College of Idaho - Trail Yearbook (Caldwell, ID)

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3 The TRAIL A History of the College of Idaho f.I?,v',wP the fall of 1889, the need for schools of higher learning had I Nt I W ' become so great in the territory of Idaho, that a group of opti- Q ax-ii , L53 I mistic, far-seeing men calling themselves the Wood River Pres- T-'Wlli I bytery met at the little frontier town of Shoshone. And on Sept. 19th, a committee comp-osed of the Revs. Pratt, Renshaw and Knox were appointed to take the matter under advisement. Funds were placed in their hands for the establishment of a college in the territory of Idaho and they were requested to report progress at the next Presbyte-ry. Just how much money was entrusted to this committee and what became of it history does not state. But to this small group of zealous Christian men representing the sparsely settled sagebrush plains of southern Idaho must be given the honor of starting the movement which has culminated in The College of Idaho. In 1886 the committee for establishing a Presby- terian college in Idaho reported progress. In 1889 the committee reported to the Presbytery at Montpelier that there was a widespread desire and urgent need for some institution of higher learning in Idaho for at that time the University 'and Normal schools had not been thought of and there were but few high schools, the people who could afford it sending their children to school in the neighbor- ing states. That they had secured offers of land from Shoshone and Camas Prairie but no one otfer had been deemed suflicient to warrant starting a college, and it had been decided necessary to keep the work of the church and school centralized and to get the interest of the people in the large settled regions along the Oregon Short Line, that having received a good invitation to come to Caldwell they recommended as a beginning that the Rev. W. J. Boone be requested to canvass for the erection of an academy with a boarding department at Caldwell. The report was adopted. And now there comes to take up the work of the committee and to carry out the plans of that small group of men who inet at Shoshone five years before, a man well fitted for that great work, the Reverend 'William Judson Boone, fresh from the seminary. Rev, Boone had come out to this little western village in 1887, bringing with him youth and enthusiasm, a quiet love for humanity and the clear vision to see beyond the discourage- ments and trials of a new country 5 a man with the realization of the needs of the young people in the great western territory and with the strength and purpose to keep the need ever before him until its fulfillment in the etlicient college overlooking from its heights the busy little city of Caldwell. The members of the Presbytery were requested to confer with the var- ious tovvns in southern Idaho and secure offers of land and money for the location of the college, it being understood that the town offering the best inducement would get the college. On April 19th, 1890, a committee of Caldwell citizens appeared before the Wood River Presbytery and submitted the following proposition:

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llzc TRAIL 7 Dr. Boone Ona who ncvrcr Imnczl his buck, Bo! murclzccl brvosi' forward, Nvucr flollblccl clouds nfoylcl break, Hold we fall lo rise, are Imfflcrl fo hyhl better. So wrote Iironfnwiny to Asolanclog so ioritc we today of Dr. Iloono. Amid all sorts of cliscozlrragcnients canal bafflerncnts Dr. lloonc has marclzcd breast forwo-rc! for the thirty years our Collcgc of Idaho has been passing through its infancy, His has been thc clam' vision that not only saw the possibilities of such cr, school as the C. of I., but also the clear vision which has cl, fwiclonccl horizon ioitll the gaining of new heights in the epochs of thc school. Dr. Boone hal.s boon the Johns .Hoplcilis of our collegcg many ci Jczfmcs A. Gfzrholfl has sat on the opposite end of his hog. Such Gnrflclcls lmvc fell the influence of synch Cl strong personality as that of Dr. Boonffsg cz. pcrsoncility inferior to none, cc worlmnan approved of God, cr, j1GI'SO'l'lll'l'lf1lf nmrlcefl by all the traits that nm-he tho truly yrcnl fmcng lznnzhnity, self-sacrifice, sincerity, and oibome all thc nobility to hoop young and 'vigorous in spirit.

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The 'TRAIL 9 At a meeting of the trustees of the town of Caldwell, Idaho, held on the 19th day of April, 1890, the following resolution unanimously passed: Resolved, That Kimball Park be set aside and devoted to the purpose of a Presbyterian College. And should this proposition be accepted by the Presbytery of Wood River now convened in our town, the necessary legal steps be at once taken to complete the transfer of property. Chas. B. Reed, Clerk. Montie B. Gwinn, Chairman. This proposition was accepted and a board of managers consisting of llev. W. J. Boone of Caldwell, Rev. J. H. Barton of Boise and Rev. J. H. Black of Nampa was elected to receive all funds, decide upon plans, take all the necessary steps for the erection of a college building and if necessary secure proper instructors for the school. In the following September the chairman of the committee was in- formed that the town could not live up to its agreement as it could not give a clear title, but that Caldwell submitted a counter proposition as follows: 1. S200 in cash. 2, Either Block 31 or 57 of the registered plat of Caldwell. 3, Twenty acres of unplatted land within the corporate limits of Caldwell with permanent water right. 4, One block of land situated in the Dorman Addition to Caldwell. 5, One block of land situated in the Steunenberg-Hard Addition. Signed: H. D. Blatchley Chas. A. Hard Henry W. Dorman Frank Steunenberg Montie B. Gwinn Howard Sebree This proposition was taken up before the Presbytery, April 20, 18911. Other towns had asked the privilege of submitting offers, Nampa had a splendid proposition in lands and other values but after a hot personal debate she was not allowed to present it, the committee deciding that the matter was closed in 1890 and accepting Caldwell's new offer. The board of managers was instructed to take all necessary steps to open up the school in the fall of 1891. This was quite an awesome under- taking with no buildings and no money but the committee seems to have been well supplied with courage and faith in the good people of Idaho for they had a pamphlet printed by the Caldwell Tribune announcing a couirse of study, a corps of teachers, and October 7, 1891 as the date for the opening of the College of Idaho. History tells us that Wednesday, October 7, 1891, was a fitting and auspicious day for the formal opening of our school. O.ur Idaho weather sometimes so temperamental, was unusually well behaved and gave us a beautifully clear sunshiny autumn day. Perhaps fate had decided that the Rev. W. J. Boone and his associates needed the moral support of the elements on that momentous occasion. Promptly at 2:00 p. m. the faculty of the proposed college gathered in the small lecture room of the Presby- terian church. The corps of teachers was composed of young ambitious men and women graduates of divers institutions of learning in the east. Among them were: W. J. Boone, Frank Steunenberg, John T. Morrison, John C. Rice, E. E. Maxey, Carrie S. Blatchley and Chas. A. Hard. J. H.