Chapter XX: Part 20

Chairman Higgins and the following members of the Reception Committee escorted the party to the Hotel Kitchen: Mrs. W. F. Patrick, W. W. Old, Mrs. J. Y. Oliver, A. A. Blow, Mrs. H. W. Hardinge, Charles Cavender, Rev. E. S. Ralston, B. S. Buell, Samuel Brown, A. Sherwin, Robert Estey, H. R. Pendery, Charles L. Hill, J. S. Jones, Robert Cary, Geo. W. Trimble, C. P. Schumacher, J. S. Saunders, John Harvey, J. H. Weddle, John Nowland, W. F. Patrick, Hon. Wm. Kellogg, Frank G. White, John F. Champion, James Smith, Moses Londoner, J. J. M. McRobbie, Maj. A. V. Bohn, and John Lumsden. The veterans of Garfield Post, G. A. R., composed the guard of honor. Judge Luther M. Goddard made the welcoming address, and in the name of the city presented the distinguished visitor a silver brick.

The President responded as follows:

_Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens_--This rare, pure atmosphere, this
bright sunshine, the national colors, this multitude of lifted,
smiling faces to greet us is a scene that should raise the dullest
heart to emotions of thankfulness and pride--pride wholly separated
from personal considerations, a pride in which everything personal
is swallowed up by the contemplation that all this is the outcome,
the manifestation, the culmination of free American institutions.
[Cheers.] We stand here on this mountain-top and see what I think
is the highest evidence of American pluck to be found in the United
States. [Laughter and applause.] I have addressed my fellow-citizens
on many thousands of occasions, but never before stood so near
the dome. [Cheers.] It is a wonderful testimony to the energy and
adaptation of the American that he should have pushed his way to this
high altitude, above the snow-line, and erected here these magnificent
and extensive industries and these beautiful and happy homes. I
rejoice with you in all that has been accomplished here.

I bring thanks to you for that great contribution you have made to
the wealth of a country we all love. [Cheers.] I bring to you the
assurance that as an individual citizen and as a public officer my
interest, my affection, and my duty embrace all the people of this
land. [Cries of "Good!" and cheers.]

I am glad to know we have in the past history of our country found
that happy unity of interest which has acted beneficially upon all
our institutions and all our people. With due regard to all local
interests, we should seek that general legislation which touches with
kindly fingers the humblest homes in our land. I do most sincerely
thank you for this token of the product of your mines. It is a
precious metal, but much more precious to me is the kindly thought and
the generous welcome which you have given us in Leadville. [Cheers.]

My lungs are unaccustomed to this rare and stimulating atmosphere,
and you will permit me to close by giving you all, to the men who,
deep down in these mines, are toilsomely working out the precious
metal, to those who welcome you in your homes when you return from
your toil, the wives and children who add grace and sweetness to our
lives, to these children who have gathered to greet us, a most cordial
salutation and a regretful good-by. [Cheers.]

BUENA VISTA, COLORADO, MAY 11.

Buena Vista gave the President a cordial greeting. The Committee of Reception included Mayor Mason, Hon. A. R. Kenedy, Capt. A. V. P. Day, A. H. Wade, Col. Henry Logan, J. C. Stuart, and A. C. Bottorff. Phil. Sheridan Post, G. A. R., Col. G. D. Childs Commander, participated in the reception. Dr. Struthers and W. W. Fay presented the President with three fine trout caught in Thompson's Lake, and weighing six pounds each.

President Harrison said:

_My Friends_--I am very glad to see your bright and kind faces this
morning, and to tarry for a few moments, just long enough to say "How
do you do?" and "Good-by." It is very pleasant to find everywhere
and at every station the same friendly looks and the same kindly
greeting. I am glad to have an opportunity that I have not previously
had of seeing the State of Colorado, great in her present condition
and having a greater future development than perhaps you yourselves
realize. This combination of agricultural and mining industries can
work but good for the high development of Colorado. Your cattle and
your sheep and your mines and your agriculture in your valleys all
produce that ideal condition of things in which you find a nearer
market for what you raise. I hope the time will come when in addition
to smelting furnaces in your mines you will learn to weave the
wool from your sheep in place of sending it abroad to be made into
clothing. The more you can develop these things and do your own work
the more prosperous will be your condition. These dear children have
cheered me heartily all the way on this journey. The public schools
are worthy of your most thoughtful care. It is there that the children
meet on a common ground. It is there class distinctions are wiped out.
It is the great American institution. You have well named your little
hamlet Buena Vista. [Cheers.]

SALIDA, COLORADO, MAY 11.

Three thousand people from the surrounding district welcomed the President at Salida. The Reception Committee consisted of Mayor John G. Hollenbeck, J. H. Stead, S. M. Jackson, W. W. Roller, J. A. Israel, E. B. Jones, and W. P. Harbottle. Stanton Post, G. A. R., W. G. Westfall Commander, and the children of the public schools were present. Miss Clara Ayers, on behalf of the public schools, presented Mrs. Harrison with a handsome portfolio of Colorado wild flowers prepared by Mrs. E. P. Chester. Dr. Durbin, on behalf of the citizens of Villa Grove, presented a fine collection of mineral specimens.

President Harrison spoke as follows:

I have looked with great interest, in passing through these
mountain gorges, at the enterprise of the people who have constructed
intersecting lines of railroad upon these difficult grades and
through threatening cañons. It has not been many days since such
feats of engineering would have been regarded as impossible, and yet
now railroads have touched the highest points, have gone above the
snow line, have reached elevated mines, and brought isolated valleys
into rapid and easy communication with the more settled parts of the
country. It has given me great pleasure to look upon the beautiful
valley in which the town of Salida is situated, and which will
undoubtedly be capable of large agricultural production when a system
of irrigation is completed. It might be desirable to the people of
Indiana and Illinois and other agricultural States if Colorado had
to buy her wheat and corn from them, but our larger interest makes
it desirable that every community should supply its own wants. I
anticipate with pleasure the day when these mountain States will
not be content with mining, but shall add agricultural pursuits and
manufacturing, and when the wool which is sheared from the flocks will
be woven at home. [Cheers.]

