At the same time that ladies and gentlemen of refinement discussed human
rights and liberty in the elegant salons of Italy and France, a race of
hardy men and women amid the wilderness of the New World was engaged in
establishing crude settlements, from which later on the spirit of
genuine freedom should radiate throughout the world.
When toward the end of the 16th Century European explorers arrived on
the eastern coast of the North American continent, they found what later
times demonstrated beyond dispute: the richest and finest land on the
face of the globe. The unsurpassed beauty and grandeur of the scenery
stirred their hearts with surprise and admiration. They became
enthusiastic about everything, and in their reports described the newly
discovered country as the most wonderful they had ever seen.
The more these explorers saw of America, the more their amazement
increased. When Henry Hudson in 1609 discovered that noble river which
now bears his name, its magnificent shores were a revelation to him, who
was accustomed to the modest surroundings of the Netherlands.
The French, who entered North America by the way of the St. Lawrence
River, met with still greater surprises. The Great Lakes, stretching
like oceans toward the setting sun, thundering Niagara, the royal Ohio,
the majestic Mississippi, and the beautiful forests girding these
shores, made their hearts beat with wonder and delight and filled their
imagination with dreams of vast empires full of wealth. Beyond the
“Father of Waters” and the regions of forest, the explorers found the
“Prairies,” boundless seas of fragrant grass and beautiful flowers.
Beyond these plains rose majestic mountain-chains, with lovely valleys
and parks, and snow-capped domes, towering above the clouds.
Such majestic nature must of necessity exert a most powerful influence
on all who came in contact with it. Many of those immigrants who in
their native countries had been restrained by narrow traditions and
customs, and oppressed by despotic rulers, were here given the first
chance to develop and prove their abilities. The unlimited freedom of
the boundless forests, plains, and mountains stimulated their energy and
imbued them with a spirit of enterprise, hitherto unknown.
New types of heroic men, such as never had lived in Europe, sprang into
existence: the trappers, traders and “voyageurs,” who in the pursuit of
the lucrative fur trade penetrated the vast continent in all directions,
fighting their way through countless hardships and dangers.
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