Laus Deo! There were hands, brains, and hearts for those trying
hours of the sudden acquisition of this royal domain.
The thoughtful scholar Nevins, throwing open the first public
school-room to a little nursery-like brood, planted the seeds of
a future harvest, far richer than the output of the river treasuries.
A farmer's wife toiling over the long plains, caring for two
beehives, mindful of the future, introduced a future wealth, kinder
in prophetic thought, than he who blindly stumbled on a bonanza.
Humble farmer, honest head of family, intelligent teacher, useful
artisan, wise doctor, and skilled mechanic, these were the real
fathers of the State.
The sailor, the mechanic, and the good pioneer women, these are
the heroes and heroines gratefully remembered now. They regulated
civilization; they stood together against the gold-maddened floating
miners; they fought the vicious camp-followers.
Maxime Valois, learned in the civil law of his native State, speaking
French and Spanish, soon plunged in the vexatious land litigation
of his generation. Mere casual occupancy gave little color of title
to the commoner Mexicans. Now, the great grant owners are, one by
one, cited into court to prove their holdings; many are forced in
by aggressive squatters.
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