It is a pleasant condition of things when all classes are
prosperous, when the workingman has fair wages that leave him some
margin above his daily necessities. I should lose hope for our
institutions when there should be despairing classes among us. An
American citizen could not be a good citizen who did not have hope in
his heart. Every boy, however humble, can pass through our public
schools and climb to any position of usefulness and honor he has
the ability to attain. There have been marvellous instances of what
courage and pluck and intelligence may do in this way.

To the children I give a cordial greeting. They have been a happy
feature of almost every gathering in the journey. I hope they may
all receive that attention which will make them men and women of
intelligence, and capable of taking a full share in all these good
things in the community and in the State, for which they are to be
responsible. [Cheers.]

CAÑON CITY, COLORADO, MAY 11.

Leaving Salida the route lay through a stretch of country unsurpassed in grandeur. The train made a short stop on the hanging bridge over the Arkansas River in the Grand Cañon. Emerging through the Royal Gorge the party reached Cañon City at 2 P.M. amid the cheers of its entire population, including 400 school children. Mayor J. M. Bradbury, T. M. Harding, A. D. Cooper, and Warden W. A. Smith were among the prominent residents who welcomed the President; also, Greenwood Post, G. A. R., Dr. J. L. Prentiss, Commander.

President Harrison spoke as follows:

_Comrades and Fellow-citizens_--It gives me great pleasure to see
you and accept with a thankful heart those cordial greetings with
which you have met us. I have been talking so much since I left
Washington that I really am almost talked out; and yet, until I shall
have altogether lost my voice, of which there does not seem to be any
prospect, I cannot refrain from saying thank you to those friends who
greet us with such affectionate interest. We do appreciate it very
highly. But I do not at all assume it is merely your interest in me.
It is, I am sure, your interest in the country, in its Constitution,
and in its flag--the flag for which these comrades fought, which they
carried through the stress of battle and brought home in honor. It is
our free institutions, our free ballot, our representative Government,
that you all honor in coming here to-day. It is very surprising and
very pleasant to drop down out of these snow-clad summits and to have
passed into our hands in the valley, branches of peach and pear and
bouquets of flowers, the first fruits of spring--a spring more genial
here than it seemed at Leadville this morning. [Applause.] I am very
glad to have revealed to me the possibilities of this country, and to
see how, under the system of irrigation, that which seemed to be a
waste--accursed of God--comes to be a very garden of Eden in beauty
and productiveness. I hope you have not only the fruits and flowers
of paradise, but that you have in your homes that state of peace and
blessedness which prevailed before our first mother took the apple.
[Applause.] To these comrades I want to give a comrade's greeting. I
know of no higher honor in this world than to be called "comrade" by
the survivors of those who saved the Union, [Applause.]

FLORENCE, COLORADO, MAY 11.

The next stop was at Florence, in the oil district, whose citizens gave the President a most cordial greeting. The Reception Committee comprised Mayor Isaac Canfield, Senator J. A. McCandless, J. F. Collins, J. H. McDaniel, Thomas Robinson, Thomas E. Spencer, Richard McDonald, W. J. Daniels, and Joseph Patterson. An enthusiastic citizen proposed three cheers "for the first President who has thought enough of us to come and see us." They were given with a will, and the President responded as follows:

_My Fellow citizens_--I am very much obliged to you for this
greeting. I expect there have been other Presidents who thought
of you, though they have not visited you. This has been a very
pleasant and instructive journey to me. I thought I had kept myself
reasonably well informed of the capabilities of this country and of
its productions, but I am amazed to find how things are put together.
We come out of the snow where everything is barren and where labor
is under ground, where the precious metals are being extracted, and
there is nothing pleasant in the landscape except the snow covered
mountains, and presently we are into a land of fruit, and have handed
up to us great branches laden with well-set peach and pear, and are
showered again, as we were in California, with the flowers of the
early spring, and now, to my surprise, we seem to be in the oil
region of Pennsylvania. These numerous derricks and oil lodes remind
us of things about Oil City. Until I saw them I was not aware that
you had here in Colorado oil production. It shows us how impartial,
after all, the great Creator has been. He has given us everywhere
possibilities which, if well improved, will make comfortable, happy
homes. You have the metals, precious and common, and the coal that
is needed for the smelter; oil to light your homes and lubricate
your machinery, and these orchards and beautiful valleys, all in the
right proximity. No man could have improved upon it. [Applause.] Our
Government intends to have a careful and impartial consideration of
all its people. We do not recognize classes or distinctions. We want
everybody to be prosperous and happy, especially the working people.
[Cheers.]

I do not know how our institutions could endure unless we so
conduct our public affairs and society that every man who is sober
and industrious shall be able to make a good, comfortable living and
lay something aside for old age or for evil days; to have hope in his
heart and better prospects for his children. That is the strength
of American institutions. Whatever promotes that I want to favor.
Whatever tends to pauperize our people or impair the earning power of
the laboring class I do not favor. [Cheers.]

PUEBLO, COLORADO, MAY 11.

An artillery salute welcomed the party to Pueblo at 3:30 P.M. Mayor W. B. Hamilton, Col. M. H. Fitch, D. W. Barkley, Hon. I. W. Stanton, A. McClelland, and O. H. P. Baxter comprised the committee that escorted the President from Glenwood Springs. Arrived at the station the Chief Executive was conveyed to the Court House Square by the following Committee of Reception: E. C. Lyman, Paul Wilson, Benjamin Guggenheim, D. L. Holden, E. R. Chew, Fred Betts, N. O. McClees, W. A. Moses, F. E. Baldwin, A. S. Dwight, J. R. Flickenger, R. M. Stevenson, W. B. McKinney, John Lockin, E. C. Billings, A. F. Ely, W. B. Palmer, J. S. Johnston, N. E. Guyot, M. Studzinski, G. T. Nash, J. W. Purdy, P. F. Sharp, S. A. Abbey, E. H. Martin, N. S. Walpole, T. J. Cribbs, J. G. Keller, and C. C. Gaines. Upton Post, G. A. R., C. J. Long Commander, and many other organizations participated in the parade.

