Page:History of Oregon volume 1.djvu/253

202 French Prairie, and it is decided to begin at once to lay the foundation of this institution. The name selected is the Oregon Institute; and the first board of trustees are Jason Lee, David Leslie, Gustavus Hines, J. L. Parrish, L. H. Judson, George Abernethy, Alanson Beers, Hamilton Campbell, and J. L. Babcock.

Present at this meeting is the Rev. Harvey Clark, an independent Presbyterian missionary, who is then living on the Tualatin plains, and about whom more will be said by and by. This gentleman exhibits much interest in education, and is put upon a committee with Lee, Hines, Leslie, and Babcock to select a location. Their choice falls on a beautiful situation, at the southern end of French Prairie; but owing to a deficiency of water, this spot is abandoned for a plain known as the Wallace Prairie, about three miles north from the mill, on an eminence half a mile south of the farm of one Baptiste Delcour, and near a fine spring of water.

Having Proceeded thus far, a prospectus is drawn up on the 9th of March, and a constitution and by-laws on the 15th. Soon $4,000 is pledged, in sums