The story of how this was done forms a compact and continuous whole.

The fathers followed Boon or fought at King's Mountain; the sons marched south with Jackson to overcome the Creeks and beat back the British; the grandsons died at the Alamo or charged to victory at San Jacinto.

They were doing their share of a work that began with the conquest of Britain, that entered on its second and wider period after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, that culminated in the marvellous growth of the United States.

The winning of the West and Southwest is a stage in the conquest of a continent.
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To this I can testify of my own knowledge as regards Montana, Dakota, and Minnesota.