At the Court House Square 6,000 children greeted the President, who was introduced by Dr. William A. Olmsted and said:

_Children of the Public Schools and Others_--I am glad to meet
such an immense number here, and I can't allow this opportunity
to pass without expressing to you my thanks for this whole-souled
reception. It moves my heart to say that from your appearances you are
well taught, not only in manners but in your intellectual pursuits;
your bright, ruddy faces show health, and as you are living in this
healthful place it speaks marvels for Pueblo. The country need fear
no attack from foreign foes when such an army as you'll some day make
would be called into action. You have your destiny all before you, and
no one can tell but that some of these boys may be a President and
these beautiful girls advise those who are born to fill high places
in the Government. Children, I am pleased to see you, and will hold
in dear remembrance this, my first visit to Pueblo--a city full of
American genius and enterprise, which will hold its own and keep on
apace with that progress characteristic of Americans. God bless you
all. [Cheers.]

As Mrs. Harrison's carriage drew up the school children presented her with a handsome painting--the "Colorado Columbine." The President then visited the Colorado Mineral Palace, where President L. S. McLain and Secretary Livezey of the Exposition presented him with specimens of rich ore.

Colonel Stanton made the welcoming address and introduced President Harrison to the great assemblage, who responded as follows:

_Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens_--The brief time which we are able
in this hasty journey to allot to the city of Pueblo has now almost
expired. It has given me pleasure to drive through the streets of
this prosperous and enterprising municipality and to see that you
are concentrating great business interests which must in the future
make you a very important centre in this great State. You have in
this State a variety of resources unexcelled, I think, by any other
State. Your attention was very naturally first directed toward the
precious metals, to the mining of gold and silver. The commoner ores
were neglected. Your cities were mining camps. Nowhere in all our
history has the American capacity for civil organization been so
perfectly demonstrated as in the mining camps of the West. Coming
here entirely beyond the range of civil institutions, where courts,
sheriffs, and police officers could not give a hand to suppress the
unruly at a time when our mining laws were unframed, these pioneer
miners of California, Colorado, Nevada, Montana, and Idaho wrought out
for themselves in their mining camps a system of government and mining
laws that have received the approval of the State. [Cheers.] It was
quite natural that interest should have been first directed toward the
precious metals. You are coming to realize that the baser metals, as
we call them, with which your great hills are stored are of great and
more lasting value. [Cheers.] We passed this morning through a region
where I was surprised to see orchards that reminded me of California.
Now for all these things, for the beneficent influence under which you
live, for that good law that has distributed this public domain freely
to every man who desires to make a home for himself and family, for
this free Government that extends its protection over the humblest as
well as the mighty, for all these resources of sky and air and earth,
the people of Colorado should be joyously thankful. [Cheers.] I am
glad to hail you as fellow-citizens. I am glad for a moment to stand
in the midst of you, to see your great capabilities, and to assure
you that my best wishes are with you in the development of them all.
[Cheers] I am glad to know that Colorado, this young Centennial State,
has established a system of free public schools unexcelled by any
State in the Union [Cheers.] But, my friends, as I said once before, I
am in slavery to a railroad schedule, and time is up Good-by. [Cheers.]

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, MAY 11.

