Baker High School - Nugget Yearbook (Baker City, OR)

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R150 and PPUQFBSS of the BHHEI' S0l'l00lS Baker C1ty has been called the Queen ol the West The Eldorado of Ore gon and many other such names these are 1n connectlon wlth and honor of our rlch m1nes vast tlmber lands and fertlle valleys But the most prlceless Jewel the falrest flower the schools have been scantlly praxsed beslde the other r1ches whrch she possesses The m1nes the forests the valleys all draw the more practlcal class oi people but the schools attract the more cultured and rehned ones What does 1t mean lor a c1ty when one says They have good schools there 7 Doesnt 1t mean that there must be educated rehned 1ntell1gent people 1n that commun1ty'7 A man w1th a :lamlly of growlng ch1ldren w1ll not now as 1n the davs of the S1Xl1eS and sevent1es p1Ck up and go to a place where there are no educa t1onal fGC1lll1eS lor now an educatlon 1S worth more 1n every way than gold In tracmg the F159 and progress of the publ1c schools ol Baker Clty through all 1lS stages of development from 1ts rnlancy to beautrlul mardenhood we are obllgated to turn back on the pages ot h1story to the year 1865 Twas 1n th1s ch1ldren rompmg along 1ts dusty roads to dnnk at the then meager fountam ol knowledge The school began 1n the summer oi 65 w1th Mrs Calbreath as teacher the schoolhouse was a httle bulldrng now a part of the H E Courtney s resrdence on the corner of Fourth Street and Auburn Avenue There were about th1rty hve or forty students and each had a drfferent set ot books thus makmg the dutres of the teacher very hard to perform She sometlmes was compelled to detam the puprls unt1l hve o clock 1n order that each one m1ght recelve the proper amount of attent1on Th1s state of allalrs cont1nued unt1l the year 1868 yet notw1thstand1ng the ex1stence of so many drsadvantages we have many bnght and useful men and women who would be a cred1t to a much larger and better regulated school than the one 1n whlch they recelved a large part ol therr mstruct1on Mrs Calbreath taught the school lor three terms each trme havmg her place oi mstructlon changed In the wlnters oi 66 67 school was held 1n a httle bu1ld1ng that belonged to Sam Barger and stood near the present slte ol the Arlmgton Bulldmg and 1n the summer of 67 whrch was her last term she taught m her own home on Flrst Street between Aubum and Valley Avenues I ont n d on I Q J P ge 3 I year that the little hamlet of Baker first witnessed the sight of merry school ' C x ue wlext Pa e C

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PPE BCE By the close of the present year in May 1951 sixty one classes shall have been graduated from the Baker Hlgh School and fifty ed1t1ons ol the Baker High School Nugget shall have been published It is fitting then with the publication of th1s Golden Anniversary Edition to feature the peoples oi the Baker High School from year to year and some of their achlevements as recorded by the Nuggets of the t1mes For background information former graduates stu dents teachers of the Baker Publlc Schools and citizens oi the community were interviewed and referential research in past ed1l1OnS of The Nugget was made The pictorial matter that ol the Old Timers IS in former ed1t1ons of The Nugget and of original photo graphs donated by members of the Baker High School alumm The use of the Gay N1net1es type 1n the printing appropriately and artistically un1i1es the motlls por traylng the Golden Anmversary theme Now as you thumb through the pages of th1s an mversary number perhaps you too w1ll see a picture find a name read an article that will stir you to remm iscmg of good times in Baker High School and then you too can say to yourself I Remember Page 2 I I I - , I I . I - , : . I I ll l II. u composed principally of reprints of pictures that appear I ' -

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RISE 8.l'lCl PPDQPESS uf lllB Baker 5Cl'lUUlS tContmued l om P ec dmg P g J Mr Mlller was Mrs Calbreath s successor About thrs t1me the f1rst regular schoolhouse ln Baker C1ty was erected on the east slde of Mam Street between Washlngton and Court Streets somewhere near the center of the present Warshauer block It was a small unpretentlous bulldlng capable of accom modatmg about flfty pupmls 1t was f1tted out wlth large h1gh desks each of wh1ch could be occupled by three students The grounds were unlmproved and the early settlers here tell that the students were obllgated to wade the dust to the1r shoetops Thxs bu1ld1ng now stands 1n the rear of Merers Hotel In the summer of 58 M1ss McCrary taught 1n thxs bu1ld1ng and 1n the wm ter of the same year Mrs Ferguson tooL her place and taught through the wmter of 69 In connectlon wrth the da1ly routme of classwork Mrs Ferguson found t1me to have the students wr1te composrtlons del1ver oratlons of the1r own wr1t1ng and leam preces and rec1te them they sometlmes gave exh1b1t1ons to wh1ch all the fnends and patrons of the school were permltted to take part It must have been a queer s1ght to see those rough and hardy old m1ners and the leamed professlonal men l1ned up w1th the youngsters to contest the1r ab1l1t1es as spellers and often we are told the spectators were much sur pnsed to see some one ln the humbler walks of llfe carry off the laurels but the settlers comlng as they d1d from all parts of the contment were often poor 1n purse only and possessed much ln the way of educat1on It was somewhere about th1s time that a young lady from New England was teachrng and after the f1rst week 1t was notlced that a certam famlly were not send1ng the1r chlldren to school and when the reason was asked the mother replxed The teacher IS from New England and I do not belleve m patromzlng forergners An explanatlon followed and the chlldren were sent to school In those days when the Baker C1ty School was 111 1ts mfancy the terms consrsted of but three months each and rnstead of s1gh1ng for vacatron the puplls counted the days t1l they agam would be permltted to gather rn the llttle schoolhouse and enjoy the blessed pr1v1lege of pursumg the1r studmes A publlc llbrary was talked of and an entertalnment glven to procure money wlth wh1ch to buy books Were they ever purchased cannot be leamed So we see that our forefathers were not altogether thoughtless of the m1nd whxle seekrng to enr1ch the1r stores of gold In the fall of 69 A H Brown R A Plerce Wlllldm F McCrary and L W Nelson as founders of the Baker C1ty Academy proceeded to erect a burld mg on the sxte of the present h1gh school bulldmg It was a two story frame structure and when near complet1on 1t caught fxre and bumed down xt was lmmedrately recommenced and thls t1me f1n1shed wlthout accldent Thls was about 1870 and 1n 1871 or 72 another bu1ld1ng though much smaller was erected for a pnmary department The above named commlttee employed as the f1rst teachers m the new academy Prof Frank Grubbs and w1fe of Salem Dunng the t1me rn whxch the academy was belng bullt. the school was carr1ed Page 4 n ' r re ae , , 1 . 1 1 1 1 1 I I - 1 1 1 1 1. 1 11 1 1 1 1 . , 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 .1 1 1 l 1 ... 1 1 I I I - 1 1 1 1 - 11 - 1 1 1 .1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 . ,. . 1 . 1 1 1. 1 1 1 1 1 1 , 1 .1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I - , - 1 1 1 1 1. I I I 1 1 1