The Oregon Institute was an American school located in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the eas ...

of the Oregon Country during the 19th century. Begun in 1842, it was the first school built for European Americans west of Missouri. Founded by members of the

Methodist Mission The Methodist Mission was the Methodist Episcopal Church's 19th-century conversion efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Local Indigenous cultures were introduced to western culture and Christianity. Superintendent Jason Lee was the principal leader fo ...

, it was located in what is now Salem, Oregon. The school began as a pre-college institution, but by 1853 was developed as

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

. The school's three-story building was a prominent feature in the early days of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

; it served as a meeting place for the

Oregon Territorial Legislature Oregon's Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory. The upper chamber Council and lower chamber House of Representati ...

when it first moved to Salem.

Background

Missionary Jason Lee came to Oregon Country in 1834 with

Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth (January 29, 1802 – August 31, 1856) was an American inventor and businessman in Boston, Massachusetts who contributed greatly to its ice industry. Due to his inventions, Boston could harvest and ship ice internati ...

to begin

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

work amongst the natives. First Lee and his men built Mission Bottom north of present Salem, Oregon, but that was flooded in 1841. The

was relocated to Chemeketa Plain in what would later become Salem. After moving the mission, they began constructing a new building for the Indian Manual Labor School. Before the building was completed, the Methodist Mission was dissolved in 1844 and its assets sold. On February 1, 1842, several missionaries, including Jason Lee, met at his house to discuss forming a school for the White settlers' children. The group decided to create a school, naming it the Oregon Institute. A building was begun on Wallace Prairie (in the area of the abandoned Wallace House) to the east of the Methodist Mission, but abandoned and sold before completion. For $4,000, the Oregon Institute bought the three-story building originally under construction for the Indian Manual Labor School, together with its land, in June 1844. It was built under the supervision of Hamilton Campbell at a cost of $8,000 for the mission. Construction began in 1841 and finished in 1844. This building was long, wide, and three stories high. It was built of fir milled on site, except for the windows that came from New York. The building dominated the landscape in early Oregon.

Functions

The first building of the school, a three-story wood building, was occupied in 1844. This building was used by the school and community, including the state legislature and

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

. Oregon Institute began with one teacher, who taught the white children of the area. On February 1, 1843, the first "Wolf Meeting" was held at the Oregon Institute with Supreme Judge Ira L. Babcock, who at the time also governed the country, presiding, to discuss the issue of predatory animals in the

. This meeting was one of the precursors to the formation of the

Provisional Government of Oregon The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected settler government created in the Oregon Country, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Its formation had been advanced at the Champoeg Meetings since February 17, 1841, ...

Champoeg Champoeg ( , historically Horner, John B. (1919). ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 398.) is a former town in the U.S. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was an important settlement in the W ...

in May. In 1846 tuition was $24 annually and use of its dormitories cost $2 weekly. Leslie, David. Oregon Spectator. (Oregon City, OR) 20 August 1846, p. 3
Online at the University of Oregon Digital Archives
/ref> An American naval agent visited the institute during the same year found the school in a "languishing condition", its dormitories still incomplete.Howison, Neil
Oregon report of Lieut. Neil M. Howison, United States Navy, to the commander of the Pacific Squadron.''
Washington, D.C.: Tippin & Streeper, 1848. p. 26 At the time there was only five enrolled male students. In 1853 the school changed names to Wallamet University, later changed to the current Willamette.

References

External links

{{Oregon Pioneer History Oregon Country Willamette University Champoeg Meetings Educational institutions established in 1842 Pre-statehood history of Oregon 1842 establishments in Oregon