The presidential party arrived at Colorado Springs at 6 o'clock in the evening and received the heartiest kind of a welcome. They were met at the station by the Hon. Ira G. Sprague, Mayor of the city, at the head of a large Committee of Reception, comprising the following prominent citizens: Judge John Campbell, J. F. Seldomridge, J. H. Barlow, Irving Howbert, J. W. Stillman, W. S. Jackson, B. F. Crowell, Col. Geo. De La Vergne, Hon. W. F. Slocum, J. A. Hayes, Jr., E. Barnett, Geo. H. Stewart, G. S. Barnes, W. A. Conant, W. L. Weed, H. C. McCreery, E. W. Davis, D. Heron, W. R. Roby, C. H. White, C. E. Noble, B. W. Steele, L. H. Gowdy, J. H. B. McFerran, D. M. Holden, W. S. Nichols, Dr. T. G. Horn, Dr. W. A. Campbell, Thomas Hughes, J. P. Barnes, W. A. Roby, Dr. B. P. Anderson, Judge J. B. Severy, T. A. McMorris, F. L. Martin, J. M. Sellers, H. H. Stevens, J. A. Weir, Geo. W. Thorne, J. J. Hagerman, H. C. Lowe, L. R. Ehrich, J. F. Pebbles, Charles Thurlow, A. Van Vechten, E. S. Wooley, J. M. Ellison, C. C. Hoyt, Dr. W. M. Strickler, Dr. J. P. Grannis, Dr. S. E. Solly, Judge William Harrison, W. H. Reed, Geo. F. Whitney, E. A. Colburn, W. R. Barnes, Charles W. Collins, N. O. Johnson, E. W. Giddings, P. C. Helm, C. E. Durkee, W. C. Stark, Matt Wilbur, C. E. Stubbs, H. C. Fursman, J. H. Sinclair, L. P. Lowe, J. C. Woodbury, W. H. Tilton, L. A. Pease, Thomas Barber, David McShane, H. A. Fuller, W. A. Perkins, Fred Robinson, Geo. B. Perry, Count James Pourtales, W. B. Faunce, E. M. Stedman, M. W. Everleth, Dr. O. Gillette, A. A. McGooney, E. J. Eaton, Matt France, Henry L. B. Wills, H. S. Ervay, C. J. Reynolds, Frank White, W. F. Anderson, Thomas Parrish, P. A. McCurdy, C. B. Crowell, W. A. Otis, J. N. Bolton, H. A. Ferugson, H. Collbran, Geo. P. Riplet, H. G. Lunt, T. H. Edsall, A. L. Lawton, W. H. D. Merrill, K. H. Field, Dr. H. T. Cooper, A. J. Denton, H. I. Reid, C. W. Howbert, W. H. Hoagland, J. W. D. Stovell, S. H. Kingsley, F. A. Mangold, Dr. T. C. Kirkwood, Godfrey Kissell, Thomas Gough, V. Z. Reed, H. S. Van Petten, T. S. Brigham, O. P. Hopkins, D. C. Dudley, E. R. Stark, A. S. Holbrook, Milo Rowell, Charles Walker, Prof. J. E. Ray, W. S. Nichols, Thomas Shideler, Leonard Jackson, L. C. Dana, L. E. Sherman, Samuel Bradford, William Clark, F. E. Dow, Geo. P. Vaux, I. J. Woodworth, A. A. Williams, W. D. Belden, W. H. Goshen, D. A. Russell, C. L. Gillingham, C. E. Aiken, Dr. G. W. Lawrence, Geo. H. Parsons, Jehu Fields, Edward Ferris, E. F. Clark, A. Sutton, Phil Strubel, F. A. Sperry, P. K. Pattison, L. H. Gilbert, Prof. Wm. Strieby, Theo. Harrison, F. H. Morley, E. T. Ensign, Wm. Lennox, W. H. McIntyre, J. E. Newton, John Hundley, Dr. F. Hale, John Lennox, Wm. Bischoff, N. J. Davis, J. L. Clinton, J. D. O'Haire, Dr. B. St. G. Tucker, E. S. Josleyn, Seth Baker, Joseph Dozier, O. Roberts, J. E. Ray, J. Plumb, H. Hall, Dr. M. S. Smith, W. H. Sanford, Lawrence Myers, S. N. Nye, John Potter, C. H. Burgess, L. G. Goodspeed, J. Sumner, E. F. Rudy, Maj. O. Remick, E. S. Bumstead, G. C. Hemenway, John Simmons, H. Halthusen, William Banning, Reuben Berrey, A. H. Corman, F. D. Pastorious, J. L. Armit, Judson Bent, Rev. James B. Gregg, Rev. A. R. Kieffer, Rev. R. Montague, Rev. H. H. Bell, Rev. J. P. Lucas, Rev. M. D. Ormes, Rev. H. E. Warner, and Rev. M. Carrington.

The G. A. R. veterans comprised the presidential guard of honor during the parade through the city. Civic organizations from Manitou, Colorado City, Colfax, and Koener participated in the demonstration, which was very fine and received the special commendation of President Harrison.

After the parade the Garfield School was visited, and the President addressed the scholars as follows:

You have very appropriately named this school in which you
have gathered a portion of the children of Colorado Springs for
instruction--Garfield. I understand another of your public schools
is named after Abraham Lincoln. That, too, is a most appropriate
designation; for where, in all the story of our country, among its
men who have been illustrious in civil pursuits or in war, can two
names be found which furnish more inspiration and hope to the youth
of the land than the names of Lincoln and Garfield? [Applause.] Both
men came of parentage so poor that no advantages attended their early
years, and yet each by his own indomitable will, by the persevering
improvement of the meagre opportunities they enjoyed, reached the
highest place in our land, and are to-day embalmed in the affectionate
recollection of their countrymen. I bid you all to read the lessons
of these great lives, and to ponder them well, for while not all may
achieve all they achieved, useful and honorable position may be
achieved by you all. Wishing you every prosperity and success, I bid
you good-by. [Cheers.]

At night the city was brilliantly illuminated. A public reception was held at the Hotel Antlers. The President and his party were assisted by Governor and Mrs. Routt and the Citizens' Committee. The welcoming ceremonies took place before a great assemblage; Mayor Sprague made the address.

The President, responding, said:

_Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens_--I am sure you will crown the
kindness which you have shown me to-day by permitting me to make my
response to these words of welcome exceedingly brief. I have spoken
four or five times to-day, and the chill of the evening will not allow
me to exercise my voice with the accustomed immunity, but I cannot
refrain from saying to you how much we have been pleased by the hasty
glimpse we have been permitted to get of this beautiful city. The fame
of Colorado Springs has spread throughout the entire East. I heard
much of the beauty of its location, the grandeur and sublimity of
these mountains that stand about bulwarked, as it is, like Jerusalem
of old; of the health-giving atmosphere that fills this valley, of
the marvellous springs, refreshing and life giving, which break out
from your mountain sides; of these marvellous and weird products of
time that stand in the Garden of the Gods--of all this I had heard.
But, my countrymen, no spring that ever broke from mountain side, no
bracing air that ever filled these valleys, was more refreshing and
invigorating to the invalid or to the weary than your hearty greeting
has been to us. [Cheers.]

I visit your great State for the first time. When this journey has
been completed only two of the States of the Union, and only its
most distant Territory, will have escaped my personal inspection and
observation. From Maine to California, from the northern line of
Michigan, where it is washed by the waters of the Sault Ste. Marie,
to the Savannah, I have traversed this broad land of ours, and out
of all this journeying, out of all this mingling with our people, I
have come to be a prouder and, I hope, a better American. We have
a country whose diversity of climate, soil, and production makes
it, in a degree not true of other people in the world, independent
and self-contained. None of the necessaries of life, and few of its
luxuries, would be denied to us if we were to limit ourselves to
articles of American growth and production. [Cheers.] But better than
all this, greater than our bulk, are those things that enter into and
characterize the American social and political life. A distinguished
Englishman journeying in this country not many years ago, speaking
of his observations, rather caustically mentioned that the question
most often propounded to him was whether he was not surprised by the
great size of the country. He was a man of discernment, one who looked
beneath the surface, who had learned to measure the mighty impulses
which turn the current of human civilization, and rebuking this pride
of bulk he said: Yes, it was a surprise, but greater still to him was
the surprise that over 60,000,000 people could maintain and preserve
under free republican institutions the social order and individual
liberty which was maintained here; greater to him than bulk was the
marvel that this great people could have survived and maintained
its institutions under the terrible stress of the great Civil War;
greater than all else to him was that unification of the people which
seemed to follow that period of deadly strife. I rejoice to be with
you to-night as an American citizen. I rejoice in the glory which the
Centennial State has brought to the Union, and which will greatly
increase. [Cheers.]

