ye say they all have passed away that noble race and brave that their light canoes have vanished from off the crested wave that mid the forests where they roamed there rings no hunter s shout but their name is on your waters ye may not wash it out tis where ontario s billow like ocean s surge is curled where strong niagara s thunders wake the echo of the world where red missouri bringeth rich tributes from the west and rappahannock sweetly sleeps on green virginia s breast ye say their cone like cabins that clustered o er the vale have fled away like withered leaves before the autumn gale but their memory lives on in your hills their baptism on your shore your everlasting rivers speak their dialect of yore old massachusetts wears it within her lordly crown and broad ohio bears it mid all her young renown connecticut hath wreathed it where her quiet foliage waves and bold kentucky breathed it hoarse through all her ancient caves wachuset hides its lingering voice within his rocky heart and alleghany graves its tone throughout his lofty chart monadnock on his forehead hoar doth seal the sacred trust your mountains build their monument though ye destroy their dust