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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1887)
THE INDIAN SCIK In November, 1885, school was opened at Chemawa, with the new superinten dent, Col. John Lee, in charge. The grounds were a wilderness of forest and brush, but the boys went bravely to work upon them, clearing a site for the buildings and for a campus, as well as a field for cultivation. By the expendi ture of more labor than one not familiar with such work can appreciate, they have succeeded in clearing about forty of the one hundred and seventy-one acres constituting the plat More than this they have accomplished. By labor for others, chiefly in the hop fields, they have earned considerable money, which has been placed to the credit of the school as. a whole. Out of this fund they have purchased an adjoining tract of eighty-five acres, at a cost of $1,500, and presented it to the government in trust for the school. The new buildings were completed in April, 1880, at a cost of $17,500.00, and consist of a two-story school room and chapel, a two-story dormitory, dining room and kitchen, occupied by the girls, a two-story dormitory and sitting room for the boys, an office and a store room, all heated by steam. There were also constructed a well and elevated reser voir, into which water is pumped for gravity distribution throughout the va rious buildings and the grounds. As soon as these were ready for occupancy, the school, which had been maintained, partly in the crude structures at Cbe mawa and partly in some old buildings at Forest Grove, was consolidated in the new structures, and for the first time in its history was equipped for satisfactory work. In the Indian Citizen, a small, four-page paper, published monthly at fifty centa a year, edited and printed sole ly by pupils, the contrast between the old and the new surroundings is thus described: Then we wen? living in old " haiitiV built K)L AT CHEMAWA. U by the boy, lanolin at the? building now, we are ahaned to du ller Mm k In them, ami want a new Urn. A year biw ih hotd ih tain taught in the building now omiied aa a utahle frr hrv TV? re H! ro be! rx:r.r, !:ut were huddled toother In dark, cold Mta, with the unow drifting in a iw. Now we haw nice, clean led room, w iUi new furniture. A year ago we hal him than fW.OO Wlotiging to the children. Now we have over ft.tW.OQ in cah in the Iwink, earned by our own hand. Our land i very hard to rlear. We want aoine field, wo can rui wheat, oat, com, hay and hnjw. We hoie the government ; un more land, hut if it in too or we w ill try to buy it ournelvcn, an we can m make an Im proved farm out of thin wilderneiMt fur the next nix or eight yearn. If we had the land we could earn plenty of money and tveome lndcicudi'Ut, jtiMt on w hite teoile are ; and w e njvak fur every Indian ly and girl at Chemawa when we aay we will not alway di-nd tijn the govern ment for our breud ami butter. We will earn it ournclvca, by our own hand, a noon aa our education in coiuolcte. TLo above extract from tho Citisai is given, less for tho purpose of showing tho contrast alluded to, than with a view of drawing attention to tho spirit of self, reliance and manly ambition which is observable in every lino. It is a pity such principles once instilled into the minds of theso youths should bo sub. jected to tho extinguishing influences of reservation life. Plans have been drawn for a number of necessary buildings, chiefly for indus trial instruction, which will bo erected early in the spring These will consist of a carpenter shop, shoo shop, black smith and wagon shop, laundry, hos pital, bath house and stable, and will cofct about $11,000.00. At present tho laundry occupies an old structure an. provided with conveniences; the sewing room and tailor shop aro in contracted quarters needed for other purpo, and the other shops occupy some of the mis erable shake buildings formerly tued fur the school, located some diaUnce from the new buildings, and now deignUl as "Old Chemawa," When til1 ucw