A portrait of Elkanah Walker (1805-1877), one of the earliest missionaries in the Oregon Territory. Elkanah and his wife, Mary Richardson Walker, arrived at the Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu in 1838. They attempted to convert Spokane Natives at their own mission, Tshimakain, between 1839-1849. After their friends the Whitmans were killed, they evacuated to the northwest end of the Willamette Valley, at what would later be the town of Forest Grove. They helped to found Tualatin Academy and Pacific University soon thereafter, donating a portion of the land upon which the university lies. