History of Oregon Literature/Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29
CoLLEGE SoNos of THE WILLAMETTE WALLEY Sing a song of colleges, §ºf. like to go? Pacific for her orators, For football U. of O.. O. A. C. for farmer boys, Willamette you can guess. Good old “Mac” for preacher boys, But for schoolmates O. N. S.
Oregon Normal school song.
THIS is the third and concluding chapter on songs as a part of Oregon literature.
In Oregon in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s there was a wide assortment of seminaries, institutes, academies, colleges and universities, a few of which were the beginnings of institutions still in existence but most of which have long been extinct. They played an important part in the early culture of the state. They seem to have had much more influence, however, in spreading and deepening the appreciation of literature than upon its original production. Their literary associations are less numerous than would be expected. G. B. Kuykendall was a graduate of Umpqua Academy; W. L. Adams, author of “Breakspear”, was a trustee of Bethel Institute and was given an honorary master’s degree by Christian College at Monmouth; Joaquin Miller received all his academic training in Columbia College at Eugene; Sam. L. Simpson and his brother Sylvester were graduates of Willamette University, and Belle W. Cooke was a teacher in the Oregon Institute, which T.T. Geer attended for about 18 months; Harvey W. Scott was the first graduate of Pacific University, and the two Lyman brothers were of the classes of 1873 and 1878; J. B. Horner
and Louis L. Banks were alumni of Philomath College; and Thomas Nelson Strong was a student in Portland Academy. In later years the University of Oregon has turned out several writers of national reputation, but during its early period it did not send forth from its campus any important man of letters.
Oregon State College could not claim a writing alumnus of any renown until Dennis H. Stovall was graduated in 1899.
With the significant exceptions indicated, these rustic seats of learning did not foster regular authorship to an extensive degree, but they afforded a stimulating environment of a general nature, and their teachers of rhetoric, though their theme assignments may have been formal and unimaginative, had considerable effect on the standards of English composition in the commonwealth. Their graduates could deliver eloquent orations, and preach good sermons on Sundays, and could write fair prose on practical or philosophic subjects, even if it was somewhat thickly sprinkled with quotations in sign of learning. And in text at least their songs average much higher than other Oregon songs.
These are of much later vintage than would be looked for in institutions of such long histories. Willamette University is the oldest university west of the Rocky Mountains, and on the campus of Pacific University is the old Tualatin Academy building that has been in constant use since 1851. The beginnings of Albany, McMinnville, Oregon Normal School and Oregon State College date back to the 50's, but, with the exception of Pacific University, it has not been
Oregon Institute, Salem. 1842 possible to find recorded songs that go back much before 1900. To the extent that they were composed and sung before then, they were handed down viva voce from class to class. Victor Arundel, who compiled Song Lore of Albany in 1930, has explained how it was in that institution:
This book is only a pioneering effort, catching the song lore of Albany from the uncertain state in whicn it was found—unwritten and threatening to become fragmentary—and bringing it back in definite form. A first step was necessarily difficult. Let future classes add to the trove by original genius and research.
The book was dedicated to Dr. Wallace Howe Lee, who "kept alive the song lore of Albany throughout a long span of years, when it was unwritten." The situation has apparently been the same in the other institutions. When their songs as given here were received from local sources, their lack of antiquity seemed wrong for traditions running so much further back. A second appeal for earlier examples brought assurances that these were indeed the oldest that had been printed or that were remembered.
1
WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY
The following statement is condensed from the historical sketch in the catalogue of Willamette University at Salem:
"Willamette University is the oldest institution of higher learning west of the Missouri River. It was founded in 1842 as the "Oregon Institute" ... Jason Lee, a missionary, had established in 1834 an Indian Mission school a few miles north of the present site of Salem. Later this school was moved to what is now the campus of Willamette University. It did not prosper, and its property was abandoned in 1844. The board of trustees of the Oregon Institute purchased the property for $4,000. The amount ... was promptly subscribed out of the slender means of the settlers ... to be paid, according to stipulation, 'one-third in cash orders on the mission in Vancouver and the remainder in tame meat, cattle, lumber, labor, wheat, or cash, according to the choice of the donor. . . ."When organized it was not denominational, but within a short time it was taken over by the Methodist Mission.... It was the intention of the founders of the institute that it should ultimately be raised to the rank of a college. This purpose was carried out in 1853, when the Oregon Territorial Legislature granted a charter to 'Walamet University'. The Oregon Institute continued to exist, but it became the preparatory department ... of the University ... The first class from the college was graduated in 1859."
