The monument to the pioneers of Palo Pinto County was unveiled Sunday, May 5, at 3 p.m. in ceremonies held on the courthouse lawn at Palo Pinto.  A section of the street was roped off to accommodate the throng that gathered to see the monument and hear the program that preceded the unveiling.

John Winters was master of ceremonies and he welcomed the crowd and introduced Mrs. Carrie Slaughter Dean of Dallas, who gave the invocation.  With Mrs. C. W. Conaster as organist the group sang "America".

Mr. Winters recognized descendants of pioneer families many of whom came to this county before the county was organized.  Large delegations of some of these families attended and many had traveled from distances to attend.

Special mention was given to J. T. Arterburn, who is 91 years old and was born in this county and has lived here all his life; Mrs. Cleveland of Palo Pinto, who is 85, and still lives in the house where she was born; Mrs. Oaks 85; W. H. Belding, who was born in the county and is 87; Mrs. J. L. Cunningham; Ed Dismuke 97, and Mr. Bozzell.  Others were mentioned also.  The couple in the county who have been married the longest is Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Mills.  Mrs. Mills was Miss Butler before her marriage 63 years ago.  The couple that came next was Mr. and Mrs. Cook.  Mrs. Cook was the former Eula Griffin.  During this time, Mr. Winters called to the stand, D. C. Harris, who was wearing a coat that was worn many years ago by his grandfather, the Reverend George Webb Slaughter.

The Woodmen of the World Lodge presented Palo Pinto County with a United States Flag, Herman Fitts making the presentation.  Mr. Winters accepted the flag for the county and expressed appreciation for it.

Dr. R. H. Smith, president of the Centennial Association, introduced the Centennial queen, Frances (Mrs. Carlton) Murphy.

Miss Adele Turner, Duchess of the Centennial pulled the cord unveiling the monument, at the close of the dedicatory talk and prayer, she, and all who took part on the program, were descendants of pioneer families of the county.

Dr. Smith received the following telegram from one of his committee members and stanch supporter:  Deeply regret I cannot attend dedication ceremonies honoring the inspiring achievements of those intrepid pioneers of Palo Pinto County whose faith, self-confidence and relentless efforts to overcome dangers and hardships have forever enabled them to future generations.  In spirit and with loyalty I join with you all in seeking to understand the past and in working toward enlightened and self determining community development.  Signed, Johnnie Pirkle Symonda.

Mrs. Bonnie Hittson Granger of Shreveport, Louisiana, sang "Faith of Our Fathers," and this was followed by the dedication address by O. L. Hindman.

Mr. Hindman, son of Tom Hindman, one time sheriff of this county, who raised funds to by the monument, almost single-handed, made the dedication talk, comparing the life of the pioneers and of all people, to the seasons.  A copy of his remarks:

The very thoughts of winter bring to mind instantly discomfort, illness and hardships and we know that the pioneer of whom we pay tribute today suffered untold hardships.

Imagine, if you can, a trip from some far off state, which took three or four months, in an ox wagon, over trails in most cases rather than over a road.  Camping at night, going only a short distance each day, crossing country that they knew not where the next water hole or camping place would be.  Camped in a wagon, sleeping as best they could, cooking over an open fire and few knew what their destination would be.  All this makes us wonder how they survived the trip.

The Brazos River which traverses the county from the northwest corner to the southeast corner has many bends.  These bends carry the names of many families that have been prominent in the history of the county.  It is likely that these families reached the River, and finding it impassable, being worn out from traveling, decided then and there to stop and stake a claim and go no further.  It is also likely that Indians to the west and the fear of trouble with them helped in making the decision.

At first, we can see them camping, as they did on the journey to this area.  Perhaps a towering tree was their protection from sun and rain until more shelter could be built.  Next, we see them living in a cellar as history tells us of many families living in this manner at first.  The mother still cooking on an open fire, washing the family's clothes in a stream and all carrying on like the stouthearted men and women they were.

The men were naturally making the necessary preparations to get started but, like always, the mother had the responsibility of rearing the children.  She cooked, sewed, washed the clothes, bathed the children and doctored their wounds.  She did this in a very different manner than it is done today.  No bathtub, no automatic laundry, no modern cook stove, gas nor electricity and so every task had to be done with the crude tools at hand.  But, all survived, because of faith in the future and hope for better things.  Still, many lived and died never realizing that the luxuries of today would ever exist.

They reared large families.  Many of the children were born without the services of a physician and had their fatal illnesses, many of which were fatal because of not having medicine.  Pneumonia, caused by exposure was a dreaded disease and today, the miracle drugs make it a rare disease.  Fevers that lasted for weeks are seldom heard of today and still they carried on as a mother can.

Some of the first descendants can remember many of these hardships in depicting the first of their being a pioneer by comparing their hardships to winters we know, that they had faith in the Almighty and hope for the future and therefore, carried on.

