Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 2.djvu/394

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T. T. Geer.

an active and creditable career in the state he helped to found, and is enjoying the esteem and confidence of all his fellow-citizens.

To these names should be added, however, those of Hon. H. W. Corbett, the pioneer merchant, banker, and philanthropist, and Hon. A. Bush, who for many years was the territorial printer and editor of the Oregon Statesman. Both of these distinguished gentlemen are still at the head of large business interests and are as strong mentally as fifty years ago.

After a life of great honor and usefulness to his adopted state, Nesmith sleeps on the banks of the Rickreall, near the old homestead he loved so well, and where all his active life was spent, when not in the service of the commonwealth. The older members of the Applegate family have long since gone to rest among the lovely hills of Southern Oregon, where they selected their homes more than a half century ago, and which they so bravely helped to wrest from the murderous Indians of that section. Waldo and Newell and the elder McBride, and Deady and Smith and Lane, and scores of others of equal eminence and usefulness have long since gone to that undiscovered country; but, although men may come and men may go, human responsibilities and duties never cease. It is a part of the history of the human race that younger generations have always proven themselves, able to assume and to successfully discharge the duties falling upon them, and it is believed that the native sons and daughters of Oregon, assisted by those who have come among them, will prove no exception to this historical fact. Their devotion to the welfare and honor of their beloved state is unbounded and immeasurable, and their every effort should be given to its continued development along such lines as will contribute to the advancement and betterment of all its people.