NOTES

I. THE BACKGROUND

FROM the five selections under this heading we may get a good conception of the qualities which distinguished the makers of the country, and the conditions which produced those qualities. The Pioneers is a sympathetic sketch of early life on the frontier; Daniel Boone traces the life of a pioneer whose main impulse was pure adventure; The Lewis and Clark Expedition shows the equally heroic but more methodical extension westward of the expanding life of the young colonies; The Fall of the Alamo typifies the fighting spirit bred by this frontier life; The Death of Stonewall Jackson shows this fighting spirit persisting in a later struggle, but ennobled now by a high idealism.

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3 Roosevelt is describing the frontier life of the backwoodsman of the Alleghanies about the year 1770. The map facing page 309 will be found helpful for reference.

18 Daniel Boone: For another account of this heroic figure see the first two volumes of The Winning of the West, where his name is written Boon; and for an interesting biography see John S. C. Abbott's Life of Daniel Boone in the American Pioneer and Patriot series. The map facing page 309 will be found useful for ref

erence.

22 Simon Kenton: one of the favorite heroes of frontier story. He saved Boone's life, was captured by the Indians, suffered indescribable tortures, ran the gauntlet eight times, and was thrice tied to the stake. See The Winning of the West, vol. II, and Famous Scouts, by C. H. L. Johnston.

Battle of Blue Licks: took place on August 19, 1782. It is vividly described in the second volume of The Winning of the West. 24 The Lewis and Clark Expedition: The selection printed is taken (with omissions) from pages 312-28 of The Winning of the West, vol. IV. Eight years after the publication of this history the original journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by R. G. Thwaites, were published in eight volumes, and dedicated to Roosevelt who was then President. For Lewis and Clark's outward and homeward route see the map facing page 310.

27 Sir Alexander Mackenzie: a Scotchman, in 1789 explored the great river which bears his name, and was the first white man to reach the Pacific by crossing the Rocky Mountains. 28 Samuel Hearne: an English explorer who took service in the Hudson's Bay Company, discovered the Coppermine River Basin, and traced the Coppermine River to the Arctic Ocean (1772). 33 The Fall of the Alamo: The Alamo was an old mission building at San Antonio, Texas, later converted into a fort, and occupied in February, 1836, by Colonel W. B. Travis with about 150 men in revolt against the Government of Mexico. It was taken by assault on March 6.

David Crockett: a typical Tennessee frontiersman, was thrice elected to the House of Representatives as a Jackson Democrat. His opposition to some of the President's policies brought his political career to an end in 1835, when in disgust he retired to Texas. 36 Sam Houston had served in the War of 1812. He was later President of Texas, Governor of Texas, and Senator from Texas. 37 The Death of Stonewall Jackson: Thomas Jonathan Jackson, a native of West Virginia, is said to have earned his sobriquet of Stonewall at the first battle of Bull Run. For a chart of the Battle of Chancellorsville, see page 313.

38 who defended Londonderry: In 1688 Derry was the chief stronghold of the Protestants of the North of Ireland, and at the time of the famous siege of 1689 held out against the forces of James II from April 19 until relief came on the 30th of July. Fredericksburg: so bloody a repulse" refers to Lee's defeat of Burnside's assault December 13, 1862.

66

II. THE ROOSEVELT PHILOSOPHY

52 John Wesley (1703–1791): the founder of Methodism danced, read plays, shot plover, and attended village fairs. He was like Roosevelt indomitably cheerful and human, and an enormous worker.

Valley Forge, in Chester County, Pennsylvania: Here on December 17, 1777, the American army of about 11,000 men encamped for the winter. Owing to insufficient food and clothing many perished during the winter, and at no time were more than half of them fit for active service.

54 address at Cairo, Egypt: The Egyptian students had tacitly approved the killing of the Prime Minister, Boutros Pasha, a month before Roosevelt spoke. He had been warned that he, too, would be killed if he referred to the matter. But he reproved them point

blank for the murder, and urged that personal self-control and re-
spect for law and order were prerequisites of permanent freedom.
empiricists: those who regard experience as the only source of
knowledge. Roosevelt apparently uses the word in the sense of
theorists.

61 demagogy: action of one who selfishly appeals to the mob.
67 patient Griselda type of woman: Griselda was the heroine of one
of the most popular medieval legends. A poor girl by her beauty
and virtues wins the love of a nobleman, who marries her and puts
her obedience to severe tests, through which she passes trium-
phantly. Chaucer tells the story in The Clerke's Tale.

74 tower of Siloam: Luke XIII, 4: " Or those eighteen, upon whom the
tower in Siloam fell, think ye that they were sinners above all
men that dwelt in Jerusalem ?" See also a similar reference on
page 141.

77 Address at Cambridge, England: Roosevelt was anxious to im-
press on the English undergraduate the emptiness of a life of mere
athleticism.

81 Comrade: Notice the use of the word on page 176 on the occasion
of an address to the Civil War veterans in Kansas.

83 James 1, 27, is not quoted exactly.

88 had fought in high air like an eagle: Quentin, Roosevelt's young-
est son, was killed in an air battle in 1918.

90 sword of Azrael: In Mohammedan and Jewish belief Azrael is the
angel of death, who separates the soul from the body.

drank the dark drink: compare Omar Khayyam, by Fitzgerald:
"So when the angel of the darker drink

At length shall meet thee at the river brink,

And offering his cup invite thy soul

Forth at thy lips to quaff, thou shalt not shrink."

97 ex-Speaker Reed: Thomas B. Reed was Speaker of the House of
Representatives for six years.

98 caucus: a local meeting of the members of a party to nominate
candidates or elect delegates.

102 homologous to: similar to.

114 "delicate" subject: Several Illinois legislators had confessed to

receiving bribes to vote for William Lorimer as junior Senator
from Illinois. The day after Roosevelt spoke, the chief figure in
the bribery scandal was acquitted. But Lorimer was expelled
from the Senate when he attempted to take his seat.

115 Post-Office Department: While President, Roosevelt insisted on
a thorough investigation of scandals in the Post-Office Depart-
ment.