USA > Oregon > Marion County > Salem > Oregon and its institutions; comprising a full history of the Willamette University, the first established on the Pacific Coast > Part 7
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The Portland Academy and Female Seminary de- serves particular notice. This institution is the prop- erty of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is under the control and patronage of the Oregon Conference. It is almost coeval in existence with Portland itself, having been built as early as 1849 or 1850.
The Rev. James H. Wilbur was the agent, in the hands of Providence, in originating and carrying forward to completion this important educational enterprise. He bared his arm to the physical labor, as well as the superintendency of the business, and as a result, before leaving Portland for a southern field he saw the building prepared for occupancy, and a school in successful operation, under the tuition of one abundantly competent to sustain its interests. Rev. C. S. Kingsley was the successful principal and conductor of this institution for several years, and it
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attained to a high position as à seminary of learning under his skillful management. It has, however, with all such institutions in Oregon, on account of the smallness of the population, and a want of adequate means of support, experienced some reverses ; but at the present time, under the able management of T. M. Gatch, A. M., formerly president of the Willa- mette University, it is sharing an unusual degree of prosperity.
The Churches of Portland are a distinguishing feature of its institutions.
The following are the principal, though there may be other associations claiming to be Churches not here named : the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Old School Presbyterian, the Congregational, the Baptist, the Methodist, South, the Protestant Episcopal, the Roman Catholic, and a Synagogue of the Jews. Most of these are flourishing Churches, and are doing much for the cause of Christianity in Port- land and the surrounding country. As in most other places on the Pacific coast, the Methodist Epis- copal Church is the oldest in the place, being in ex-
istence coeval with the town itself. As it claims priority of occupancy, so it has been regarded as the leading Church in Portland in its influence upon the masses of the community. In its early history, and under the skillful management of Rev. J. H. Wilbur, the society erected for that period a good and com- fortable house of worship. Subsequently, under the administration of Rev. David Rutledge, now of Ten- nessee, this house was reconstructed and improved.
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It is now being displaced, under the pastorate of Rev. C. C. Stratton, by the erection of a splendid brick gothic church edifice, which would not be disparaging to one of the fine avenues in the city of New York.
The periodicals of Portland constitute another of its important institutions. These are the daily and weekly Herald, by the Oregon Herald Company ; the daily and weekly Oregonian, by Henry L. Pit- tock ; the weekly Pioneer, a German paper, by Wal- ther & Landenburger; the Pacific Christian Advo- cate, edited by Dr. H. C. Benson ; and M'Cormick's Almanac, which has become of itself a permanent in- stitution of the country, having been published annu- ally for fourteen years.
The above periodicals are all important as auxil- iaries in the great work of developing and advancing the interests of our young and growing state, and some of them have become so identified with all our operations, and linked with all our interests, that it would be impossible to discontinue them without seriously impairing all those interests. This is em- phatically true in reference to the Pacific Christian Advocate. This important aid to the propagation of Christianity in general, and the advancement of the denominational interests of the Methodist Episcopal Church in particular, has become to the country a fundamental necessity. Scarcely more so are either our institutions of learning, or our active, living min- istry. An extent of country six hundred miles in length and five hundred in breadth depends mainly npon the Pacific Christian Advocate for its religious
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reading and news. In all that vast region nothing could possibly supply its place. Nothing from the eastern states, nothing from any other portion of the Pacific coast. The Pacific Advocate, like leaves from the tree of life, falls at the doors of hundreds of families, blessing them with its healing virtue, and bearing to their hearts the messages of peace and love. It is vital to every interest connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church within the limits of the Oregon Conference. It has now entered the thir- teenth year of its publication.