DENVER, COLORADO, MAY 12.

On his arrival at Denver, at 9:45 Tuesday morning, President Harrison received an ovation. The tribute was a spontaneous, hearty one, emphasized by the acclaim of 100,000 people. Governor Routt, ex-Senator Tabor, ex-Senator Hill, and other distinguished citizens escorted the presidential party from Glenwood Springs.

The Chief Executive was met at the Union Depot by the Hon. Platt Rogers, Mayor of the city, and 200 prominent residents, comprising the Committee of Reception, as follows: D. H. Moffat, I. B. Porter, C. E. Taylor, Wolfe Londoner, J. E. Leet, Professor Haswell, S. H. Standart, W. S. Cheesman, James Leonard, W. D. Todd, Adolph Zang, Phil. Bockfinger, T. M. Patterson, C. S. Thomas, J. M. Berkey, M. J. McNamara, C. H. Reynolds, J. D. McGilvray, H. N. Chittenden, J. A. Thatcher, J. S. Wolfe, Dr. L. E. Lemen, Edward Eddy, Dr. Stedman, E. R. Barton, D. Sheedy, H. B. Chamberlin, George Tritch, James Rice, Victor Elliott, E. Monash, Thomas E. Poole, W. J. Barker, J. T. Cornforth, J. K. Mullen, E. B. Light, Fine P. Ernest, Colonel Dodge, Donald Fletcher, W. G. Fisher, A. C. Fisk, M. Hallett, F. A. Meredith, Charles B. Kountz, I. E. Blake, Dr. Dennison, W. H. James, C. M. Kittredge, Joseph H. Smith, William Stapleton, J. C. Helm, S. T. Smith, P. J. Flynn, Isaac Brinker, Judge Rising, Frank Bishop, Supervisor Anderson, J. W. Roberts, Herman Strauss, J. H. Brown, A. B. McKinley, W. J. Barker, H. P. Steele, Lafe Pence, George F. Batchelder, Rev. J. M. Freeman, John Arkins, ex-Governor Grant, J. M. Lawrence, J. J. Joslin, F. J. V. Skiff, W. S. Decker, John Corcoran, W. B. Felker, F. B. Hill, J. D. Best, John Riethmann, Thomas Hayden, Anthony Sweeney, ex-Governor Cooper, Charles D. Cobb, John Evans, William Scott Lee, Peter Magnes, Dr. Bancroft, E. F. Hallack, R. H. McMann, S. L. Holzman, H. R. Wolcott, J. S. Brown, M. B. Carpenter, Joseph Cresswell, R. W. Woodbury, E. M. Ashley, J. S. Appel, E. L. Scholtz, Dennis Sullivan, Samuel Elbert, G. W. Clayton, J. C. Montgomery, G. C. De Bronkart, Louis Mack, C. S. Morey, George E. Randolph, William Barth, T. S. McMurray, J. E. Bates, C. F. Wilson, Rev. Myron W. Reed, Dr. Graham, J. L. McNeill, W. H. Bush, G. G. Symes, Rodney Curtis, J. W. Nesmith, O. E. Le Fevre, Judge Furman, H. J. Adams, J. C. Twombly, Judge Graham, F. Rinne, Supervisor Slack, Gen. W. A. Hamill, H. P. Parmelee, General Dunn, J. H. Poole, George Raymond, J. W. Hampton, Henri Foster, W. C. Lothrop, James H. Blood, E. W. Merritt, Wm. Harris, General Humphrey, Daniel Ryan, R. S. Roe, R. W. Speer, C. S. Lee, Jos. Milner, J. A. McDonald, Judge Bentley, M. Currigan, M. D. Van Horn, Fred Walsen, Dr. H. K. Steele, Assyria Hall, A. P. Rittenhouse, Richard Sopris, F. C. Goudy, C. H. Hackley, Isaac N. Stevens, Thomas Croke, J. P. Ewing, George C. Manly, J. T. Adams, George Ady, D. W. Hart, Judge Alvin Marsh, C. D. Titus, Supervisor Chase, Otto Mears, H. Solomon, D. F. Carmichael, Amos Steck, E. S. Chapman, W. B. Hanscome, R. A. Gurley, C. H. Sage, Rev. Dr. Tupper, Henry Apple, Herbert George, W. H. Firth, Egbert Johnson, F. E. Edbrooke, S. K. Hooper, Thos. G. Anderson, A. D. Shepard, J. S. McGilvray, E. L. Fox, D. C. Packard, O. Whittemore, David May, Ralph Voorhees, Senator Cochrane, J. M. Daily, Col. C. J. Clark, H. L. Morris, Rev. Father Malone, Dr. Blickensderfer, J. M. Downing, C. M. Hampson, Thomas Nicholas, Judge Miller, Jerome Riche, J. D. McGilvray, W. H. Milburn, F. H. Kreuger, L. H. Guldman, W. N. Byers, William M. Bliss, George H. Graham, Lewis Price, Jay Cook, Jr., C. S. Prowitt, S. C. Shepard, O. Carstarphen, Captain J. T. Smith, and Hugh Butler.

