Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/130

124 124 JAMES R. ROBERTSON. letter to Doctor Atkinson in November of 1852 he wrote : " Under such circumstances, and considering the peculiar adaptedness of such a position to what I consider my powers of greatest usefulness, your letter seemed to me almost Providential, and I feel like assenting at once to what I understand you propose." Mr. Marsh spent a year in special preparation for his new work and in gathering books for the library. He received much encouragement from prominent men in New York City and elsewhere, among whom his family connections gave him a standing that was of great value to the welfare of the institution whose interests he was henceforth to serve. It was in this connection that this remote educational venture first received the notice of the Eastern press, and in the issue of the New York Times for January 26, 1853, the following item appeared : "We have alluded to the fact that a college has already been projected in that distant region with the view of affording the sons of emigrants the means of obtaining a classical education on the Pacific Coast. The undertaking is one that can not be too highly commended. Such an institution well endowed and placed under the charge of a competent board will be of incalculable benefit to this growing terri- tory." The journey to Oregon was made by water and was with- out special incident. Thus a new personality became con- nected with the founding of Pacific University, and one destined, perhaps, more than any other to stamp upon it the characteristics for which it should stand in the his- tory of the community. It is only just to Mr. Marsh to say that the task was a heroic one. He himself admitted in a paper presented to the trustees at /a later time that the attempt to establish a college was in advance of the needs by at least ten years. The Society in the East recog- nized the difficulty, and expressions of appreciation for the