THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2019
THE CHRONICLE — 19
STATE
COMMUNITY
HISTORY
O F F B E AT O R E G O N H I S T O R Y
Eugene’s fi rst university died when college president started a gunfi ght
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
CHRONICLE COLUMNIST
The University of Oregon, as most alumni can
tell you, was founded in 1876 as the fl agship of
Oregon’s university system.
But the channels the university project fl owed
through, with the enthusiastic support of the
Eugene commu nity, had already been cut
years before by a short-lived institution called
Columbia College.
Columbia College collapsed a few months
before the Civil War broke out, after the college
president, a staunch pro-slavery man, tried to
murder the editor of a local Abolitionist newspa-
per, and then jumped bail and went on the lam.
But while it lasted, the college made up a huge
part of the Eugene City population – about a
quarter of the town’s residents were students.
And it gave all the residents of old Eugene City
a taste of what it was like to be an important
regional center of learning – a taste that they
would remember, 15 years later, when it really
mattered.
Columbia College was initially chartered by
an offshoot branch of the Presbyterian Church,
but it was intended to be a real college, not just
a training program for ministers. Part of the
fi nancing for the college was an innovative and
effective scheme reminiscent of the punch cards
used at Dutch Bros. coffee kiosks: Scholarships
were offered at $100 each, and anyone who
sold nine of them got one for free. Anyone who
wanted to could earn one of those free scholar-
ships by selling nine to neighbors and friends.
This marketing campaign turned out to be
unusually effective not only in “putting butts in
seats,” but in making the new college a surpris-
ingly diverse place. Students from all over the
expansive Oregon Territory signed up, as well
as a number from outside the area. By the fall of
1856, when the college was scheduled to open,
52 pupils were signed up, both men and women.
That number would rise steadily over the next
few years, peaking at around 150 students – and
in the process, totally dominating the town of
Eugene City, whose population at the time was
around 500. Columbia College would have more
than its share of challenges to overcome over
its short run, but lack of students was never one
of them.
The fi rst of those challenges came less than
a week after classes started. The fi rst day of
classes started two weeks late because the build-
ing wasn’t ready for students yet; but on Nov. 20
– literally the very fi rst Thursday after classes
started – the freshly built building caught fi re
and burned to the ground.
College President Enoch P. Henderson
promptly proclaimed it the work of an arsonist.
This was probably untrue, but it hinted at the
real problem Columbia College would be facing
throughout its run: Politics. Henderson was an
abolitionist, and so were most of his associates
on the board and in the classroom; but many
others were pro-slavery. Passions were high
The fi reproof stone building which was under construction throughout the short
life of the college. PHOTO PROVIDE/OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
and mounting on both sides. By the time the
school was founded, the tension between the
two factions had already gotten bad enough that
they were accusing one another of arson. They
would only get worse as the years wore on.
College board secretary, J. Gillespie reas-
sured the community not to worry; the show
would go on. And so it did, with the loss of only
one day of classes, in a rented house nearby.
Meanwhile, work continued on a new build-
ing – one intended as a temporary structure, to
tide them over while a deluxe fi reproof building
made of sandstone was prepared. This build-
ing was ready for them when the 1857 fall-term
session started. It lasted longer than the fi rst
building had – but that wasn’t saying a whole
lot. In any case, the whole works went up in
smoke on Feb. 26, 1858.
Again, Henderson claimed it was arson. This
time, though, he was more likely to have been
right. By 1858, a lively tug-of-war was under
way between the pro-slavery and abolition-
ist parties. The pro-slavery activists had, the
previous year, launched an ongoing campaign
to take over the college board. They failed twice,
in 1857 and 1858, and in 1859 tried and failed
to have Henderson’s salary reduced; but after
that he decided to take the hint and tendered his
resignation. Without him there to galvanize the
Abolitionist forces, the pro-slavery people easily
took over, and quickly consolidated the college
board to push the remaining abolitionists out.
Henderson was replaced as college president
by a man named M. Ryan. Ryan was a staunch
pro-slavery Southerner, and wrote several arti-
cles for the Pacifi c Herald under the pseudonym
“Vindex.” In them, he blasted the abolitionists.
