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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1903)
r Ira The Lake Mohonk Indian Conference A . - n v i If y ULKE MOHONK HOUSE, WHERK THE CONFERENCES ASSEMBLE!. NIQUE alike in iU natural set tine. In its acquired features and in the purpose to which it la dedicated la Lake Mohonk, the famous sum mer resort among the Catskills. Jn each of these respect it stands quite alone and unrivalled In America if not in the world. Perched on a mountain sum .nit amid towering battlements of rock and ' frowning precipices, beside a Uny lake of j.he clearest and coldest water, the place Mas not a little resemblance to some of Ihe lofty castles to be seen along the Rhine knd in other parts of the Old World. The likeness to a baronial fortress of the old Jme Is borne out In some degree by the appearance of the Mohonk hostelry Itself, jvhich stretches along the one open shore of the lake, under the shadow of the cliffs. In A series of towers, pinnacles and archways, strongly suggestive of the scenes and times ;nade familiar In romance and chivalry. It indeed, a truly magnificent and lordly domain over which the owners of Luke Mohonk hold their firm and strong yet 'peaceful and gentle sway. From the 300 acres immediately about the lake which bame Into Mr. Albert K. Smlley's posses sion in 1869, the estate has gradually grown from year to year until it comprises a tract if over 4,000 acres, lying in five different .ownshlps and embracing the whole region along the crest of the mountain for a space alx miles in length by a mile in width. And In this little mountain realm the utmost care has been taken to preserve every nat ural charm and its wild, rugged and picturesque scenery has been in nowise marred by the many miles of fine walks and broad, smooth roadways that have made every point accessible with comfort, ease and safety. . . rom Sky . Top, the highest peak In the liohonk estate, towering 300 feet above the luke, Ihe vision sweeps over as noble and :v.r s'nticent a range of scenery of lofty cu:;talns and lovely valleys as may be sce.i !nany land under the sun. To the veat lies the rich and fertile farm Hnds Iho Rondout valley and beyond them :.io the Catskills, rich in romantic and historic memories. Directly below the of Mohonk He the meadows and i. cnard of the Wallkill valley, with the i j Dutch settlement of New Palts ne:st Y.ng among its trees and gardens, and i.. ilea beyond these, still eastward, the Highlands of the Hudson. And in those r.ire days, when the sky is soft and clear, the pilgrim in this favored land looking out from the heights of Sky Top may catch glimpses of the Berkshire 'hills of western Massachusetts, of Vermont's' verdant' mountains and sometimes may extend his vision even to the range of the Alleghen y's beyond the Pennsylvania border. Two conferences have been held at Lake Mohonk each year for some years past which are quite as unique and notable in their way as the place itself. Both owe their Inception to Mr. Albert K. Smiley and are a natural outgrowth of the spirit and purpose which dominate the life and control the conduct of this peace-loving, large-hearted and broad-minded Quaker philanthropist and educator. One of these conferences held each year in May is de voted to the cause of international arbltra-. tion, bringing hither at each session for the discussion of that vital and Important subject some 200 or 300 of the most eminent educators, publicists, diplomats and states- 1 UKE SHORE ROAD, MOHOKK, N. T. tlcally a whole week Is given up to the sessions of this arbitration conference, all of the members of which are here by spe cial invitation of Mr. Smiley and are en tertained as his personal guests. . Another conference held ' under similar auspices and conditions closes the Mohonk season in October, this In the Interest of the Indians. - The Indian - conference Is much the older of the two, the first session -having been held In October, 188J. This Indian conference grew out of Mr. Smlley's. personal Interest in the welfare of the aborigines, to the promotion of which ha has long been identified In other ways. He has been a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners since 1879, under appoint ment from President Hayes; he has been Intrusted by the government with several Important commissions connected with the. Indian service. In 18K9 he was chairman of a commission charged with the ee'.ecUo.i of a reservation for the Mission Indians of southern California. His experience and observation In connection with these dut'ei convinced Mr. Smiley of the need of more coherency, system and union In the work for the Indtuns, and for this purpose he lias called together year by year fur twenty successive years these assemblies of men and women, carefully chosen became of their special knowledge and intelligent in terest In the Indian affairs. Thesa confer ences Mr. Smiley declared at the first ses sion will be held "until every Indian has his rights." . The late General Clinton B. Flsk presided over the first conference, which brought together between fifty and sixty persons ' prominent In the Indian service. General Flsk continued as the presiding officer of these gatherings until his death in 1190, since which time the chair has been occu pied, until 1902. by Dr. Merrill Edwards Gates, formerly president of Amherst col lege and latterly the efficient secretary of the Board of Indian Commissioners. At t Continued on Page Eleve&J ' . . . - , t ' . . , ': "5 ' v -' ' -- - ' . y VZ J of the Old World and the New. Pio- ALBERT W. SM1LET.