Willamette Spring Song
There's naught could be sweeter!
Like mists by sunlight melted,
The clouds of trouble flee,
And all of life seems gladness.
At just a sparrow's trill,
Or glimpse of maple blossoms,
Our hearts with rapture thrill.
We conquer without fear;
And sweet the hours of evening
When college friends are near.
So gathered here at twilight
Amid the shadows long,
Soft notes of youth and springtime
Are mingled in our song.
2
PACIFIC UNIVERSITY
In the fall of 1849 at Forest Grove a charter was granted by the Territorial Legislature "for a seminary of learning for the instruction of both sexes in science and literature, to be called Tualatin Academy." Its first principal was the Reverend Cushing Eells. In 1854 it became Tualatin Academy and Pacific University. The academy was dropped in 1915.
In an address, Cyrus H. Walker told the Oregon Pioneer Association of the beginning days at the academy. He recalled two of the earliest songs sung there, and described the construction in 1851 of the building that still stands and is still in use on the campus of Pacific University:
". . . That summer the frame for Tualatin Academy was raised. It took about sixty men gathered from all parts of the Tualatin Plains to raise it, the pioneer women furnishing the meals on the grounds. . . . On a May morning in 1852 the old academy bell first sounded forth its joyous notes upon the air. . . . The leader of our singing school was J. B. Wyatt, . . . During that spring Mr. Wyatt taught singing school in the academy building. . . . Of schoolmates most distinctly remembered in the succeeding winter's school, 1852- 53, were Maggie Scott and Mary Jane Kinney. They composed a song commencing "We have come to our school room" and embrac- ing the names of only a few of the scholars, as follows:
"A Song of Names"
Henry, Joseph, Joel, William, Walter, John,
George, and Logan, Marion, Marcus,
Charles, and Cyrus and Lee Laughlin are our
names,
We're a band of brothers, etc.
Caroline, Jenny and Joanna, Lucy, Emma,
Julia, Anna, Kitty, Delia,
Sarah, Mandy and Louisa are our names,
We're a band of sisters, etc.
"Far from the Tones of the Academy Bell"
Part of a Tualatin Academy song which, according to Cyrus H.
Many, ah! many, have passed away,
Like the setting sun at the close of day;
Or like a cloud that floats at even,
Mid the spangled arch of yon blue heaven.
Once they were young and gay as we,
With hearts as light and fancy free,
But their spirits have gone with the blest to dwell
Far from the tones of the academy bell.
Dear Old P. U.
By C. E. Bradley, Class of 1897
Among the very oaks where now there rings the college cheer,
A seed of knowledge tree was bro't by winds of heaven true.
It burst its shell in '48 and sprouted old P. U.,
and sprouted old P. U.
Dear old P. U., trusty and true, we hold thee as our Al-ma-ma.
Crimson and black ties never slack but neath the campus oaks our fancies draw.
Full many years, dear old P. U., the oak amid the oaks,
You've been a kindly shelter to youth; your beauties coax
To linger near you till you lend an inspiration new,
And may we never, never tire of cheering old P. U.
3
ALBANY COLLEGE
In the early 50's Presbyterian pioneers founded Albany Academy, which, in accordance with the genesis of the times, next became Albany Institute and then, in 1867, Albany College.
The Orange and the Black
Adapted by C. E. Sox, Class of 1891, and J. C. Irvine, Class of 1892
And Corvallis men and maidens hail the orange with delight,
We will float our banner proudly, nor honor shall it lack,
While old Albany stands defender of the Orange and the Black.