As thoughts of winter brought thoughts of hardships, so thoughts of spring have always brought about much happier things.  Imagine the relief, when spring came and the cold of the winter and the attending suffering, thoughts turned to spring.  No more cold and ice, but singing birds and blooming wild flowers, the fragrance of honeysuckle and juicy wild fruit.  All these things must have brought happier thoughts.

Then, people, like in the present day, thought of building a better home, clearing land for crops.  We might compare this with a "building boom" of the present day.  We can imagine building a log house, possibly of one room, perhaps with one sliding window and a door.  A fireplace for cooking and a source of warmth for the coming winter.  All in all, it was much nicer, more comfortable than the camping they had been through, more protection from the elements and a roof, over their heads.

Dotted over the country now are still some of the log houses still in use.  Many of the homes have been remodeled but some of the log rooms have been preserved and are still in use.  I know of several of this type, in fact the house where I was born is largely made of logs and it hasn't been torn away many years.  All over the county you can see the remains of log houses and rock chimneys, although they are not in use, they are reminders of families that were reared there.  Although these homes were crude compared with our modern way of life, the families brought up in those homes are playing a big part in the affairs of today.

We can picture also the clearing of land for planting corn for meal, and gardens so that fresh food would be available.  For this reason most homes were near the river and streams where the soil was more fertile.  This was open country and their cattle could range where they would and would be rounded up at the proper time to be driven to market.  The Cattlemen's Association of Texas was really born here in this county and Mr. Carter for whom Carter Bend was named was its first president.  People had come here with a will to do and history tells of their success.  Now we turn to summer.

Now that they have survived the winter, made use of the spring to arrange for better living conditions, thoughts up to now have been more or less individual as far as each family is concerned.  Although neighbors were far apart, the fact that they were neighbors, brought them together and their thoughts turned to the things necessary for all families.

It was necessary to have schools for their children.  Reading, writing and arithmetic were going to be needed for them to carry on.  Those of you who have read Baker's Diary have an idea what those schools were like.  About all they taught was the "three R's", along with a little geography and grammar but from these schools, bigger and better things came to those who attended.

These pioneers did not pioneer religion but they were anxious to preserve it.  Churches were built where they could gather for worship, and these churches were founded by religious people.  These people with their religious influence have played a large part in the building of churches.

The churches that I know about personally, are the churches of Palo Pinto.  The mention of the First Christian Church brings to mind the name of S. S. Taylor for he founded the church where his descendants are still worshiping today.

The Baptist Church was built originally, by Reverend George Webb Slaughter in Slaughter Valley and later moved to the present site.  Even though it is a new church as far as the building is concerned, there is material in it that was hauled from a long way to build the first church, and descendants of the founder worship there today.

If you would visit the home of Connie Costello today on a Sunday, you would probably find mass being held just as it was in the home of "Uncle Matt" Costello years ago.

The Indians in this section were not always friendly and it was necessary to band together for protection at times, and when the occasion demanded, they all worked together.

It was necessary that they organize the county so that records could be kept of land transactions and other official matters and we are in the act of celebrating the first 100 years of this act.  They elected officers much like we do today and in many cases father, son and grandson have held the same offices down the line.  The present sheriff, Fred Foreman's grandfather was once sheriff; in the Edmondson family, Stith Edmondson was sheriff and years later his son, John, served as sheriff, dying while in office and his brother Charley was appointed to serve his term out, making three of the family to hold that office.  The first county clerk was the grandfather of Christine Cleveland, who now in the office and her father served for many years as clerk.  Other families will follow.  Now we go to Autumn.

We have reviewed the hardships of winter, the building of spring, the organization in summer, and let us not forget those immortals to whom we have paid tribute today, but let us turn to the present.  Let us compare ourselves to the leaves of the tree.  As the crisp autumn winds blow and the leaves turn red, we are reminded of the gray hair that comes to us in the latter side of life.  As autumn progresses, the leaves turn brown, and this can be compared to the infirmities of old age.

The leaves fall, one by one, and those of us present here today will go as the leaves of the trees.  This is the way it has been from the beginning, and this is the way it will be until time is no more.

Let us not be discouraged by these thoughts of ourselves and be reminded that spring will come again, the trees will turn green.  These green leaves represent another generation to carry on and mingle with those surviving.  Even though we're all allotted three-score-and-ten years, we have with us today several that by reason of strength, four score and more and we are happy to have these people with us and honored with their presence.

With the stout-hearted men and women who survived the winter, by their hard work and faith in the future, by being good neighbors and organizing schools churches and government and as we remind ourselves that autumn is approaching let us dedicate this memorial with this prayer:

May we now dedicate this stone to these immortals that we have paid honor and tribute today, may we entrust it to the Almighty above, may it stand through the sands of time that the generations to follow will ever be reminded of their faith in God, their contributions to humanity and may it stand, in peace, through eternity.  This is my prayer.  Amen.