Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/18

8 built and well adapted to the needs of the times. Terraced on the south side of the mountain around which the village clings, at an elevation of about 200 feet above the level of the surrounding valley, it commanded an excellent view. It could be seen from some directions a distance of ten miles and the bell rang out good cheer that could be heard miles around. The supporting mountain was named Lincoln by vote of the students in 1874. The building was two stories high, well finished and suitably ornamented. How indelibly its great white form is fixed in the minds of teachers, students, patrons and passers-by! It seemed the very eye of the mountain looking out into a world of opportunity! It stood there for nearly two generations, a veritable monument to heroic deeds, revered by the thousands who wrought within its walls and the beacon of hope to the many who sacrificed that their children might be educated.

The date of the beginning of Umpqua Academy was about midway between territorial organization and statehood. The legislative enactment that became its charter was signed by Jas. K. Kelly, President of the Council, and Lafayette F. Grover, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Both of these men were prominent in the political history of the state. Kelly, in the order named, was candidate for Congressman, Governor and Senator. To the latter office he was elected in 1870. Grover was, successively, Congressman, Governor and Senator. These names thus connected with the founding of Umpqua Academy fittingly become a part of a long list that might be mentioned. Others well known will follow.

Sec. 1 of the charter reads: "BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE TERRITORY OF OREGON, That there shall be established at Wilbur, in the County of Douglas, an institution of learning to be called 'The Umpqua Academy' and that James H. Wilbur, James O. Raynor, Hon. M. P. Deady, Addison R. Flint, Benjamin J. Grubbe, Willis Jenkins, Fleming R. Hill, John Kuykendall and William Royal, and their associates and successors, are hereby declared to be a body corporate and politic in law, by the name and style of The Trustees of the Umpqua Academy.'"