Those editorial broadsides were answered
in The People’s Press by one of Ryan’s own
students, H.R. Kincaid – later one of Eugene’s
most prominent citizens – writing under the
pseudonym “Anti-Vindex.”
Ryan was so incensed by Kincaid’s work that
on the evening of June 22, 1860, he tried to kill
People’s Press editor B.J. Pengra, whipping out
a pistol and fi ring at him with it.
“The ball was not well aimed,” the Oregon
Journal’s reporter recounts, “and missed
Pengra, who sprung upon Ryan, bore him to
the ground, and choked him till he was black in
the face, when some bystanders interfered and
separated them.”
Pengra immediately fi led charges against
Ryan for attempted murder, and Ryan had to
post $1,500 bail. He then promptly jumped bail
and skipped town.
After that, Columbia College was basically
done. It straggled on for a few more months;
but a combination of the brewing American
Civil War and a hefty judgment stemming from
a lawsuit fi led by former president Henderson
(whom the new pro-slavery college board had
attempted to stiff for a semester’s pay) forced it
to declare bankruptcy and dissolve.
But just before that happened, the students
fi nally got to move into the new fi reproof stone
building – the permanent structure that had
been under construction since the fi rst build-
ing fi re. It wasn’t quite fi nished and ready yet,
but the students were, so some classes were
moved into it. And although it didn’t catch fi re,
the college’s building jinx was apparently still
going strong.
According to ex-president Henderson’s niece
Kate, “one stormy day there came a creak-
ing and rattling overhead, and the timid ones
among us were greatly frightened, supposing
the whole building was about to fall upon us,
but our fears were quieted as it was ascertained
that it was only the tin roof loosened from its
fastenings, and being rolled up in a scroll was
literally thrown from the building and rolled off
down the hill.”
Perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be.
From the fi rst day of classes to the day the
roof blew off, Columbia College was only
open for four years. But during its short run, the
College had a surprising impact on the intellec-
tual development of frontier Oregon – which
must have had a lot to do with the sheer number
of students who came.
Among those students, the most well known
name nationwide was that of Cincinnatus
“Joaquin” Miller, the future “Poet of the
Sierras,” who attended classes there for several
months. Miller would later claim Columbia
College as his alma mater, writing in later years
that he “graduated summa cum laude” from
Columbia; but, as historian Perry Morrison deli-
cately puts it, “It is very diffi cult to separate fact
from poetic license when one deals with the
career of the Poet of the Sierras.”
Other important names on the student roster
include J.J. Walton and J.M. Thompson, two
of the primary movers in the establishment of
the University of Oregon 15 years later; and
future U.S. Congressman J.D.H. Henderson,
the college president’s brother, who came
to Eugene specifi cally so his children could
attend Columbia College, and later supplied
the 20-acre parcel of land on which the U of O
would be built.
But Columbia College’s influence goes
beyond the names of its students. It basically
gave the rough-cut backwater settlement that
was pre-Civil-War Eugene City a taste of life
as a Mecca of letters, and the citizens clearly
liked it.
“The people here, many of whom had been
its students, never forgot in the struggles of later
years that this place had once been an import-
ant center of learning,” writes historian Joseph
Shafer in his 1901 article. “To this fact I believe
may be attributed much of the ardor shown
a decade and more later in the pursuit of the
university project.”
Fortunately, when the real university proj-
ect got under way, it took care not to hire any
prickly Southern gunslingers as university pres-
idents. Speaking of which, ex-president Ryan
was never caught and never heard from again.
A probably-true rumor claimed he’d fl ed back
to old Dixie, and when hostilities broke out a
few months later joined the Confederate Army.
— — — — —
(Sources: “Columbia College 1856-
60,” an article by Perry D. Morrison, and
“Survey of Public Education in Eugene,” an
article by Joseph Shafer, published respec-
tively in the December 1955 and March
1901 issues of Oregon Historical Quarterly;
archives of the Oregon Statesman, 1860).
