We do not expect to present to our patrons in this
volume accounts of strange and novel events only; neither do we pretend to
make history; our duty is to record that which has been made. At the same
time we do not claim to give all that is worthy of record. The immensity of
such an undertaking is beyond the comprehension of those who have had no
experience in this line. Volumes could be written of this wonderful
country. We have given in this large volume such an amount of matter as our
space will permit, and such as will be of the greatest interest and most
lasting value to the greatest number of readers. We are dealing with the
tangible historical facts, made up from the statements and records of
others. There can be no originality in the work of the historian.
Our object has been to collect the chief historical
facts relative to this country, for the use of residents, and to furnish
valuable information to those seeking homes in this wonderful valley. We do
not claim perfection. Much more could have been written, and some things,
possibly, might have been left unsaid. While we have no apology to offer,
we desire to say to the fastidious critic, if you think you can do better,
the field is open to you. There is no patent on this process, no monopoly,
and you will find a cordial welcome at the hands of this enterprising,
hospitable people, who are generous and ever ready to patronize an
enterprise tending to advance the interests of their country and to place
before the world its great resources.
Probably the most useful thing that a person can know is
where to look for information. Emerson has said that "knowledge is the
knowing that we do not know," and Dr. Johnson, in somewhat the same strain,
said, "There are two kinds of knowledge: the one knowing a thing, and the
other knowing where to find information about it." One of the old
philosophers boasted that he had taken all knowledge for his province, but
it has been suggested that there were many outlying corners and edges of his
province with which he was not acquainted, to say nothing of not having
conquered them. Besides, in that age of the world the recognized field of
knowledge was so small, as compared with its extent at the present day, that
the boast may have had some show of reason, whereas if made now it would be
simply ridiculous. This the would-be critic will find lamentably true did
he undertake to gather together and properly arrange the important events
transpiring to-day. The things to know then are, first, that we know
nothing; and secondly, where to look for what we want to learn.
Every one, no matter how diligent a student or
accomplished a scholar, must have been struck with something like amazement
when he ventured to contemplate the immensity of his own ignorance. it is
like looking into the measureless vault of heaven until the observer seems
to himself to shrink to less then an atom of sand in comparison with the
beginning of the infinite which stretches away and away, above and around
him. Happily for those who want to know, much of the literary talent and
ability of the age is bestowed upon compendiums and manuals of all kinds
which present the kernal of information, stripped of the useless and
troublesome husk which inclosed it. There are dictionaries, and cyclopaedias,
and summaries, and synopses, and indexes, and catalogues on every imaginable
subject; so that all the student need do is to know where to look for what
he wants - that is, unless he be desirous of mastering a subject; and even
then these compilations will tell them where to find the information which
they themselves do not supply.
The question may be raised whether the road to learning
is not being made too smooth and easy. We answer this in the negative. The
person in search of information is no more bound to go through all the
preliminary steps which some one has taken before him; than a man who eats
a dinner is bound to catch and kill the meat or grow the vegetables which
form part of it. We are entitled to the garnered store of information which
the genius and industry of others have accumulated, and it would be the
height of folly not to use it.
For much of the data used in the general history in this
volume we are especially indebted to the press and county officials of the
district comprised herein, and to Messrs. S. H. Cole, H. S. Dixon, Frank
Dusy, J. E. Denney, Dr. Lewis Leach, Mrs. F. A. Tracy, and many others.
The Publishers.