Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/33

 UMPQUA ACADEMY 23 ground, made sacred by sacrifice of parents and teachers and memorable through efforts and life work of students. Accord- ingly, it was voted on June 30, 1888, to lease the premises to the public school district for the term of 10 years for $500, the rental money to be applied in improvement of the building and grounds. On October 30, 1900, resolution was adopted to sell the premises to the district for $400. At the meeting G. W. Grubbe was president and E. E. LaBrie, secretary. Here the record closes. It's a bit difficult to write the last word, for there is more than a suspicion that Wilbur town may not seem as important to those who now hurriedly pass by in autos or Pullmans as it did to those students of early times. The location will seem more definite to say that it is at the junction of the "Old Scottsburg Military Road" with the main state thoroughfare, 8 miles north of Roseburg. This place was known by early travelers as Bunton's Gap, named for Elijah Bunton, who set- tled there in 1850. He sold his claim to B. J. Grubbe, fre- quently mentioned in this article. A considerable portion of the town of Wilbur was built on the claim of James L. Clink- inbeard, but no town plat was filed. Mr. Clinkinbeard gave a few acres of his claim to the academy trustees but the tract upon which the academy buildings stood, the old play ground and all that pertained, were the gift of Father Wilbur a total of 58.43 acres. This is the same tract that was sold at auction in 1877 to James T. Cooper. The Scottsburg road was no by-trail in the early days. It was constructed by the government in the early 50's under the supervision of Colonel, later General, Joe Hooker. Its south- ern terminus was Ft. Lane in Jackson County. In those days Portland was not as large as Scottsburg. The town was the jobbing center for a large area, covering all Southern Oregon and reaching into Northern California and supplying many mining camps and settlers. There were no less than 15 stores there, doing retail and wholesale business, and 500 pack mules, at one time, was not an unusual sight in the streets. After