— — — — —
Finn J.D. John teaches at Oregon State
University and writes about odd tidbits of
Oregon history. His book, “Heroes and
Rascals of Old Oregon,” was recently
published by Ouragan House Publishers.
To contact him or suggest a topic: fi nn@
offbeatoregon.com or 541-357-2222.
Your Family Deserves The
BEST
Technology...
Value...
TV!...
Physicians Mutual Insurance Company
Add High Speed Internet
Call for your FREE Information Kit!
Get help paying dental bills and
keep more money in your pocket.
1-877-599-0125
/mo.
190 Channels America’s Top 120
CALL TODAY
Save 20%!
NO MORE GUTTER CLEANING,
OR YOUR MONEY BACK –
GUARANTEED!
Subject to availability. Restrictions apply. Internet not
provided by DISH and will be billed separately.
1-866-373-9175
Offer ends 11/13/19.
Savings with 2 year price guarantee with AT120 starting at $59.99 compared to everyday price. All offers require credit qualification, 2 year commitment with early termination fee and eAutoPay. Prices include Hopper Duo for qualifying
customers. Hopper, Hopper w/ Sling or Hopper 3 $5/mo. more. Upfront fees may apply based on credit qualification. Fees apply for additional TVs: Hopper $15/mo., Joey $5/mo., Super Joey $10/mo.
www.dental50plus.com/25
Coverage not available in all states. Acceptance guaranteed for one insurance policy/certificate of this type. Contact
us for complete details about this insurance solicitation. This specific offer is not available in CO, NY; call 1-800-969-
4781 for similar offer. Certificate C250A (ID: C250E; PA: C250Q); Insurance Policy P150 (GA: P150GA; NY: P150NY;
OK: P150OK; TN: P150TN).
AW19-1037B
6209
0 % 15 %OFF
AND!
FINANCING*
SENIOR &
MILITARY
DISCOUNTS
*Contact us for additional details
FREE ESTIMATES! 1-855-536-8838
Promo Number: 285
Mon-Thurs: 8am-11pm, Fri-Sat:
8am-5pm, Sun: 2pm-8pm EST
CSLB# 1035795 DOPL #10783658-5501 License# 7656 License# 50145 License# 41354 License# 99338 License# 128344
License# 218294 License# 603 233 977 License# 2102212986 License# 2106212946 License# 2705132153A License# LEAF-
FNW822JZ License# WV056912 License# WC-29998-H17 Nassau HIC License# H01067000 Registration# 176447 Registra-
tion# HIC.0649905 Registration# C127229 Registration# C127230 Registration# 366920918 Registration# PC6475 Registra-
tion# IR731804 Registration# 13VH09953900 Registration# PA069383 Suffolk HIC License# 52229-H
Imagine The Difference You Can Make
Insurance problems?
Serious speed!
Bundle and save today
Save with Frontier Internet Bundles
Pay one price for two great services: high-speed Internet
and a full-featured home phone
Simply Broadband Max
We can help
dfr.oregon.gov
19
99
BROADBAND ULTRA + PHONE + SECURE
Per Month
With Qualifying
Phone Service
6 Mbps + Free Wi-Fi Router + 1 Year Price Lock
Call today and pay less
67
97
DONATE YOUR CAR
1-844-533-9173
FREE TOWING
TAX DEDUCTIBLE
Per Month
12 Mbps + Free Wi-Fi Router + 2 Year Price Lock
Protect Your Identity, Devices & Files
855-972-6641
You can’t get BS from a buffalo. ™
*Internet access service and charges not included. Frontier does not warrant that the service will be error-free or uninterrupted. Nest products: Additional $9 shipping fee per Nest device. Nest products must be purchased with new Internet service or eligible Frontier Secure services.
Taxes, governmental and Frontier-imposed surcharges, minimum system requirements and other terms and conditions apply. Nest®, Nest Learning Thermostat™, Nest Protect™, Nest Cam™ and the Nest logo are trademarks or service marks of Nest Labs, Inc. ©2017 Frontier
Communications Corporation
Help Prevent Blindness
Get A Vision Screening Annually
Ask About A FREE 3 Day
Vacation Voucher To Over
20 Destinations!!!