Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/340

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279
F. G. Young

placed to commemorate the terminus of the trip of Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806, for determining the northern limit of the Missouri river basin. Governor J. E . Erickson presided here as he had at Fort Union. The dedicatory address was made by the Hon. Sidney M. Logan.

On the 21st the expedition proceeded to the summit of the Rocky Mountains in Marias Pass. Here on a ledge overlooking the Great Northern line of railway had been erected a statue in heroic bronze of John Frank Stevens as he appeared in 1889, when in his reconnaissance he determined the signal adaptability of this pass for the Great Northern's route across the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Stevens himself was there and graciously and gracefully responded after John Frank Stevens III had unveiled the statue. Judge Charles H. Carey presided. Robert Ridgway, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Associate Justice Pierce Butler presented just the sentiments the occasion in honor of this engineer of transcendent achievements called for. These exercises were a beautiful climax to the series in the itinerary of the expedition.

Surely, such recountings of salient phases of the great historical drama enacted on the Plains and in the Inter-mountain country during the romantic era of these regions and such monuments placed to symbolize leadership in these achievements should enliven interest, activity and life in that country and the railway that sponsors all this will evoke every scintilla of good will and cooperation its public is capable of. Furthermore, its plans for the coming year naturally include the continuation of this historical illumination of the country served by the Great Northern lines and subsidiaries, extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast.