Hall BearslNamelof UO Benefactor
Editor’s note: This is the first
in a series of articles on Ihe lives j
of the men and women for whom j
University of Oregon buildings j
are named. The series is designed 1
to honor the memories of people j
who have aided the University j
financially and through their ed
ucational ability.
By JOE MEIER
Henry Hilgaard Villard, whose
spirit is perpetuated by the school
;uilding bearing his name, is prob
ibly the most renowned University
>f Oregon benefactor. His charac
:er was dynamic, his career colos
sal, his reputation mythical.
. A man of many accomplishments
—journalist, editor, teacher, bank
;r, and railroad financier—Villard
vill always be remembered for his
■ole in the historical development
>f Oregon.
It was Villard, who, in the latter
lalf of the nineteenth century, cut
i network of rail transportation
:hrough the Oregon wilderness,
initing the state and speeding its
growth. It was Villard who, as
resident of the Northern Pacific
aiiroad, fostered construction of
;he first transcontinental railroad
,o Oregon, increasing with a rush
he settlement of this state.
Swung Sledge-Hammer
All school children remember
iom their history books the wild
■elebration during which a golden
ipike was driven at Gold Springs,
Montana, completing construction
if the 2,000 mile railway. Most of
.hem do not remember that Henry
Dillard was the man who swung
he sledge-hammer that clay.
Villard fell in love with Oregon’s
fcenic beauty at first sight and
rate friends enthusiastically about
t- His dream was to see this re
fion grow into a great economic
mpire, and no man did more to
ward this end. Through an exten
ive advertising campaign, he at
racted thousands of immigrant J
ettlers and made Oregon the most
'U’olicized of all the United States, j
, Considering this record, Villard !
might be expected to be an Amer-1
ican-born pioneer, steeped in this
country’s traditions—but he was
not. He was born in Bavaria in
1 1335, the son of. a Munich suprem<
court judge. At the age of 17, he
came to America with the express
intention of making a name and a
fortune for himself.
He dropped his family name, Hil
gaard, and borrowed “Villard"
from a French schoolmate. Laving
on the Illinois farm of relatives
Villard attended law school at Car
lyle university and concurrently
wrote for the German-American
press. Later, he abandoned law and
tried his hand at editing a country
paper.
As a war correspondent during
the Civil War, Villard gained con
siderable fame and at the close of
the war was sent to France as a
foreign correspondent. In 1868, on
his return from Europe, he was
elected secretary of the American
social science association, in which
capacity he worked tirelessly for
civil service reform.
Railroad Man
Eventually he learned of Oregon
railroad conditions through friends
who held stock in the rustic Oregon
& California Railroad company. He
was interested, came to Oregon,
; stayed. In a few years he was pres
J ident of Northern Pacific Railroad
company and owner of most of
Oregon's transportation system.
For a time, due to his gigantic op
erations, Villard was considered
the leading figure in Amovican rail
roads.
Villard’s attention was drawn to
| Oregon in 1881 when news of tire
impending sale of the University’s
only building, Deady hall, appeared
in Portland newspapers. Always a
man of keen intellectual interests,
lie believed in developing the edu
cational as well as economic re
sources of the Northwest.
Consequently he assumed the
j threatening $7,000 debt. Besides
I making numerous other contribu
tions, he presented the University
with $50,000 in Northern Pacific
bonds from which a $3,000 annual
income was derived. With this en
dowment the University’s days of
financial insecurity were ended.
Villard’s generosity attracted
wide attention, since his donations
were the first of any importance
to public higher education in Ore
gon. The
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A trumpet player of long experience, Louis
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1 _
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