been steadily driving them back from the loyal states and It must be a source of profound gratification to you to A Nebraska soldier, whether called on by his country to confront the wily savages on the frontier, or the rebel hosts in battle array, has never shrunk from duty, quailed before danger, or turned his back on the foe. After urging that all possible effort should be made for the, comfort of the soldiers in the field, and of the sick and wounded, and of widows and orphans, and for allowing the soldiers to vote for state and national officers, he passed to the subject of monuments. I also recommend that you make the necessary provision for keeping a correct record of the names of all who enlist in the military service of the Territory, to be preserved among the public archives; and that the names of all who are wounded or fall in battle should be inscribed on a roll of honor, to be carefully preserved for the inspection of future generations. I also suggest that justice to this class of our fellow citizens seems to me to require that a monument should be erected at the capitol, on which to inscribe the names, and preserve the memory of all from this territory who have fallen in their country's service since this rebellion commenced, or who have fallen during its continuance. He further elucidated the steps leading up to emancipation, as a military necessity, and its influence at home and abroad on the final result, and declared in favor of an immediate peace consequent upon a restored union. In his message of 1865, Governor Saunders made the following prediction: This war for the preservation of our national life, although protracted through more than three years of bloody strife, is at length happily drawing to a close; and recent events would seem to indicate, with almost mathematical certainty, that the end cannot be far in the future. Slowly, but steadily and surely, the Union armies are exhausting the strength and resources of the rebel forces. Their lines are being rapidly contracted-their ranks decimated beyond the possibility of recuperation, and the spirit of the misguided masses has been broken. Our armies and navies almost encompass them, while one of our greatest generals, with his victorious columns, has marched through the very heart of the Empire State of the South, from the interior to the coast, and captured the most populous and important commercial city in the rebellious district, almost without opposition. The significant facts leave no room to doubt that at an early period the supremacy of the constitution and the laws will be restored in every portion of the country, thus establishing human liberty, alike in the South and in the North, and vindicating the capacity of the people for self government. One year later he had the happiness to herald the consummation of the great work, in the following language of his annual message, of January, 1866: Our flag, emblem of the unity, justice, power and glory of the nation, now floats in triumph over every part of the Republic. Every foot of our national territory has been preserved intact. The supremacy of the constitution and laws is acknowledged by all the inhabitants, but this great boon has been secured at a fearful cost of blood and treasure. Having thus passed through the Red Sea of disaster which menaced us, and for a time threatened to engulf and overwhelm the fair fabric of justice and liberty reared for us by our fathers, may we not hope that our glorious Union will be perpetual and dispense its blessings for all future time to the oppressed and downtrodden who may seek an asylum in this land of liberty and equal justice from the tyrannies of the old world. When the question of emancipating slaves was discussed, as a military necessity, Governor Saunders held and expressed very decided views: Look, if you please, at the effort put forth by the cunning politicians and traitors of our country, to prejudice the minds of the unwary against the President's proclamation emancipating the slaves in rebel districts. Thousands throughout the country had their minds thus prejudiced, and for the time being poisoned, against the measure; and yet, that very same measure has, perhaps, done more to give us strength, both at home and abroad, than any other adopted by the administration. And perhaps we ought not to close our eyes to the fact, while dwelling on this subject, that many of the best and wisest men in the country believe that if the slaves should all be liberated, during the progress of the war, it will be a just retribution on those who originated the rebellion; for there is a universal conviction among all classes, that slavery was, either directly or indirectly, the cause of the war, and that the guilty cause ought to be destroyed, and that without this, no lasting, permanent peace can possibly be secured. If it stands in the way of victory, of peace, of a restored and perpetual Union, let it die the death of the malefactor. On the 25th of January, 1864, Governor Saunders had the su preme pleasure of placing his signature to a joint resolution of the Legislature complimented the territorial troops: RESOLVED, That the thanks of the people of this territory are due, and are hereby tendered through their Legislative Assembly, to the brave men who have gone from our territory to battle for the preservation of our country. That we look with pride and satisfaction upon the record our soldiers have made since the war of the rebellion was inaugurated, and that their unsurpassed bravery on every field, from Fort Donelson, where the blood of Nebraska first mingled with the crimson tide of the brave of other states, who consecrated with their lives the first great victory of the war, down to the heroic defense of Cape Girardeau, where the sons of our territory, almost unaided, achieved one of the most brilliant and decisive victories that will adorn the annals of the present struggle, a record which commands the admiration of the world, and places us under a debt of gratitude to those brave men which we can never repay. How thoroughly the Governor's patriotic efforts were supple mented by the women of the territory, appears from their contributions to the St. Louis Sanitary Fair of 1864, to the amount of $10,000, and to the Chicago Fair of 1865, to the amount of $25,000, where Mrs. Alvin Saunders and Mrs. O. F. Davis were active participants. The sentiments of loyalty and patriotism proclaimed by the Governor were amply supplemented by the utterance of the Legislature of 1861-2: RESOLVED, That, disavowing, as we do, the right of any state or states to nullify the federal law or secede from the federal Union, we regard such secession or nullification as treason against the United States, and believe it to be the first and holiest duty of the Government to uphold its laws and repress treason. To a resolution of a republican member of the Legislature"Resolved, that whenever an American Citizen unsheathes his sword and shoulders his musket, at his country's call, he should leave the spoilsman, the partisan and the politician in a nameless grave behind him," there came a democratic response: "That we hold rebels against our government to be outside the pale of its protection." His messages furnish the land-marks of the Union Pacific railroad. In the first one, of December, 1861, we have the following: A mere glance at the map of the country will convince every intelligent mind that the Platte Valley which passes through the heart, and runs nearly the entire length of Nebraska, is to furnish the route for the Great Central Railroad which is to connect the Atlantic with the Pacific States and Territories. Through Nebraska must pass, in a few years, not only the travel and trade between the Eastern and Western portion of our country, but also much of the trade and travel between the Old and New World. In his message in January, 1864, he thus congratulated the Legislature: Congress passed a bill, at the first regular session after the inauguration of the present administration, providing for the construction of the Great Pacific Railway, commencing on the 100th meridian, within the Territory of Nebraska, thence westwardly to the Pacific coast, with three branches In January 1865, his declaration was: It will be gratifying to you, and the people of the Territory to know that the work on the great Union Pacific Railroad, which is to pass through the entire length of Nebraska, is progressing at a very considerable rate. The work of grading, bridging, and preparing the ties, is progressing much more rapidly than had been anticipated by our most sanguine people. I feel fully authorized to say, that unless some unforeseen misfortune attends this great enterprise, more than fifty miles westward from Omaha will be in readiness for the cars before your next annual meeting. In January, 1866, he reported fifty-five miles of track completed, and grading and bridging for niety-five miles, and predicted that 150 miles of the road would be ready for the cars within twelve months. But all speculations were to be exceeded during the year of 1866, since on the 11th of January, 1867, cars were running a distance of 293 miles from the initial point, and 262 miles of track were laid, in that year. On the 2nd day of December, 1863, as one of the national Commissioners to locate the initial point of the road, with spade in hand to "break ground," the governor delivered the following address: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: We have assembled here to-day for the purpose of inaugurating the greatest work of internal improvement ever projected by man, an improvement which is to unite with iron bands the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific, and to connect not only the great cities of the Atlantic with those of the Pacific Ocean, but to open the gateway of commerce for the nations of the earth. This gigantic enterprise, |