L
THE CHEM AW A
AM ERICAN
17
HIGH PRAISE
C H E M A W A D E C L A R E D A P L A C E O F M E R IT
R IN G th e holidays we had M r. W m . M cN ickle, of
St. Ig n atiu s, M ontana, as a g uest. On his retu rn
hom e he had only w ords of praise for our in stitu tio n .
An article in the S t. Ig n atiu s Post show s how
th o ro u g h ly he looked into school affairs w hile here,
and how favorable were th e opinions w hich he form ed.
T h e article in question follows:
W m . M cNickle re tu rn e d W ednesday from a visit to coast points,
having spent a few days w ith his brother, Miles M cN ickle, at Seattle,
whom he had not seen for m any years. In the course of his trip he
spent a week or more at the governm ent Indian school at Chem aw a,
w here three of his children are being educated. H is visit to Chem awa
was, prim arily, for th e purpose of being w ith his children at C hristm as
tim e, but he also w ished to satisfy him self as to the conditions under
w hich they w ere being reared. H e spent several days th ere, becom ing
th o ro u g h ly acquainted w ith every phase of the school life of th e pupils,
and retu rn ed hom e full of praise for the in stitu tio n and the m en and
women in charge.
T he Chem aw a school is located a few miles from Salem, O regon, in
the W illam ette valley, a fru it grow ing district w ith an excellent year
around clim ate. At present about 620 boys and girls, m ost of them
over 14 years of age, from m any points in th e I nited States and some
from A laska, are atten d in g school. Besides th eir reg u lar studies, which
a 'e m uch th e same as in the state graded school, each pupil is allowed to
learn a trade or some line of business to his or her lik in g , th ere being
shops in connection w ith the in stitu tio n in w hich many branches of
in d u stry are ta u g h t by experts.
T he school also ow ns 580 acres of land, th e farm ing of w hich is done
by pupils under th e guidance of experienced m en. T h ere is a m odern
dairy and poultry plant, and hog-raising is carried on quite extensively.
In fact, they have there a first-class ag ricu ltu ral school w ith ex p erts in
charge of every d ep artm en t.
P art of the farm is given over to the grow ing of fruit, much of w hich
is sold, but every year th e girls can all th a t is used by th e school— w hich
aggregates th o u san d s of gallons—and delicious preserves, jam s and je l
lies are served at every meal.
M r. M cN ickle ate at the p u p ils’ mess every day he was th ere, and says
th a t the ratio n s are all th a t could be w ished for. All of th e children
eat in one large d in in g room at the sam e tim e. T h e food is cooked by