In this enumeration of the institutions of Portland the National College of Business and Commerce should not be omitted, as it has become one of the permanent establishments of the city. Its object is to confer upon all who desire to avail themselves of it the advantage of a thorough business education. The institution is under the presidency of M. K. Lauden, Esq., whose reputation for ability and extensive busi- ness acquirements are a sufficient guaranty for the thoroughness of the instructions given. An ordinary English education is all that is required to enter the school, and the average time to complete the whole course is from twelve to sixteen weeks, according to the advancement and application of the student. This young institution is in a flourishing condition, having its pupils from all parts of the state. It must be of incalculable benefit to the future business of our young commonwealth. This, with those we have already mentioned, together with mutual in- surance companies, publishing houses, banking estab-
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lishments, Masonic, Odd Fellows, and Good Templar Lodges, not forgetting the Oregon Fire Works Com- pany, with its laboratory near Port land, constitute the principal institutions of the flourishing county of Multnomah, and its beautiful and thriving city Portland of the Pacific.
CLACKAMAS COUNTY.
The country included within the limits of this county is diversified by hills, valleys, prairies, and woodlands, the latter, however, predominating. It is an interesting portion of the state, and is bounded north by Multnomah, east by the Cascade Mount- ains, south by Marion, and west by Washington and Multnomah counties. It has a population of four thousand two hundred, there being a large prepon- derance of males over females.
By the last assessment the property was valued at one million six hundred and five thousand five hun- dred and ninety-four dollars. The land cultivated in 1867 was only six thousand and sixty-two acres.
Oregon City is the county seat, and boasts of being the oldest incorporated city of the state.
This city has many advantages, arising from the fact that it is located in the very channel of trade through the country, and commands one of the most extensive water privileges in the state. Here the whole Willamette River plunges down a precipice of thirty feet perpendicular, forming a most valuable power, as well as an object of great beauty.
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This city, commencing at the falls, stretches along down the east bank to the river for a mile and a half, and back some distance on to the hill, and, containing many beautiful private dwellings, several churches, a large and commodious public school-house, a court- house, and other interesting objects, it presents a de- lightful appearance as you approach it from the di- rection of Portland. It is twelve miles from the latter place, and steamers ply between the two every few hours. A daily line of stages also passes through the town.
Its manufacturing character has been mentioned elsewhere, and need not be repeated here.
The first frame Christian church that was ever erected on the northwest Pacific coast was located here. It was commenced in 1842 by Rev. A. F. Waller, who was then a missionary at this point, and so far completed in 1844 as to be opened for public worship by the writer of this sketch. The church is indeed an historical one, and to be considered among the permanent institutions of the country. Connected with the church is a parsonage property of consider- able value, and, taken altogether, this constitutes one of the pleasantest stations in the Oregon Conference. This county derives its name from the Clackamas River, which divides it into two nearly equal parts. The other points of interest in the county are Mil- waukee, six miles below Oregon City on the Willa- mette River, Clackamas, Clear Creek, Beaver Creek, and Baker's Prairie. The county is every way capa- ble of sustaining a vast increase of its present popu-
FIRST CHURCH IN OREGON.
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lation. Oswego, which is also in Clackamas County, with its extensive iron works, has been considered in the general account of the valley.
This county, from the position which it occupies, commanding as it does the main channel of trade through the state, possessing almost boundless water power, and. combining extensive agricultural and mineral interests, should be classed among the most important and valuable portions of the state.
COLUMBIA COUNTY.
