The west was neither discovered, won, nor settled by any single man.

We owe the conquest of the west to all the backwoodsmen, not to any solitary individual among them; where all alike were strong and daring there was no chance for any single man to rise to unquestioned preeminence.

But the credit belongs to the whole backwoods race, not to the individual backwoodsman.

Frontiersmen are often content with the merest printed trash; but the better men among them appreciate really good literature quite as much as any other class of people.

It is a waste of time to quarrel over who first discovered a particular tract of this wilderness.

Their untamed and turbulent passions, and the lawless freedom of their lives, made them a population very productive of wild, headstrong characters; yet, as a whole, they were a God-fearing race, as was but natural in those who sprang from…

They felt that they were dispossessing the Canaanites, and were thus working the Lord's will in preparing the land for a race which they believed was more truly His chosen people than was that nation which Joshua led across the Jordan.

They exhorted no less earnestly in the bare meeting-houses on Sunday, because their hands were roughened with guiding the plow and wielding the axe on week-days; for they did not believe that being called to preach the word of God absolved…

But the bulk of the settlers were men of sterling worth; fit to be the pioneer fathers of a mighty and beautiful state.

They possessed the courage that enabled them to defy outside foes, together with the rough, practical commonsense that allowed them to establish a simple but effective form of government, so as to preserve order among themselves.

To succeed in the wilderness, it was necessary to possess not only daring, but also patience and the capacity to endure grinding toil.

The backwoods people had to front peril and hardship without stint, and they loved for the moment to leap out of the bounds of their narrow lives and taste the coarse pleasures that are always dear to a strong, simple, and primitive race.

Yet underneath their moodiness and their fitful light-heartedness lay a spirit that when roused was terrible in its ruthless and stern intensity of purpose.

He intended to have a home where he could bring up his family, and, if possible, he wished to find rich lands, with good springs, whereto he might lead those of his neighbors who, like himself, eagerly desired to rise in the world, and to…

It is this fact of the early independence and self-government of the settlers along the head-waters of the Tennessee that gives to their history its peculiar importance.

They were the first men of American birth to establish a free and independent community on the continent.

But he was a man who never rushed heedlessly into purposeless peril, and never flinched from a danger which there was an object in encountering.

It has often been said that we owe all our success to our surroundings; that any race with our opportunities could have done as well as we have done.

Undoubtedly our opportunities have been great; undoubtedly we have often and lamentably failed in taking advantage of them.

But what nation ever has done all that was possible with the chances offered it?

The Spaniards, the Portuguese, and the French, not to speak of the Russians in Siberia, have all enjoyed, and yet have failed to make good use of, the same advantages which we have turned to good account.

The truth is, that in starting a new nation in a new country, as we have done, while there are exceptional chances to be taken advantage of, there are also exceptional dangers and difficulties to be overcome.

None but heroes can succeed wholly in the work.

It is a good thing for us at times to compare what we have done with what we could have done, had we been better and wiser; it may make us try in the future to raise our abilities to the level of our opportunities.

Looked at relatively, it must also be said that we have done better than any other nation or race working under our conditions.