Speech #450065682

Chairman. a glance at the military map will convey more accurately than mere words. the idea that I have attempted to give of the magnitude of the country and the character of the services required of our Army. Scattered along the great lakes and the seaboard. following the line of the boundary between Mexico and the United States. and dotted all over the plains and mountain regions of the great West and South. wherever an outlying settlement is to be protected or a hostile tribe of Indians observed or overawed. may be seen the flag that marks the site of a military post. Within the last fifty years our western frontier has been extended to the Pacific. and the adventurous spirit of our people has carried them across the plains and mountains between the Missouri and the Sacramento. building up by the way flourishing States and Territories in the heart of the continent. but always in advance of this tide of immigration. furnishing it protection and assistance. the little Army of the United States was to be found. In many instances where temporary or permanent posts have been established in this steady march to the West. great cities have sprung up. and many places familiar to all of us. owe much of their prsenst prosperity to the wise selection madefor the site of the post. and the protection given and the population attracted by the presence of the troops. In this pioneer work. marches have been made and distances and difficulties overcome unsurpassed by the Roman legions when the ancient world was subject to their arms. and in this constant warfare with nature. our Army has won victories as honorable and important as those won from the savage foe.