Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/527

Rh possible to find recorded songs that go back much before 1900. To the extent that they were composed and sung before then, they were handed down viva voce from class to class. Victor Arundel, who compiled Song Lore of Albany in 1930, has explained how it was in that institution:

"This book is only a pioneering effort, catching the song lore of Albany from the uncertain state in whicn it was found—unwritten and threatening to become fragmentary—and bringing it back in definite form. A first step was necessarily difficult. Let future classes add to the trove by original genius and research."

The book was dedicated to Dr. Wallace Howe Lee, who "kept alive the song lore of Albany throughout a long span of years, when it was unwritten." The situation has apparently been the same in the other institutions. When their songs as given here were received from local sources, their lack of antiquity seemed wrong for traditions running so much further back. A second appeal for earlier examples brought assurances that these were indeed the oldest that had been printed or that were remembered.

The following statement is condensed from the historical sketch in the catalogue of Willamette University at Salem:

"Willamette University is the oldest institution of higher learning west of the Missouri River. It was founded in 1842 as the "Oregon Institute" ... Jason Lee, a missionary, had established in 1834 an Indian Mission school a few miles north of the present site of Salem. Later this school was moved to what is now the campus of Willamette University. It did not prosper, and its property was abandoned in 1844. The board of trustees of the Oregon Institute purchased the property for $4,000. The amount ... was promptly subscribed out of the slender means of the settlers ... to be paid, according to stipulation, 'one-third in cash orders on the mission