　West　spent　a　generation　or　more；　axe　in　hand；　along　the　heavily　timbered　river…bottoms。　The　prairies　were　long　in　settling。　No　one　then　could　have　predicted　that　farm　lands　in　that　region　would　be　worth　three　hundred　dollars　an　acre　or　better；　and　that　these　prairies　of　the　Mississippi　Valley　would；　in　a　few　generations；　be　studded　with　great　towns　and　would　form　a　part　of　the　granary　of　the　world。

But；　if　our　early　explorers；　passing　beyond　the　valley　of　the　Missouri；　found　valueless　the　region　of　the　Plains　and　the　foothills；　not　so　the　wild　creatures　or　the　savage　men　who　had　lived　there　longer　than　science　records。　The　buffalo　then　ranged　from　the　Rio　Grande　to　the　Athabaska；　from　the　Missouri　to　the　Rockies；　and　beyond。　No　one　seems　to　have　concluded　in　those　days　that　there　was　after　all　slight　difference　between　the　buffalo　and　the　domestic　ox。　The　native　cattle；　however；　in　untold　thousands　and　millions；　had　even　then　proved　beyond　peradventure　the　sustaining　and　strengthening　nature　of　the　grasses　of　the　Plains。

Now；　each　creature；　even　of　human　species；　must　adjust　itself　to　its　environment。　Having　done　so；　commonly　it　is　disposed　to　love　that　environment。　The　Eskimo　and　the　Zulu　each　thinks　that　he　has　the　best　land　in　the　world：　So　with　the　American　Indian；　who；　supported　by　the　vast　herds　of　buffalo；　ranged　all　over　that　tremendous　country　which　was　later　to　be　given　over　to　the　white　man　with　his　domestic　cattle。　No　freer　life　ever　was　lived　by　any　savages　than　by　the　Horse　Indians　of　the　Plains　in　the　buffalo　days；　and　never　has　the　world　known　a　physically　higher　type　of　savage。

On　the　buffalo…rangethat　is　to　say；　on　the　cattle…range　which　was　to　beLewis　and　Clark　met　several　bands　of　the　Siouxthe　Mandans　and　the　Assiniboines；　the　Blackfeet；　the　Shoshones。　Farther　south　were　the　Pawnees；　the　Kaws；　the　Otoes；　the　Osages；　most　of　whom　depended　in　part　upon　the　buffalo　for　their　living；　though　the　Otoes；　the　Pawnees；　the　Mandans；　and　certain　others　now　and　then　raised　a　little　corn　or　a　few　squashes　to　help　out　their　bill　of　fare。　Still　farther　south　dwelt　the　Kiowas；　the　Comanches；　and　others。　The　Arapahoes；　the　Cheyennes；　the　Crows；　and　the　Utes；　all　hunters；　were　soon　to　come　into　the　ken　of　the　white　man。　Of　such　of　these　tribes　as　they　met；　the　youthful　captains　made　accounting；　gravely　and　with　extraordinary　accuracy；　but　without　discovering　in　this　region　much　future　for　Americans。　They　were　explorers　and　not　industrial　investigators。

It　was　nearly　half　a　century　after　the　journey　of　Lewis　and　Clark　that　the　Forty…Niners　were　crossing　the　Plains；　whither；　meanwhile；　the　Mormons　had　trekked　in　search　of　a　country　where　they　might　live　as　they　liked。　Still　the　wealth　of　the　Plains　remained　untouched。　California　was　in　the　eyes　of　the　world。　The　great　cow…range　was　overleaped。　But；　in　the　early　fifties；　when　the　placer　fields　of　California　began　to　be　less　numerous　and　less　rich；　the　half…savage　population　of　the　mines　roared　on　northward；　even　across　our　northern　line。　Soon　it　was　to　roll　back。　Next　it　worked　east　and　southeast　and　northeast　over　the　great　dry　plains　of　Washington　and　Oregon；　so　that；　as　readily　may　be　seen；　the　cow…range　proper　was　not　settled　as　most　of　the　West　was；　by　a　directly　westbound　thrust　of　an　eastern　population；　but；　on　the