The parade was an imposing and brilliant spectacle, in charge of Chief Marshal A. H. Jones, assisted by Gen. E. K. Stimson, Chief of Staff, and the following aides: John C. Kennedy, Adjutant-General of Colorado; Benjamin F. Klee, E. J. Brooke, W. H. Conley, John A. McBeth, W. Y. Sedam, N. G. Dunn, George Ady, Thomas R. Scott, John Corcoran, B. A. Harbour, Thomas Baldwin, G. G. Symes, S. A. Shepard, and Robert R. Wright. Over 1,000 G. A. R. comrades were in line, led by George W. Cook, and several hundred Sons of Veterans, commanded by Col. C. H. Anderson. The President's carriage, drawn by six white horses, was escorted by Lieut. Col. A. W. Hogle and staff. Countless thousands thronged the streets along the route of the procession. As the column passed the High School 10,000 scholars and children gave the President and Mrs. Harrison an enthusiastic greeting. A vast assemblage awaited the President's arrival at the reviewing stand, where he was met by the Colorado Pioneers, led by Maj. William Wise. Governor Routt delivered an eloquent address of welcome, followed by Mayor Rogers, who portrayed the triumphant struggle and growth of Denver. President Harrison responded as follows:

_Governor Routt, Mr. Mayor, Pioneers of Colorado, Comrades of the
Grand Army_ [cheers] _and Fellow-citizens_--This scene is inspiring.
This beautiful city, the fame of which your journeying citizens
have not failed to carry to the far East [laughter and cheers], has
become known to me as we can know by the hearing of the ear; and I am
rejoiced to add to my pleasant impressions of Colorado, and of its
commercial and political capital, that which is in sight of the eye,
which has but deepened and enlarged the favorable impressions which
I brought to your State. It is a marvellous thing that all we see
here is in a State whose existence dates from the dawn of the second
century of our national life. What a tremendous testimony to the
organizing power and energy of the American people this great State
is! That these wastes, so unpromising to the eye in that early time,
should have been invaded by the restless energy of indomitable men;
that they should have seen in visions that which was to follow their
heroic labor for the development of these hidden resources; that no
drought or drifting sand, no threat of mountain nor of sky, could turn
back these brave-hearted men who had set their faces to pierce and
uncover the hidden riches of these mountains. The pioneers of Colorado
are worthy of honor. Those who have entered into their labors, who
have come not toilsomely but on swift and easy wings into the heritage
that they have opened, should, always and everywhere, gratefully
acknowledge the services of those who made this easy pathway for their
feet. [Cheers.]

Your State is blessed in the diversity of its resources. You do not
depend on any one of the great industries of civilized life. You have
taken from your mines immense stores of the precious metals, but when
these are gone or their supply is diminished you will turn your eyes
toward those metals that we call base, but that after all enter in
so many ways into human life that they supply more enduring and in
the end more profitable industries. Your iron, and coal, and lead,
and building stone will be sources of income inexhaustible. These
valleys, touched by the magical power of irrigation, will yield to
your population abundant food, and you will yet have within yourselves
that happy commercial condition of a State producing and exchanging
within its own limits nearly all the necessaries of life. [Cheers.]
Transportation is always a burden. The industrial condition is always
best when the producers and the consumers are near together.

I am glad to know that you have not been so busy in delving into
the earth; that you have not so turned your minds to the precious
metal as to have forgotten that there is a blue sky above you; that
there are aspirations, and hopes, and glories that are greater than
all material things. [Cheers.] You have not failed to make sure that
the children, the blessed children of your homes, that are now coming
on, are made secure in the possession of a well-ordered and of a
well-endowed school system. [Cheers.] What a testimony it is to the
American character that, however intense the push for the things of
this life, however eager the pursuit of gain, you can never assemble a
community of 200 people that they do not begin to organize schools for
the children. [Cheers.] These common schools are not simply nurseries
of intellectual training; they are nurseries of citizenship. [Cheers.]

It has been a most happy sight to see the same old banner that we
bore into the smoke of battle and carried over dying comrades to
place it in triumph on the ramparts of the enemy now in the hands of
the children of Colorado. [Cheers.] Proof has been made a thousand
times--proof will be made whenever the occasion requires--that, as
much as we pursue gain and personal ends, we have nothing--property or
life--that we do not freely lay down upon the altar of our country for
the general good. [Cheers.] But, my fellow-citizens, this assemblage
is too vast, and the demand upon my time for public speech has been
too protracted, to enable me to pursue these remarks further.

Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, survivors of the
great war whose success preserved all that our fathers had devised
and established, whose success brought back this flag in honor and
established it again the undisputed emblem of an indissoluble Union
[cheers], God has bountifully lengthened out your days that you might
catch some glimpse of the glory that has come from the achievements in
which you bore an honorable part. But only the vision of the prophet
reaching out over centuries to come can catch the full glory of
what your deeds have wrought. I give you to-day a most affectionate
greeting [cheers]; I give you a regretful good-by. May you hold in
the community where you live that respect and honor to which you are
entitled. Let no Grand Army man ever dishonor in civil life the noble
record he made in war. May every blessing follow you, and if it shall
not be in God's dispensation to give you riches, at least, comrades,
you shall die with the glorious satisfaction of having contributed to
the greatest work that man ever wrought for humanity and good; and,
wrapped in the flag you followed, your comrades will, one by one, see
that in honored graves your bodies rest until the resurrection, and
that on each returning day of decoration flowers are strewn upon your
graves.

Citizens of Denver, I cannot close without expressing the great
satisfaction and surprise with which I have witnessed this morning the
magnificent commercial developments which have been made here. These
streets, these towering, substantial, and stately houses in which your
commerce is transacted, place you in the front rank of enterprise. I
do not think any city so young can claim so high a place. [Cheers.]
I thank you very sincerely for a demonstration which I cannot accept
as personal--all this is too great for any man--but as a spontaneous
tribute to our free institutions. I accept this as an evidence that in
all essential things we are one people. The fuller revelation of that
fact to us all has been worth all the labor and time we have mutually
expended in this long journey. In all essential things we are one; we
divide and strive and debate, but we are patriotic American citizens,
having a love for the Constitution and the flag that brings us all
at last to submit our opinion to the lawfully expressed wish of the
majority. [Cheers.]

