Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 17.djvu/99



REMINISCENCES 91

was elected. Wakefield, the postmaster of Portland, was managing Corbett's campaign, and some mismanagement on his part caused Corbett to withdraw. Senator Bristow of Lane county supported Corbett and withdrew his name. The three Lane county representatives supported Mitchell.

Dr. A. W. Patterson, Democrat, and William W. Bristow, Republican, were the senators from Lane County. The three members of the House from Lane County, all Republicans, were C. W. Washburne, A. S. Powers and Nat Martin. The Senate passed the bill locating the State University at Eugene without much delay and sent it to the House. Rufus Mallory, ex-Member of Congress, was Speaker of the House, and S. A. Clarke was chief clerk of the House. I was well acquainted with both of them, having roomed with Clarke in Washing- ton, and having been with Mallory much during his term in Congress and sometimes having attended to his correspondence when he was absent. When the session of the Legislature was near the close it appeared that the University bill could not be passed by the House. There was no printed calendar. Clarke had the bills tied with a string in a large package. The University bill was at or near the bottom and it would be impossible to reach it. I stood behind a railing at the back of the Speaker a long time to see that the University bill should not be neglected or overlooked in the shuffle, and frequently reminded him and the clerk of its great import- ance. In some way that bill got up from the bottom to the top of the package and was passed. Had it remained on the bottom the University would perhaps have been located at some other place by the next Legislature. How did it get up ? It did get up and became a law! Many large buildings, a number of professors, and hundreds of students are now at Eugene, which would not be there if that bill had not become a law, and it surely would have failed if it had been left to take its chances with other measures and come up in its regular order. I have long believed that everything is possible if you know how to do it. Clarke and Mallory are entitled to much