Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/90

Rh years in that office, and Doctor Gatch, who succeeded him, gave the University two administrations.

In recent years the friends of Willamette University have raised a cash endowment of a half million dollars; also generous gifts of from $10 to $10,000 have been tendered the institution, enabling the oldest university on the Pacific Coast of North America to maintain an important rank among standardized schools of higher learning.

The Emigration of 1843. Early in the spring of 1843, almost simultaneously, migration began from Missouri, and in less numbers from Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennesee, Iowa, and Texas. This was called the "Great Emigration" because it embraced nearly a thousand persons. All the settlers of Oregon who preceded this emigration did not equal half as many as were added by this train. At Kansas River, Peter H. Burnett, later first American governor of California, was chosen captain; and James W. Nesmith, a young man who was to become prominent and influential in Oregon, and who later represented the young state in the United States Senate during the Civil War, was orderly sergeant. Burnett held command only eight days, and was succeeded by William Martin who retained leadership until the emigration broke into smaller parties. When Whitman, who was with the rear of the emigration, reached Fort Hall, he found the leaders doubtful as to what plan to adopt. It had been customary to leave wagons at Fort Hall and go