GEORGE ROGERS CLARK AND THE CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST
Have the elder races halted?
Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas ?
We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson, Pioneers! O Pioneers!
All the past we leave behind, We debouch upon a newer, mightier world, varied world;Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march, Pioneers! O Pioneers!
We detachments steady throwing, Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep, Conquering, holding, daring, venturing, as we go the unknown ways, Pioneers! O Pioneers!
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The sachem blowing the smoke first towards the sun and then towards the earth, The drama of the scalp dance enacted with painted faces and guttural exclamations, The setting out of the war-party, the long and stealthy march, The single file, the swinging hatchets, the surprise and slaughter of enemies.
--Whitman.
