Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/115



VI.]

The establishment of an institution of learning in a community is of interest not only to those who have been directly connected with it in any capacity, but to all who appreciate at its true value the part which an institution of higher education plays among other forces in the development of a community.

The origin of Pacific University has a peculiar significance, in that it belongs to the beginning of educational activity on the Pacific Coast, and this justifies an attempt to make more familiar the steps leading to its establishment, the things for which it has stood, and the personalities connected with its origin and early history.

In explaining the origin of Pacific University it may be said that it was, in general, the outcome of those forces in American life which have been instrumental in starting educational institutions everywhere along the line of settlement as it has extended westward; more particularly the institution was the product of that religious and missionary zeal which has played so prominent a part in the development of the West; and most directly the institution owes its existence to a few sturdy and benevolent personalities who will always be known as its founders.