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.]