I suggested this plan, but she replied that it was
impossible for her to consider it. I did not lose
thought of it, however, and at the next International
Conference, held in Copenhagen in 1907, I suggested
to some of the delegates that we introduce the
matter as a
resolution, asking Mrs. Catt to go
around the world in
behalf of woman
suffrage. They
approved the
suggestion so
heartily that I followed
it up with a speech
setting forth the whole plan and
Mrs. Catt's
peculiarfitness for the work. Several
months later Mrs. Catt and Dr. Aletta Jacobs, presi-
dent of the Holland Suffrage Association, started on
their world tour; and not until after they had gone
did I fully realize that the two great personal am-
bitions of my life had been realized, not by me, but
by another, and in each case with my enthusiastic
co-operation.
In 1904, following my
election to the presidency,
a strong
appeal came from the Board of Managers
of the
exposition to be held in Portland, Oregon,
urging us to hold our next
annual convention there
during the
exposition. It was the first time an
important body of men had recognized us in this
manner, and we
gladly responded. So strong a
political
factor did the men of Oregon recognize us
to be that every political party in the state asked
to be represented on our
platform; and one entire
evening of the convention was given over to the
representatives chosen by the various parties to
indorse the
suffragemovement. Thus we began
in Oregon the good work we continued in 1906, and
of which we reaped the
harvest in 1912.
Next to ``Suffrage Night,'' the most interesting
feature of the
exposition to us was the unveiling of
the
statue of Saccawagea, the young Indian girl
who led the Lewis and Clark
expedition through the
dangerous passes of the mountain ranges of the
Northwest until they reached the Pacific coast.
This
statue, presented to the
exposition by the
women of Oregon, is the
belatedtribute of the state
to its most
dauntlesspioneer; and no one can look
upon the noble face of the young squaw, whose out-
stretched hand points to the ocean, without marvel-
ing over the
ingratitude of the nation that ignored
her
supreme service. To Saccawagea is due the
opening up of the entire
western country. There
was no one to guide Lewis and Clark except this
Indian, who alone knew the way; and she led the
whole party, carrying her papoose on her back.
She was only sixteen, but she brought every man
safely through an experience of almost unparalleled
hardship and danger, nursing them in
sickness and
setting them an example of unfaltering courage and
endurance, until she stood at last on the Pacific
coast, where her
statue stands now, pointing to the
wide sweep of the Columbia River as it flows into
the sea.
This
recognition by women is the only
recognitionshe ever received. Both Lewis and Clark were sin-
cerely
grateful to her and warmly recommended her
to the government for
reward; but the government
allowed her
absolutely nothing, though each man
in the party she had led was given a large tract of
land. Tradition says that she was
bitterly disap-
pointed, as well she might have been, and her Indian
brain must have been sadly puzzled. But she was
treated little worse than thousands of the white
pioneer women who have followed her; and standing:
there to-day on the bank of her river, she still seems
sorrowfully reflective over the strange ways of the
nation she so nobly served.
The Oregon
campaign of 1906 was the carrying
out of one of Miss Anthony's dearest wishes, and we
who loved her set about this work soon after her
death. In the autumn
preceding her passing, head-
quarters had been established in Oregon, and Miss
Laura Gregg had been placed in
charge, with Miss
Gale Laughlin as her
associate. As the money for
this effort was raised by the National Association,
it was
decided, after some
discussion, to let the
National Association develop the work in Oregon,
which was admittedly a hard state to carry and full
of possible difficulties which soon became actual
ones.
As a
beginning, the Legislature had failed to sub-
mit an
amendment; but as the
initiative and referen-
dum was the law in Oregon, the
amendment was sub-
mitted through
initiativepatent. The task of se-
curing the necessary signatures was not an easy one,
but at last a sufficient number of signatures were
secured and verified, and the authorities issued the
necessary
proclamation for the vote, which was to
take place at a special
election held on the 5th of
June. Our
campaign work had been carried on as
extensively as possible, but the distances were great
and the workers few, and as a result of the strain
upon her Miss Gregg's health soon failed alarm-
ingly.
All this was
happening during Miss Anthony's
last
illness, and it added greatly to our anxieties.
She instructed me to go to Oregon immediately
after her death and to take her sister Mary and
her niece Lucy with me, and we followed these
orders within a week of her
funeral, arriving in
Portland on the third day of April. I had at-
tempted too much, however, and I proved it by
fainting as I got off the train, to the
horror of
the friendly
delegationwaiting to receive us. The
Portland women took very tender care of me,
and in a few days I was ready for work, but we
found conditions even worse than we had expected.
Miss Gregg had collapsed utterly and was unable
to give us any information as to what had been done
or planned, and we had to make a new foundation.
Miss Laura Clay, who had been in the Portland work
for a few weeks, proved a tower of strength, and we
were soon aided further by Ida Porter Boyer, who
came on to take
charge of the publicity department.
During the final six weeks of the
campaign Alice
Stone Blackwell, of Boston, was also with us, while
Kate Gordon took under her special
charge the or-
ganization of the city of Portland and the parlor-
meeting work. Miss Clay went into the state, where
Emma Smith DeVoe and other speakers were also
working, and I spent my time between the office
headquarters and ``the road,'' often
working at my
desk until it was time to rush off and take a train
for some town where I was to hold a night meeting.