And now again good-by. I shall leave behind me every good wish
for your prosperity, individually as a municipality and as a State.
[Cheers.]

After a drive over Capitol Hill the President and the gentlemen of his party were the guests of W. H. Bush at the Hotel Metropole. Senator Teller presided at luncheon.

Responding to a toast in honor of the President of the United States, General Harrison said:

_Gentlemen_--I cannot fail to respond to such a toast. Indeed, I
should be unkind to you and to myself as well if I did not. However,
I cannot speak at length in thanking you for the gracious hospitality
I have received in Denver. I can truly say my visit has culminated
in Denver. For pleasure during my stay here, for perfection in
arrangement, for cordiality, and all things which go to make a stop
pleasant, Denver has given a climax of enjoyment.

It has given me great pleasure to take note of some of the things
which have made this beautiful city here and its recent and massive
developments a wonder to the civilization of to-day. I am apt to judge
the city by the home. That is with me the test, more than the business
buildings, the manufactories, etc. It gives me great pleasure to
state that in all my travels, and they have included all the States
but two, I have never seen a city with such elegant homes as here.
[Cheers.] I am sure, when you have worked out your silver mines and
the more common products, stone and granite, you will have that which
will last you for an indefinite time, and which will also add to the
beauty of your already beautiful city. [Cheers.]

I have the pleasure of testifying to the satisfaction with which the
party has spent these few days in the Centennial State. I hope I may
have the pleasure of being with you again at some near future time.

I say good-by, and again express our thanks for your hospitality,
which has been excelled nowhere on our journey. [Cheers.]

AKRON, COLORADO, MAY 12.

The President made his farewell Colorado speech at Akron at 9 o'clock at night. The Reception Committee consisted of Hon. D. W. Irwin, R. S. Langley, and J. M. Aitkin. Upward of 3,000 people welcomed the distinguished travellers. Colonel Griffith and Gen. L. C. Colby, Commander Nebraska State Guards, joined the party at Akron as the representatives of Governor John M. Thayer.

Commander John N. Tague, of Akron Post, G. A. R., introduced President Harrison, who said:

_My Friends_--It is very kind of you to gather here to-night as
we pass by. We have had a very pleasant trip. Our interest in your
State and our appreciation of its great resources have been very much
increased on this visit. I am glad to find--indeed, I knew I should
find--the same people here that we have in Illinois, Indiana, and
Ohio. Most of you come from some of those States, and you are not new
people. I have been very much pleased to notice that here, as well as
in the East, you take deep interest in schools and in all those things
that tend to elevate a community and to set social order on a firm and
secure basis. Allow me to thank you again, and to bid you good-night.
[Cheers.]

HASTINGS, NEBRASKA, MAY 13.

Hastings, Nebraska's third city, was reached at 6:30 the morning of the 13th, and notwithstanding the early hour fully 10,000 people were present to welcome the President. The Reception Committee consisted of Mayor A. L. Clarke, Hon. John M. Ragan, C. H. Dietrich, Judge W. R. Burton, F. H. Firman, W. M. Kerr, General Dilworth, J. J. Buchanan, R. A. Batty, James B. Heartwell, A. F. Powers, A. V. Cole, M. Van Fleet, Dr. Johnson, Dr. J. E. Hilts, A. H. Brown, Dr. Cook, R. B. Wahlquist, and C. Cameron.

J. N. Clarke delivered the address of welcome and introduced President Harrison, who said:

_My Fellow-countrymen_--There is a freshness and a beauty about
the Nebraska prairies, but I hope I will not fall in your esteem
if I say I do not like to get up early. [Shouts, "Neither do we!"]
Occasionally, in our trip, we seem to pick up an hour. When I retired
at Denver last night, at none too early an hour, I was told that we
would be at Hastings at 6:30. But we arrived here, it seems to me, at
5:20 by the time I went to bed by last night; but, my friends, all
these things that make labor of travel are as nothing compared with
the great gratification we find in such assemblages as this.

As we journeyed eastward we have seen the arid land where the
water ran in ditches and did not fall in showers. That system has
its advantages and its disadvantages, but I must confess that it
seems more homelike for me to get back to the land where the showers
fall and everything is fresh and green. This diversity of natural
conditions and of agricultural and mineral wealth makes the greatness
of our country. Diversity is found everywhere in nature, and it is
a happy thing. It is found in the field and crop, but never in the
people--any observing man can see that we are one people. [Cheers.]
The people I saw in California, in Arizona, and all along our journey,
were just such people as I see here; indeed, they were in a strict
sense the same people, because they are Yankees, Pennsylvanians,
Wisconsin men, Hoosiers, and Buckeyes--I think the Ohio man must be
here. [Several responses of "Here we are!"]

The Westerners are the overspill of the enterprising population
of the East. They kept going a little farther west, still a little
farther, until at last they touched the Pacific; and so anywhere the
traveller may go, if he will make himself known, the hands of old
neighbors will be stretched out to him. Out of all this comes the love
for the one flag, and I am glad to say that we have not passed any
little way station--even in Arizona, where a few scores had gathered
from distant ranches--but some one with an American flag was there and
American cheers for that flag. Sometimes the incidents were almost
pathetic. At one little station in Arizona, as we drew up in the
darkness, there were half a dozen ranchers on the platform. I noticed
on the lapels of two or three coats the Grand Army button. One of them
shouted, "There are but few of us, but let us give a cheer for the old
flag, boys!" [Cheers.]

I thank you most cordially for your gathering here. I do not know
whether it is prejudice or not, but anyway I always have a very high
opinion of a State whose chief production is corn. [Laughter and
applause.]

