Oregon Institute
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The Oregon Institute was the first school built for European-Americans west of Missouri. The school started in 1842 in what is now Salem, Oregon and later became Willamette University.
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[edit] Background
Missionary Jason Lee came to Oregon Country in 1834 with Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth to begin missionary work amongst the natives.[1] First Lee and his men built Mission Bottom north of present Salem, Oregon, but that was flooded in 1841.[1] The Methodist Mission was then relocated to Mission Mill in what would later become Salem.[1] After moving the mission they began constructing a new building for the Indian Manual Labor Training School.[2] However, before the building was completed, the Methodist Mission at Mission Mill was dissolved and the assets sold off.[3] The three story building originally under construction for the Indian Manual Labor School was sold for $4,000 to the Oregon Institute along with the land in June of 1844.[3]
The original building of the institute was built under the supervision of Hamilton Campbell at a cost of $8,000 for the mission.[2] Construction began in 1841 and finished in 1844.[2] This building was 71 feet long, 24 feet wide, and three stories wide.[2] It was built of fir milled on site, except for the windows that came from New York.[2] As one of the more dominating buildings of the landscape of early Oregon, it towered over the school.[2]
[edit] Functions
The first building of the school, a three story wood building, was occupied in 1844.[4] This building was used by the school and community, including the state legislature and court.[4] Oregon Institute began with one teacher, who taught the white children of the area.[4] In 1853 the school changed names to Wallamet University, later changed to the current Willamette.[4]
On February 1, 1843 the first “Wolf Meeting” was held at the Oregon Institute.[5] This meeting was presided over by Dr. Ira L. Babcock, who had been elected as supreme judge in 1841 to probate Ewing Young’s estate.[5] The meeting was designed to discuss issues with predatory animals attacking livestock in the Willamette Valley .[5] This meeting was one of the precursors to subsequent meetings that led to the formation of a Provisional Government in May at Champoeg.[5]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Jason Lee's Mission to Oregon. Road To Oregon. End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Retrieved on January 31, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f Walton, Elisabeth (Oct. 1973). "A Note on William W. Piper and Academy Architecture in Oregon in the Nineteenth Century". The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 32 (3): 231-238. DOI:10.2307/988795. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
- ^ a b Hines, Gustavus (1852). Life on the Plains of the Pacific. Oregon: Its History, Condition and Prospects. G. H. Derby and co..
- ^ a b c d History of Willamette. About Willamette. Willamette University. Retrieved on January 31, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Clarke, S.A. (1905). Pioneer Days of Oregon History. J.K. Gill Company.