We will float our banner proudly, nor honor shall it lack,
While old Albany stands defender of the Orange and the Black.
love so well,
As the mystic charm to knowledge we vainly seek to spell,
Or we win athletic vict'ries on the football field or track,
Still we shout for dear old Albany and the Orange and the
Black.
Or we win athletic victories on the football field or track,
Still we shout for dear old Albany and the Orange and the
Black.
When the cares of life o'ertake us, mingling fast our locks
with gray,
Should our dearest hopes betray us, false fortune fall away,
Still we'll banish cares and sadness, as we turn our mem'ries
back,
And recall those days of gladness 'neath the Orange and the
Black.
Still we'll banish cares and sadness, as we turn our mem'ries
back.
And recall those days of gladness 'neath the Orange and the
Black.
4
McMINNVILLE COLLEGE, NOW LINFIELD COLLEGE
S. C. Adams, a teacher, thought his donation claim a good location for a town. He agitated a high school in 1855 as "a nucleus for a settlement." This was duly established with six acres of land and a building that was "large and commodious for those times." Adams conducted it for a year and a half. Then, although he and his neighbors belonged to the Christian Church, he proposed that the school be given to the Baptists, who were about to establish West Union Institute in Washington County. This was done, with the condition that at least one professor be employed continuously in the college department. It was chartered by the Oregon Legislature in the winter of 1858 as McMinnville College. The first principal was G. C. Chandler, uncle of Mrs. Belle W. Cooke, the poet. During the 6o's, J. W. Johnson, later the first president of the University of Oregon, served four years as principal. In 1922 its name was changed to Linfield College. The following song, copyrighted in 1917, was a belated original production for so old a school:
l:
To You We're Always True With purpose true as heart of oak that stand beside her door, With heart as pure as snow-crowned hills that look her campus o'er, Our college stands for all that's true in learning, work, or play; For truth and right, we'll win the fight, we'll win for you today. Chorus: McMinnville College, our dear old college, We'll work and live and fight for you. To you we give our heart, for you we'll do our part, To you we're always true. McMinnville College, McMinnville College, Three rousing rah, rah, rah's for you! Hail, hail to dear Old Mac! To you we're always true. With courage brave as ocean breeze that sweeps across the plain, With motive clean as summer sun that shines down thru the rain, The bow of promise paints thy sky with glories yet to be; We bear thy name, we share thy fame, we'll strive to honor thee.
5
DALLAS COLLEGE
In 1889 the Evangelical churches of Oregon started a seminary at Lafayette. For their first buildings they used the courthouse, the jail, and later a church. W. C. Kantner was the first president. Dr. C. C. Poling was president when it was moved in 1900 to Dallas and united with LaCreole Academy, which dated back to 1855, combining high school and college instruction under the name of LaCreole Academy and Dallas College. The institution was dis- continued in 1914. Daniel Poling, who wrote the words of the song given here, is the son of Dr. Poling and was a member of the first graduating class at Dallas in 1904. He is now a well-known minister, lectur er
and novelist, and is included, with a fuller biographical note, in the chapter on short story writers and novelists. THE College MIDST THE HILLs WoRDs by DANIEl PoliNG. Music BY Clifford W. KANTNER Where the sun king hides his blushes 'neath the hills of peerless Polk And the speckled beauty dashes in the stream; Where the forest kings are lying 'neath advancement’s ruthless stroke, And no longer rings the cougar's curdling scream; In the land of strength and promise, where the western sunbeams fall; Stands our dear old Alma Mater, by the leaping Rickreall. Chorus: Oh! she's young but live and lusty, for she's strong and true and trusty And we love her one and all; there are others older, greater, But they’re not our Alma Mater, by the leaping Rickreall. Like a knight in tempered armor on a true and feerless steed, Like a hero in the good old days of yore, At the clarion note of duty, at the bugle call of need, Comes the champion as in tales of ancient lore; And from out the land of sunset, rang the answer to the call, Rose our dear old Alma Mater, by the leaping Rickreall. Chorus— Years may cluster many changes round the college mid'st the hills, And may scatter laurels thickly o'er her walls, But that stronger, deeper feeling, that all other feeling stills, Will bring mem'ries of those dear old college halls. And beneath the ancient oak trees, where the mountain songsters call, Yet will rise our Alma Mater, by the leaping Rickreall. Chorus—
