East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-01-04


On February 25, 1905, the Chema-
wa Indian school celebrated its silver
anniversary, it having been I'm exis-
tence rs years on that date.
The Chemawa Indian school, which
is one of the show places in this Sec
ton of the country, is located on the
main line of the Southern Pacific rail-
way four miles north of Salem. 1t is
the second oldest institution of its
kind in the United States and has
grown to mammoth proportions since
1t was first established. Pupils in this
school come from the states of Ore
gon, Washington, Montana, Idaho and
Alaska, and the average attendance
the past fe wyears has been close to
the 500 mark.
The school offers an education to
every Indian boy and girl who is
healthy, of not less than one-fourth
Indian blood, between the ages of 5
and Is years. The following indus
tries are taught: Carpentry, black
smithing, wagon making, cabinet max
ing, harness making, electrical engi-
neering boot and shoe making, gar
dening, tailoring, farming, painting,
dairying, laundering, baking. nursing,
sewing, domestic science, poultry rails
ing, and all kinds of housework. All
the work in the various shops is per-
formed by pupils of the school under
the direction of an expert.
Graduates Mechanics.
For instance. in the wagon shops
wagons are built for the market and
in the harness shop harnesses of the
best quality are made. as evidenced
by the fact that for seven consecutive
Years the first prize for harness and
saddles at the Oregon State fair has
been carried off by this school. The
articles manufactured in the school
do not necessarily come into competi-
ton with similar articles made by pri-
vate manufacturers, for the things
that are not needed on the farm are
purchased by the government.
Thus it comes about that the stu
dent who puts in his time at the
school leaves there a master of his
craft and ready 70 fill a nlace In the
best workshops in the country. AS a
matter of fact. manv Indians TODAY
holding responsible nositions in large
manufacturing nlants botb In the
state of Oregon and other sections of
the limited states II has been tbs
experience Of those long in the Indian
service that Indians make good work.
men when nroperlv taueht They are
not of an inventive turn of mind. but
they are good copyists.
Vocal and instrumental music 10
taught in connection with all the
branches of learning. the same as in
public schools and tbe school has tho
reputation of having one of the best
bands on the coast.
On n recent visit To the institution
a Statesman reporter examined n com
plete set of blacksmith tools manufac-
tured by one Of the nuniIs The tools
were all hand-forged and no better
tools could be made anywhere. This
is but one item IN illustrate tho man
ner in which the pupils are Taught
Farm of 35O Acres
The farm consists Of about 35O acres
and on this land is raised practically
all the vegetables and fruits used in
the school and from 60 to 20 cows are
kept on the place for the nurnose NJ
supplying butter and milk for the in
stitution.
The appointments in all the buiId-
ings are as near perfection az nossi-
BILE and the dormitories kitchens and
dining rooms are models of neatness.
The chief engineer of the institu-
tion is a graduate of the school and
has under his direction all of the ma
chinery for heating and lighting tho
various buildings The water sunnIv
comes from four wells located on the
preinises and is of the unrest oualitv
All the sewage from the place is car
ried into semitic tanks and after going
through the regular fermentation is
carried a long distance in nines so
that there is no danger of contamina-
tion of water I'm the vicinity of tho
school
IT will not take an ordinary ohserv-
er long to see what civilization and
the teachings at the school have dono