Page 142 - Cornelius Hedges Story

129 The Cornelius Hedges Story

While on a trip attending Teachers’ Institutes, Hedges visited
the once great center of Confederate Gulch, Diamond City, in July,
1883. Afterwards he wrote this eulogy for Diamond City:

“Diamond City is desolate, deserted, and dreary to behold in
the shreds of its departed glory, yet those who have known
it in the days of its pride, wealth, and activity, cannot fail to
recall pleasant associations. Its very site will soon go down the
flume, which is already within the borders of the old town and
gleaning a rich harvest - probably the last. There are only four
families left of all the hundreds that have dwelt here since the
glorious days of ‘66. If the goose that laid the nest of golden
eggs can only be found in the shape of a prolific mother vein
of gold-bearing quartz, the days of Diamond’s departed glory
may return; otherwise, it will disappear utterly within another
season.”415
In 1902, Hedges co-authored the book Masonic History in
The Northwest. And finally from the first issue in 1900 of Rocky
Mountain Magazine, Vol. 1 comes this elegant passage:
“There is something uplifting and enchanting in the ideas
associated with mountains. In the very name “Montana” a chain
and network of mountains rise before us. While many of our
States preserve the names of rivers, only Vermont and Montana
are suggestive of the mountains, the most prominent facts on
the face of the earth. Does the awe inspired by the sight of lofty
mountains spring from a conception of those Titanic forces that
lifted their mighty masses from the plains?”
The Greeks voiced the general sentiment of mankind in
ascribing the dwelling-place of the gods among the cloud-
capped summits of high Olympus, whence Jupiter, omnipotent,
could watch the doings of men and launch his thunderous bolts.
It was amidst the thunders of Sinai that Jehovah declared his law
to the ransomed Hebrews. A more quiet and better instructed
faith looks upon the mountains as altars of incense, lighted by
the sun as he opens and closes the day.
Ideas of utility are hardly ever associated with mountains.
They are rarely and to a limited degree adapted to cultivation
and residence. But so far from being waste and useless, we
often think they are the most essential parts of creation. In the
circulatory system of a world fitted to sustain life, mountains
are indispensable.