This county is bounded on the north by the Co- lumbia River, on the east by the Columbia and Mult- nomah, on the south by Washington County, and on the west by the county of Clatsop. Its population is small, amounting to about five hundred. The num- ber of voters at the last election was one hundred and seventy-three. This county is very long, ex- tending for many miles along the south bank of the Columbia, embracing a broad range of timbered hills that reach back for several miles from the river. These hills are many of them rich in soil, and afford great lumbering facilities on account of the excellence of timber that adorns their summits, and the ease with which this timber can be cast into the river. There is less than one thousand acres of land under cultivation in the county, and according to the last assessment the assessable property amounted to one hundred and fifty-nine thousand nine hundred and seventy dollars. St. Helens, named after a snow-
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crowned mountain of the same name-a beautiful view of which may be had from this locality-is situated on the south bank of the Columbia River, north of Portland the distance of thirty miles. It is the seat of justice, and, besides occupying a very beautiful locality, is a place of growing importance. Religious and educational institutions keep pace with the improvements of the town, and the time is not far distant when the extensive and beautiful plateau in the rear of the town will be adorned by delightful cottages and country seats. Rainier, named after another snow-covered mountain, and some twenty miles below St. Helens, is also a point of some in- terest, though commanding no very cheering pros- pect of future growth.
BAKER COUNTY.
The name of the patriot, orator, and statesman, the gallant Colonel E. D. Baker, who fell at Ball's Bluff, in the late civil war, and whom Oregon delighted to honor, is perpetuated in the name of this county, which is situated in the eastern portion of the state. The topography of this county is exceedingly variegated and beautiful. It embraces within its limits extensive tracts of excellent agricultural and grazing lands, which are now occupied by an intelli- gent and energetic people. This county has come into existence in its political organic character very suddenly, and mainly through the discovery of valu- able gold and silver mines, which already have
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yielded large amounts of money, and are being rap- idly developed. Auburn is the county seat, and is located three hundred miles from Salem, the capital of the state, by the usual route, and two hundred and fifty miles from Portland. Baker City, another important point, is delightfully situated in the Powder River Valley, ten miles southeast of Au- burn. This valley comprehends a vast amount of excellent and beautiful country, as also inexhaustible stores of mineral wealth. Religiously and morally, it is purely a missionary field. Its religious and literary institutions-its churches and school-houses -are yet to be established.
GRANT COUNTY.
This county is situated directly west of Baker County, and between it and the Cascade Mountains. It embraces an excellent pastoral and grazing country, with considerable tracts of good land for agricultural purposes. It is also rich in mineral wealth, and large quantities of gold are taken annually from its gulches and cañons. The character of its surface is similar to many other portions already described, so far as re- lates to its scenery. Its population by the last census was two thousand two hundred and fifty ; two thou- sand males and two hundred and fifty females. Num- ber of voters thirteen hundred. Its assessed property was two hundred and ninety-five thousand dollars. The seat of justice of this county is Canon City, which is built on the middle fork of John Day's
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River, and is about three hundred and sixty miles from Salem, by the usual route, and three hundred and ten from Portland. This is a new county, and, with Baker, is in a state of formation in respect to all of its interests. It has but five thousand acres of its land under cultivation, while tens of thousands await the implements of husbandry to develop their ample though hidden stores, and confer upon their occupants homes and plenty.
POLK COUNTY.
This county is bounded south by Yamhill County, east by Marion, from which it is separated by the Willamette River, south by Benton County, and west by the Pacific Ocean. It has an area of about twelve hundred and fifty square miles, equal to about eight hundred thousand acres of land. It embraces a sec- tion of the Coast Range of mountains, in which there are many depressions, and narrow valleys of excel- lent land, which, however, is covered with a dense growth of timber. The eastern half of the county is well adapted to grazing and agricultural purposes, and is already being brought into a state of hand- some cultivation and improvement. Indeed, some of the finest farms in the state are to be found in some of the valleys of this county. There are two streams that have their source in the Coast Range of mount- ains, which, running east, and empty into the Wil- lamette River, and, with their tributaries, water the eastern half of the county; these are the La Creole
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and Luckimute : and there are other streams that run westward from the same source and empty into the Pacific Ocean. Situated on the La Cre- ole is the beautiful town of Dallas, which is the county seat. This town is within fifteen miles of Salem, the capital, and is sixty miles southwest from Portland.
