"FIFTY-FOUR FORTY OR FIGHT" 321
Missouri pioneering was repeated here. To Parke and Peel it was a revelation. Never before had they seen a people whose handbook of history was the migrations of their ancestors, whose ideal statesman was George Washington, whose model parent was Uncle Sam, Daniel Boone the chief hero, and the American eagle the favorite bird. With great good humor they heard the tales around the fires and slept at night in the cabin lofts.
"Tell me how you crossed the plains," said Peel at the house of Applegate. He told the story of 1843.
"Such men would make the finest soldiers in the world," said Peel and Parke as they went riding on.
"How do you like the country?" asked a hornyhanded pioneer.
"It is certainly the most beautiful country in the natural state that I ever saw," said Peel.
"Will England try to hold it? "
"Not against the wishes of its people," answered the nobleman.
Before Parke and Peel returned from their trip up the valley the autumn immigration came pouring in with " 54 40' or fight "blazed on their wagon covers. To eager inquiries, "Yes, that is the party cry, and Polk is elected."
Parke and Peel looked on amazed as three thousand dust-begrimed pilgrims came toiling in to stake out their claims on the Indian lands. Never before had they seen the building of a State. "Hopelessly Americanized! hopelessly Americanized! "was their frequent comment as the long line of occupation took up the country. "Ploughs are better than traps to hold a country, and farms are better than forts."
The story of 1845 has never been told, never can be
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