University of Minnesota - Gopher Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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The University of Minnesota Saint Anthony was gi-o ving; hence it shoiikl be secured at once. Accordingly-, with money that had been obtained from the sale of certain lands, they purchased twcnt3 ' -seven acres of the present campus. This selection of a site was in 1854. The sum of $6,000 was paid for the same, an amount which was large at that time. Until 185G the new territory was ])rosperous even beyond the expectation of the most sanguine settlers, who had come here from New England to establish their homes in a territory declared by the government ' s exploring officers of the ' 30s to be uninhabitable, save for Indiansand herds,and to be unproductive except for a few of the hardiest cereal cro])S. The Ori iiutl riiivcn ity Iliiildiil us It Exists Today. Accordingly, in 1856, there was begun upon the camijus the erection of the University building. The plans for this building, as outlined by the architect duly appointed by the Regents, would do credit to the most sanguine millionaire in founding the University of today. The structure was to consist of a main part of four stories over a high basement, and two wings, each of three stories, over a high basement, the whole to be 277 feet in length. Deciding at fii ' st to erect only a part of the magnificent structure proposed, the Regents, with the few thousand dollars then on hand, entered upon their work. They were urged to do it both b - their own large views of what the temtory was to become and by the clamors of people who were not disposed to see ftmds lying in the territorial treasury unused at a time full of such large needs for expenditure and grand opportunities for

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An Historical Sketch. To j et a correct view of tlie University ol ' Minnesota, with its present condi- tion and its future tendencies, it is necessary to place its early history in ])crs])ec- tive. Yet the events recorded reach back no further than the active particijiation of middle aged men. EXTERNAL EVENTS-Early Incidents. On February ' 25, 1851, the (jovcrnor of the Territory of Minnesota, Alexander Ramsey, approved an act of incorporation by which the University of the Terri- tory of Minnesota began its legal existence. The same act located the institu- tion at or near the Falls of Saint Anthony. That tells substantially the whole story of its first year, for at the first meeting of the Board of Regents designated in the act — Messrs. Henry H. Sibley, Franklin Steele, Alexander Ramsey, Isaac Atwater, B. B. Meeker, Socrates Nelson, C. K. Smith, William R. Marshall, N. C. D. Taylor, Henry M. Rice, . braham Van Vorches, John H. Stevens and G. J. Y. Rhieldaffer— held the third day of June following, in the city of Saint Anthony, nothing but a situation confi-onted them. There was no endowment, no money, The fe University of Minnesota The (Original l nh-ersity Buiklinf , Architect ' s Ideal, 1850. had been appropriated, and the work of the Board consisted in talk — talking over the location of the new institution, the raising of means for its support, arousing the interest of citizens and suggesting anything and everything to ensure the suc- cess of the new enterprise. Following this meeting came the first gift to educa- tion which Minnesota had received. It was the gift of Regent Steele, formally tendered to the Regents in 1852, of a site on which to build the University. Means were obtained for erecting a building U])on thisgroimd, now occupied by the Exposition building of Minneapolis. Under the principalship of Rev. E. W. Merrill, in November 1851, the preliminary school of the University was opened to students. For three years and a half, with an average attendance of sixty scholars, Mr. Merrill prosecuted his work. By the end of this time it was seen that Franklin Steele ' s gift was inadequate to meet even the immediate needs of the University. As the Regents looked forward and calculated the growth of a quarter of a century they saw that more ground must he secured. The city of

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growth. The work ot ' construction began; so too did those financial movements which resulted indisasterand ruin not onlyto the enterprise soanspiciouslybegnn, bnt to the fortunes and prospects ot some of the Regents themselves and many steadfast friends of the University. In the wild and unreasonable effort of distress to place blame at some resijonsible door, the Kegents were charged not only with lack of judgment but even with a criminal misappro])riation of ]iul)lic funds. An investigation was demanded and made. Its result was the full exoneration ol the Board. In all these troublous times the Regents never lost sight of the purposes ot the Ihiiversity. In the spring of 1858 a second attempt to open the institution was made. Mr. Barber, a competent instrtictor, was employed to take charge of the preparatory department. At the expiration of six months the school was discontinued because the attendance was so small that tuitions would not half meet the expenses. In 1860 the institution by legislative enactment was entirely reorganized and placed tmder a new Board of Regents — Alexander Ramsey, President; William K. Marshall, Edward D. Neill, Jared Benson, John M. Berry, Edward O. Hamilton, Uriah Thomas and William M. Kimball. But the state was not readj ' to take up educational woi ' k; the War of the Rebellion and the Sioux Indian outbreak held in abe3 ' ance all considerations beyond those of immediate necessity. A heavy debt had accumulated; the rate ot interest in those days was from 12 to 24- per cent ; with no resoui ' ces save lands which could not be sold, the situation was daily more alarming. Itwas more than seven years before Minnesota, which meanwhilchad becomea state, felt ready again to resume the work of developing higher education. In the stress of events incident to the financial crash of 1857 followed by the War of the Rebellion and the Indian outbreak, the endowment of land made to the territory had been swept avi ' ay and the a])propriation due to Minnesota under the Morrill Act of 1862 was in jeopardy. In 1864 a commission was created by the Legislature. This enactment was an act of salvation. John S. Pillsbury, John M. Nicols and Orlando C. Merriman were appointed to sell lands and pav debts until the last dollar had been met. Their work was not accomplished before 1867, in which year the situation was so promising that the Legislature appropriated money for the renovation of the long unused building. Something had been saved, and on March 9, 1867, the Legislature voted its first cash appropriation for higher education — $15,000, to repair and furnish the University building, which since the 50 ' s had stood unoccupied and crumbling. In October of that year Principal W. V. Washburn and two assistants began teaching. These assistants were Gabriel Campbell and Ira Moore. A goodlv number of students, chicflyfrom the families in the neighborhood of the Thiiversitv, enrolled themselves in the new school. The work of this preparatory department was carried on for two years with such eminent siicccss and satisfaction that it was felt by the Regents that the time had come to enlarge the field of instruction and correspondingly to increase the teaching force. Among the perplexities of the Regents in early days some of the most annoy- ing were associated with their efforts to maintain their charge as an educational institution. For instance, it was through the shrewd movenients and decisive vote of one man that the state was once spared the conversion of the institution into an asylum for the insane. — 13 — The University of Minnesota