The eastern half of the county is as densely popula- ted as any of the farming portions of the state, and contains a population of about five thousand souls. The votes cast at the last election numbered eleven hundred and twenty-five. Acres of land under culti- vation, ninety thousand one hundred and twenty- seven, being nearly twice as much as any other county in the state. The assessable property was valued at one million thirty-three thousand one lun - dred and seventy-nine dollars. This county, besides possessing abundant agricultural resources, is finely situated for commerce, the steamboats plying on the Willamette River all along her eastern border afford- ing her ample means for both importation and expor- tation. Besides Dallas, there are a number of places of considerable importance within the limits of this county. Eola, on the opposite side of the river, and five miles above Salem ; Independence, seven miles further up; Monmouth, two miles back from Inde- pendence; and Buenavista, seven miles up from Independence, are all beautiful and flourishing little towns, and are sustained by a fine farming country around them.
This county has made of late, as indeed it may be
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said of nearly all the counties in the state, very great advancement in regard to schools and academies. Common schools are numerous and well sustained, and there are several schools that have attained to the dignity of academies. Dallas and Bethel are the seats of institutions of the latter kind. Mon- mouth, which is really the most delightful loca- tion in Polk County, is the seat of an institution which is laboring with some success to sustain the character of a college. This institution is under the patronage of the Christian Church, better known outside of that particular denomination as Camp- bellites. The school, with all other institutions of the kind in Oregon, has had its reverses ; but, on the whole, promises to become a successful auxiliary in the promotion of the educational interests of the state.
UNION COUNTY.
This county is also situated in the eastern part of Oregon, and comprehends a section of the Blue Mountain Range. It is most remarkably diversified in its scenery, and embraces one of the handsomest and most fertile valleys in the state. This valley is called the Grand Round. It is circular in its form, and about twenty miles in diameter. It is now occupied by a farming and pastoral population.
The town of Le Grande is situated in this val- ley, and is the seat of justice for the county. It is about three hundred and fifty miles east from Salem in a direct line, and about the same distance
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from Portland. The county contains a population of about two thousand, and cast at the last election seven hundred and five votes. The county, with respect to all its interests, is in an embryo state, but it has a basis in its agricultural and mineral resources which will enable it to grow into one of the most flourishing and wealthy counties east of the Cascade Mountains.
UMATILLA COUNTY.
This county lies mainly in the great valley between the Blue Mountains and the Cascade Range. It is a fine county of land, wonderfully diversified and interesting in its scenery, and is destined ultimately to contain a heavy population. The present popu- lation is about two thousand, and the number of votes cast was seven hundred and ninety-seven. The number of acres under cultivation is five thousand seven hundred and seventy, while the assessable property is valued at eight hundred and eighty-seven thousand one hundred and forty-eight dollars. Uma- tilla City is the county seat, and is situated directly on the Columbia River, and is two hundred and twenty-five miles east from Portland, and two hun- dred and seventy-five miles from Salem by the usual route. It is a place of very considerable importance, as it constitutes a landing-place for all the sup- plies of goods and people destined for the mining camps in Eastern Oregon and the southern part of Idaho.
Within the limits of this county is the Umatilla
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Indian reservation, which includes one of the most valuable parts of the county.
This county also is in a forming state, and requires a few years for its resources to become developed, and then it will doubtless take rank among the best counties of Oregon.
WASCO COUNTY.
