Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 37.djvu/356



THE EARLY history of education in Oregon City is similar to that of most other early communities of the state, but in some respects it possesses characteristics not found elsewhere. No records exist of schools in Oregon City before the establishment of the provisional government at Champoeg in 1843. The organic laws of Oregon adopted by the provisional government in 1844 declared, "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged," but because there were no public school funds or public school lands and the economic conditions of the pioneers were uncertain, public education was not established by that government. Since no public educational system was established such schools as were founded were necessarily private in nature and supported by taxes, subscriptions, mission funds, and tuition charges. All of these sources were meagre and constantly kept the early schools in a precarious financial condition.

The early private schools had many characteristics in common. Practically all of the more important ones were boarding schools as well as day schools. The tuition rates varied but slightly from school to school depending upon what was offered. The school year was divided into three or four quarters of eleven weeks each. The curriculum was approximately the same and was usually patterned after the schools in the Atlantic states. Great stress was placed on morals and character training as well as emphasis on thorough intellectual development.

The choice of text books was practically dictated by the Reverend G. H. Atkinson, who in 1848 brought to Oregon City, the then commercial and cultural center of Oregon, two hundred dollars worth of books carefully selected from among the best school books used in the eastern states. Again in 1851, a $1700-order was received, which was sold in bulk to L. D. C. Latourette, who sold many of the books in his store at Oregon City. This store had the first book department on the Pacific coast. The books selected and later used in the early schools