Pikes Peak Katherine Lee Bates

From this Mountain, ...
 Intro

Katherine Lee Bates, Wellesley College professor, was a summer guest at The Colorado College. Returning to Falmouth, Mass., the words were set to music. Ms Lee's tribute alludes to ...
  • A nation united (e pluribus unum, "from sea to shining sea");
  • Gleaming Alabaster cities (possibly early Chicago, which she passed on her way west.)
  • Undimmed by Human Tears (possible reference to Chicago as a slave destination on the Underground Railway - lately, Dan Rather's tears in memory of the gleaming World Trade Center, 2001).
  • Amber Waves of Grain, fruited Plain (green springtime, golden wheat fields on the way across the Great Plains).
  • Spacious skies, Purple Mountain Majesties, etc. (Colorado beauty still draws tourists & settlers).
    • "The scenery bankrupts the English language" - Teddy Roosevelt - said even before he reached the summit.

    Through Bates' words, Pikes Peak is now known as "America's Mountain", and it's not even the state's highest. Also, Colorado Springs is nicknamed the America-the-Beautiful City, now with an "America the Beautiful" Park, soon to be adjacent to part of the Headquarters of the US Olympic Committee. Now owned by the city, Colorado Springs maintains the highway to the summit and hosts the annual Race to the Clouds. Discovered in 1806, Zebulon Pike claimed it could not be climbed (albeit in winter snow, without pack animals, and under pressure from Jefferson to return with the results of his exploration), Edwin James did it 14 years later. Bates was able to ride a buggy and transfer to a mule on established trails.

    (Dave Letterman's right: Reeg Philbin actually WAS here before the Pilgrims). Regis, accustomed to Noo Yaak creature comforts, complained he and Kathy Lee had it worse than Zeb: Horsecart - no cab in sight; dirt roads, tumbleweeds, savage Indians, no bagel deli; he tried buffalo chips instead - He's still yammering today. But, really, getting to the summit was a only day trip for Regis and Kathy Lee (Bates).

    Ray Charles made a stirring rendition of America the Beautiful a few years back. His Jazz Improv style, however, led to a crucial misunderstanding of Bate's intent. He sang, "God done shed His grace on thee", inadvertently saying that God's providence with America was finished. The next line also implies past-tense: "and Crowned thy good with brotherhood" (although not clearly enunciated: Southern dialect cuts word endings short). Nearly all printed versions spell those lines in present-tense, however. It's clear that Bates was asking God to continue blessing America, not praising Him for yesterday. Think of it as our request ...

    (may) God shed his grace on thee,
    And (may He) crown thy good with Brotherhood,     From sea to shining sea.
    Oh beautiful for Patriot Dream, That sees beyond the years

    The founding fathers weren't just out for their own interest, but you and me, our kids and grandkids. Madison prefaced the Constitution on our behalf: "..to secure the blessings of liberty for Ourselves and our Posterity." Jefferson, In France at the time, couldn't write the Constitution, but he heavily influenced, even proofed Madison's context. Kathleen Bate's era after the Civil War invokes Abe Lincoln's salute to "our Forefathers (who) brought forth on this continent, a Nation, concieved in Liberty ..." At Gettysburg, Lincoln also bid for the nations' future, OUR blessings: "... that this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

    The Great Seal of the United States (dollar bill, left half of the green side) pictures a 13-step pyramid. Said to represent the 13 original colonies, Jefferson knew more states would be added (mainly from the Louisiana purchase Spanish cedings), so the top of that peak is unfinished. Above it is an open gap. Where the summit would be is an all-seeing eye, radiating light as a beacon. Madison quoted Psalm 127:1, "Unless the Lord Builds the house, its builders labor in vain." They were saying that we're not yet a "perfect union"; it is in God we trust to oversee the nation-building. Starting his first term, Ronald Reagan said "A city build on a hill cannot be hidden" from Matt. 5:14. For his farewell speech, he says, "Friends, we did it!" Good progress, but still needing God's help to finish for our posterity. Finally, before illness took his voice, he reminds us God isn't finished with us yet, but he was confident that with God's help we could continue building that great city (hill-pyramid-nation) like an alabaster city on the hillside.

    Folow the links below for more TJ - related threads.

    Jefferson's vision   Col. Zebulon Pike   Jefferson, the man   Madison, 4th US President    Home Page