This interesting portion of Oregon derived its name from the tribe of Indians who occupied the country when the whites began to settle within their territory. These Indians were called the Wasco tribe, and the principal point or portion of their country, embracing the Dalles of the Columbia, was called Wascopam. Hence the name of the county. It lies immediately east, and embraces the foot hills, and even much of the higher portions of the Cascade Mountains. In its topography it is remarkably di- versified, and in point of interesting and impressive scenery is equal to any county within the limits of the state, and probably to any canton in far-famed Switzerland. It is not necessary for an American to go to Switzerland nor Italy, to the Alps nor to the Apennines, nor to any other foreign country, to enjoy the divine sensations resulting from the con- templation of scenery infinitely more grand than it is possible for the imagination to paint ; he only needs to perform a passage from Vancouver up the Columbia River through the tremendous canon of more than eighty miles in length, and gaze upon
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rocks piled upon rocks, abutments on the top of abutments, basaltie columns rising above columns, and mountains heaped on mountains, and old Hood lifting his hoary head far up into the blue vault of heaven, and looking down upon the clouds that hang around him thousands of feet below his shim- mering summit, and he cannot fail to be convinced of the utter insignificance of the works of art, and of the impossibility of the most skillful artist ever being able to copy to the life the picture here painted by the hand of the great Artist of the universe. Such is the scenery presented to the eye of the traveler in passing up the Columbia to Dalles City, the county seat of Wasco County. Indeed, the whole county, as to its surface, presents a picture in which is blended beauty, romance, sublimity, and grandeur in equal proportions, and like the kaleid- oscope, offers to the traveler an ever-varying scene.
This county is bounded north by the Columbia River, east by Umatilla County, south its limits are indefinite, and west by the Cascade Mountains. Its population is about two thousand souls. Number of voters six hundred and four. Valne of assessable property one million seven hundred and seventy-one thousand four hundred and twenty dollars.
Dalles City, the county seat, is situated on the south bank of the Columbia, and is distant from Salem, by the way of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, one hundred and sixty- five miles, and from Portland one hundred and fifteen miles. The town
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pays considerable attention to schools and churches, and other means of improvement. The Mountaineer, a lively weekly paper, is published by Mr. William Hand, and receives its share of public patronage.
WASHINGTON COUNTY.
This county embraces the country drained by the Tuality River, known as the Tuality Plains. These plains have been considered in the general description of the country, and here it may only be said that they are second to none in beauty and fertility in any part of the state. They now constitute, perhaps, the most thickly settled of any of the farming com- munities. The population of the county by the last census was three thousand four hundred and ninety- one. Number of voters eight hundred and twenty- four, and the amount of land under cultivation is twenty-six thousand three hundred and forty-three acres. The county seat of Washington County is Hillsborough, which is built on a most delightful plain near a branch of Tuality River.
Hillsborough is sixty miles north of Salem, and eighteen miles west from Portland. Besides Hills- borough, there are many other points of interest in this county which might be considered if space would permit. Among these Forest Grove should not be omitted. This place, situated twenty miles west of Portland and fifty-six north from Salem, is the loca- tion of an institution of learning under the patronage of the Congregational Church, called the Pacific
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University. It was established at an early day in the history of Oregon, being only second in age to the Willamette University. The Rev. Harvey Clark, of whom mention has been made in this work, was the principal instrument of bringing this university into existence, but he did not long live to see its advancement.
It has often felt the pressure arising from a sparse population and limited means. The Rev. Dr. Marsh, who for some years has been the president of this university, has succeeded in placing it upon a more permanent basis by raising an endowment fund of some forty thousand dollars. This was done in the Atlantic States. Dr. Marsh made two visits to the East, spending in all some three years of time, during which he visited many portions of the country, the eastern cities, New York, Boston, and other cities, presenting before the people, privately and publicly as he had opportunity, the claims of that institution upon the benevolence of the Church, and as a result bore with him to the Pacific coast the funds which he had raised, thereby placing the institution upon a firm footing, and establishing a power for the con- ferment of blessing upon untold generations.
There are also many flourishing public schools within the limits of this county, and the children are generally brought within the means of acquiring an education.
Religious institutions abound and flourish in this county. There are several prosperous Christian Churches established here, and some of the earliest
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efforts which were made on the coast to build up re- ligious societies were made on these beautiful plains. On a pleasant Sabbath, early in April, 1841, the Rev. A. F. Waller and the writer preached the first sermons that were ever heard in this portion of the land, and from that time until the present religion has had a place within what is now Washington County.
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