The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-05-30

The history of the University OF
Montana dates from the passage Of
the bill creating the institution. The
act was passed, by the second legisla
tive assembly February is, 1898. 1t
provided for the establishment of the
College of Agriculture and Mechanic
Arts at Bohemian, the School of Mines
at Butte, the state Normal school at
Dillon and the university at Missoula.
May "a, 1898, the state board of ed
ucation met I'M Missoula to make Sc
lection of a campus The heirs of
Captain Higgins donated the north
half of the present 4o-acre campus at
the foot of Mount Sentinel, the south
half being the gift of the South Mis-
soula Land company
The campus sSWhen selected was an
open plain ,witlfout1Na tree or shrub,
and not fenced; in fact, a part OF the
virgin valley The board. of trade of
Missoula fenced the. tract, set out two
rows of trees Ton three sides, and
cared for them Until. water pipe
from the city ,11slin was laid to the
grounds. These.are8the trees around
the outside which nav present so at
lIaGLlNG all dDpGdFsHor: +....=
mr. The First Term.
In 1895 the legislature made provi-
sion for opening the university, the
classes being organized in the fall of
1885, The local executive committee
appointed by the state board of edu
cation consisted %ofs Mr.. j. II. 4. Ry-
man, Judge Hiram Knowles and Colo
Il III i
continued in office us members OF the
committee until the passage of q law
in 1909 changing the method of man
agement of the state institutions.
At the June! meeting Of the state
board of education in 1895 Oscar j.
Craig, professor Of political economy
and history in Purdue university was
chosen president. This position he
held until September, 1909, when the
presidency was given to Clyde A. Dun
iWay, professor of history at Stanford
university. r
The university opened in the fall of
1895, with President oscar j. Craig
in charge of history and literature;
Stephen A, Merritt professor of nat
ural science; Cynthia Elizabeth Kelley,
Aber, professor of Greek and Latin.
and Frederick c, Scheuch. professor
of modern. languages and temporarily
in charge of applied science, which
latter was developed into mechanical
engineering. or this Number Profess
sor G. r.. Kelley, Professor VIM. nj.
Aber and Professor r. c. Scheuch are
yet in service with the university.
When the university opened so stu
dents were enrolled, The first student
to apply, Miss Helen McCfackin, of
Hamilton, later graduated, and is now
an honored alumna of the institution.
At the close Of the year in June, 1896,
the total enrolment for the year was
1856 #g4f4 s5@, 49, tsg ".stS
The Land Grant.
A land grant of@4G,0SO acres of land
had been made for university main
tenance. The income from this was
used for current expenses for the first
year. In 1897 the legislature made the
munidcent appropriation OF $4,000 for
maintenance in 1896 and 1897, aud
$4,000 for 1897 and 1898. a'he appro-
priation has been increased from year
" yCtti' III stGAttltN!5 RAsfSSitl iiLlh elt9
amount ats4nisposal fol current ex-
penses lis .s68,500t 3 ~
The university had its home at first
in the south side school, building, This
was loaned by the people of Missoula,
and a donation of $1,000 was made for
putting the building in suitable condi-.
ton for use. This building was used
rom September. 1895, until February,
1898, when the main hall and science
hall on the campus were completed
and. ready for OCCUPANCY.
Buildings.
The Legislature Of 1897 authorized
the state board Of education, on their
recommendation. to issue bonds to the
amount. of 100000 for the erection of
buildings II With this fund two build
fings, main hall and science ball, We're
erected. The building committee can
sisted of t.. A. WinatanleN, Alfred
Cave, Joseph Wood, George Higgins
and j. r. Latimer, With A. ]. Gibson
as architect At this time a water
main was laid from the corner of Ger
aid avenue and Fifth street to Uni
versity avenue and along this street
to the university A sewer was laid
from the university to the Missoula
river
In 1902 bonds to the amount of $40,-
900 were sold. With the proceeds two