6
OREGON NORMAL SCHOOL
Bethel Collegiate Institute, in the Eola Hills of Polk County, and Monmouth University, both under Campbellite auspices, were chartered in 1856. By consolidation of the two, Monmouth Chris- tian College was established in 1866, and two years later 40 schol- arships were sold at $500 each to provide an endowment. In 1869 the Reverend T. F. Campbell became president, bringing with him a small son, P. L. Campbell, who was to become an even greater benefactor of the state. The new president soon started the Pacific Christian Messenger, a weekly, "which became and long remained the leading family magazine among the Christians of Oregon and other parts of the Pacific Northwest." The college was designated a state normal school in 1882, though it was not given an appropria- tion by the legislature until 1893. Songs of O. N. S., published in 1926, contains this selection with its music and 15 other Oregon Normal School songs: Pledge to O. N. S. Where the western breezes bless 'Mid Willamette's loneliness, There's a campus dear, A school we cheer, We love you, O. N. S. For the high aims we revere, For the friends we've made each year, For the golden haze Of student days, We love you, O. N. S. Chorus: O. N. S., we dearly love you And our hearts allegiance pay To the flag unfurl'd above you, To the crimson and the gray. O. N. S., thy sons and daughters Proudly stand to pledge thy name, In our hearts you'll live forever, Here's to thee, thy health an d fame.
7
OREGON STATE COLLEGE
The beginning of Oregon State Agricultural College dates back to 1856, when a small frame schoolhouse was built at Fifth and Madison Streets in Corvallis. In 1858 this school became known as Corvallis College. It passed into the hands of the Southern Metho- dist Church in 1865 and, three years later, was adopted as the state's agricultural college, receiving the interest on funds from the sale of 90,000 acres of Government land provided for in the Federal Land- Grant Act of 1862. The first class was graduated from the college in 1870, when there were two professors, four seniors, ten juniors and fourteen freshmen but when there were thirty-one trustees and fifteen officers of the board, for, although it had public subsidy, it was still under private management. During the presidency of Dr. B. L. Arnold, in 1885, the state took over complete control of it. Under the successive administrations of Dr. Arnold, President John M. Bloss, President H. B. Miller, President Thomas M. Gatch, President W. J. Kerr and President George W. Peavy it has grown into the great institution of today. The medley given here is from The O. A. C. Song Book, pub- lished by the Alumni Association in 1924 and containing 20 songs, of which it is the oldest. It was arranged by H. L. Beard, a member of the class of 1899. O. A. C. Medley "Who Am I, Sir?" Who am I, sir? An O. A. C. man am I, An O. A. C. man, sir, and will be till I die, Kiyi! We're up to snuff, and never bluff, We're in for ev'ry fuss, There isn't a bunch of college men Can beat us in a muss. So fill your lungs with lusty air and shout it to the sky We'll fight for dear old O. A. C, for an O. A. C. man am I. "O-A-C" O.A.C., O.A.C. Zip, Boom, Zip, Boom, Zip Boom, Bee! O. A., O. A., O. A. C! O. A. C, O. A. C, Smash 'em! Bust 'em! That's our custom, O. A. C! ,
"Beaver Born" I'm a Beaver born and a Beaver bred, And when I die I'll be a Beaver dead, So it's Rah! Rah! for O. A. C. Rah, Rah, for O. A. C. Rah! Rah! for O. A. C. 8 "Toast to the Team" Here's to the men we know and love, Beavers tried and true, Here's to the men of the Orange line, Fighting for me and you, Up with the glass and pledge them lads, Flashing its amber gleam, While deep in our hearts the toast shall be Here's to old O. A. C!