CRETE, NEBRASKA, MAY 13.

At Crete the President received a musical welcome. Nedela's band rendered "America," and over 2,000 voices joined in the chorus. It was a beautiful tribute to patriotism. Governor Thayer, accompanied by Lieut. Gov. T. J. Majors, Secretary of State J. C. Allen, Auditor T. H. Benton, Treasurer J. E. Hill, Atty. Gen. Geo. H. Hastings, Adjt. Gen. A. V. Cole, Commissioner A. R. Humphry, and Col. H. E. Palmer, came down from Lincoln and met the President's party at Crete. The local Reception Committee consisted of Mayor Norris, ex-Governor Dawes, S. L. Andrews, Capt. John Sherrill, and H. M. Wells.

Governor Thayer introduced the President, who said:

_My Friends_--It appears sometimes in the heat of political
campaigns that the American people do not agree upon anything; but
after it is all over we take a broader survey of things and we find
that underneath all these divisions is the bed rock of patriotism. In
that at least we have a common purpose.

I am glad to see these children here this morning. They have greeted
me everywhere with their happy smiles, and they brighten the way
quite as much as the flowers that have been given us. It is pleasant
to know that in these pioneer countries you are establishing common
schools in order that the generation which is coming on may have a
better chance than you had. I do not know of anything better than the
father and mother working and striving that their children may have an
easier and better chance in life than they had. I am very glad to see
you all this morning, and thank you for your cordial welcome. [Cheers.]

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, MAY 13

The capital of Nebraska was reached at 9 o'clock in the morning and the Lincolnites gave the President a warm greeting. The State officials, with Mayor Weir and the following prominent citizens, comprised the Committee of Reception: Maj. H. C. McArthur, Charles H. Gere, E. E. Brown, N. S. Harwood, C. M. Parker, C. E. Montgomery, S. S. Royce, A. H. Weir, J. B. Archibald, W. E. Churchill, Alva Brown, John D. Wright, Phelps Paine, J. B. Strode, C. H. Gould, Joseph Teeters, J. J. Imhoff, John H. McClay, D. W. Mosely, J. H. McMurtry, Professor Bessey, and Alva Kennard. During the march to the Capitol grounds the President was escorted by the veterans of Farragut Post, Martin Howe Commander, and Appomattox Post, C. W. Lyman Commander. Governor Thayer and Mayor Weir each delivered an address welcoming the President to Nebraska and to Lincoln.

President Harrison responded:

_Governor Thayer and Mr. Mayor_--It will, I think, be entirely
impossible for me to make myself heard by this vast assemblage,
situated as you are here this morning. Our stay with you is
necessarily brief, and yet I do not want you to feel that we have
discriminated against the political capital of one of the very
greatest of the newer States. I have been so pressed with the
engagements which have been suggested to us that I have only been able
to give three-quarters of an hour to Indianapolis, my own home. I have
given you the same, and I had hoped, very much, that this time could
be extended and that I would be able to address you with more comfort
to myself and to you.

We are here as American citizens, for common hope and love; we are
here the friends of the flag, of the Constitution, of social order,
of every school, of all that characterizes this Nation and makes it
better than any other nation in the world.

I thank you, most cordially thank you, for this magnificent
demonstration. It has but one fault, and that is it is altogether too
large to be suitably arranged with a view to public speaking.

I hope you will allow me again to thank you very sincerely for your
most cordial and magnificent welcome, and wish for you and your State
all prosperity and for the country of which we are common citizens a
career of unchecked glory. [Cheers.]

As the President was about to depart he was met by a committee representing the Nebraska Travelling Men's Association, consisting of President Fred A. Wilson, Secretary R. M. Simons, and Capt. J. S. Agey, who presented him with an address of welcome printed on satin in gold. In accepting the souvenir the President said:

Convey my thanks to the travelling men, for whom I entertain the
kindest regard. I remember them in the last campaign, and shall always
be thankful for the favors extended. I noticed your body in the
parade, and have never seen a finer representation of the fraternity.
[Renewed cheering.]

ASHLAND, NEBRASKA, MAY 13.

About 2,000 people greeted the President at Ashland. The school children were assembled at the station under Superintendent Crabtree. Mayor J. C. Railsback, H. H. Shedd, S. G. Bryan, Col. J. K. Clarke, R. E. Butler, C. N. Folsom, M. Newman, W. T. Spere, J. H. Snell, J. H. Oliver, J. W. Moon, and S. B. Hall, Commander of Bob McCook Post, G. A. R., welcomed the President, who made a brief address, as follows:

_My Friends_--I am very much obliged to you for your cordial
welcome. We pause but for a moment, and it will not be possible for me
to make a speech. You are talking yourselves, and I am sure in very
high tones of patriotism, by your display of the national colors in
your own hands and in the hands of the school children, and by this
welcome to one who for the time is placed at the head of the national
Government. I have not accepted what I have seen on this trip as
personal; it is too much for any man. I accept it as the expression of
our people for the love of our flag and for the institutions which it
symbolizes. [Cheers.]

OMAHA, NEBRASKA, MAY 13.

President Harrison arrived at Omaha Wednesday noon and was accorded a reception that in numbers and enthusiasm was scarcely surpassed during the entire trip. He was met at Lincoln by an escort committee consisting of Senator Charles F. Manderson, Senator A. S. Paddock, Hon. J. C. Cowin, ex-Gov. R. B. Furnas, Maj. D. H. Wheeler, Judge J. M. Thurston, G. W. Willard, W. V. Morse, D. J. O'Donohue, B. B. Wood, Dr. G. L. Miller, C. Hartman, Maj. T. S. Clarkson, C. J. Greene, A. J. Poppleton, Hon. J. E. Boyd, J. H. Millard, Thomas Swobe, A. P. Hopkins, Max Meyer, W. F. Bechel, and T. J. Lowry.