Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/61

UMPQUA ACADEMY 51 Says a prominent stock buyer whose operations range throughout Northern California and the five southwestern counties of Oregon to the Klamath and Goose Lake basins : "Wherever night overtakes me I am sure of hanging my hat on the walls of a home from which some member of the family went to school in the old days at the Umpqua Academy and reminiscently recalls them in conversation." A prominent educator of the state, formerly a student there, recently said to the writer : "For many years the Academy was the only institution of higher learning between Salem and Sacramento, and thus drew its students from a large part of two states, and as they returned to take up their various occupations in life, they carried with them the high ideals of the old school and wove them into the fabric of two common wealths. They have been constructive state builders." A glance at the old school roster will verify his statement. Students of the old Academy have gone to our legislative halls. Some have gained prominence in the profession of medicine and of law. Many eminent educators, editors and statesmen who have gained the top round in these professions received their first inspiration and early training at the old school. Successful business men and those following voca- tional lines of work recall with musing pleasure the days profitably and happily spent under its roof. It is safe to venture the statement that no institution of similar size has wielded a greater influence for good than has the old Umpqua Academy.