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
The University of Oregon, located at Eugene, grew out of a land grant in 1850, which was "to aid in the establishment of a university in the territory of Oregon." Owing to the relatively small population of the state, to the existence of five denominational colleges and a large number of "classical, professional and technical" institutions in Oregon, the construction of a state university was naturally post- poned. Not until 1872 did the State Legislature provide for the creation of the University, and then the economic panics of 1873 deferred its construction until 1876, when the University finally opened its doors for instruction. The first class was graduated in 1878. The first president was J. W. Johnson, who had served as principal of McMinnville College and of the Portland High School, and who was a son-in-law of W. L. Adams, author of "Breakspear". The first recorded song was one not of the whole school but of the Normal Class of 1885, called "At the Gateway". The first song for the University as a whole is the one given here, "There's a Pretty Little Village", sometimes called "Oh, Oregon, Oh, Oregon". It was first published in 1900. The words were by Irving M. Glen, afterwards professor of music and rhetoric, and still later dean of fine arts in the University of Washington, who is now dead. The music was by Dr. Frank Strong, president of the University and now president emeritus of the University of Kansas. Frederic S. Dunn, professor of Latin, contributed to the Oregon Daily Emerald the following history of this song:
"In the chronicle of our 'firsts', for there is a 'first' in all things, the earliest Varsity song has its own chapter. The harp had hung unstrung on Oregon's walls for full a score of years before a skald of sufficient gifts decried it and awoke it, and how we thrilled to its melody. . . .
"Dr. Frank Strong, our third president, had been largely con- cerned in music as an avocation while at Yale. He had partially made his way through college and in the graduate school by the aid of fees earned in music, . . .
"We were advertised as the Faculty Male Quartet—E. D. Ressler, 1st tenor; F. S. Dunn, 2nd tenor; I. M. Glen, 1st bass; President Strong, 2nd bass. . . . And how we could and did sing! Once, when Dr. Strong had completed the most trying task of revising the cata- logue, having spent days and nights with his committee, he rented a cab for several hours in the afternoon, and we four drove about town, aimlessly, indifferently—just singing, singing everything we knew and practicing new pieces—in sheer jubilee and pure joy of singing. . . .
"And then, one evening in the upper rooms of Collier Hall, where President and Mrs. Strong were entertaining in reception, we four, as a surprise, sang for the first time the first Varsity song, "Oh, Oregon." It was in manuscript form and I at the least never knew from the lips of either the composer or the poet the authorship of song or poem, though I bantered both to acknowledge and their evasion were as good as confessions. "But the next issue of the Oregon Monthly contained the poem under the name of Irving M. Glen, while there was issued shortly afterward a manual of College Songs, the first to be published since the old worn-out Harvard compilation. . . . for many years there- after, the glee clubs sang it, though never to my liking, for they mitted it in gulps, as it were, racing to a comma, then, after a pause, scrambling for more yardage. "And then it died. We never hear it now. After all, it was just ephemeral. Its words were trivial. It lacked that indefinable, death- less something to rank it with the great odes of the greater uni- versities."
Oh, Oregon, Oh, Oregon Sometimes called "There's a Pretty Little Village" By Professor Irving M. Glen There's a pretty little village In a valley in the West;
Past the village runs a river, Fed by snows on mountain crest; By its banks there stands a college, Full of dignity and fame, And the 'Varsity of Oregon's The institution's name. Chorus: Oh, Oregon, Oh, Oregon, The 'Varsity, the only one! It takes you as a fresh man Jn, And changes all except your skin, Then shakes you kindly by the fin, And turns you out in life to win. Oh, Oregon, Oh, Oregon, For her sons are just as noble, And her daughters just as fair, As the noblest and the fairest That e'er breathed the living air; And her spirit all is loyal, And we'll have the world to know That the bonds can ne'er be broken Formed in dear old U. of O. Chorus—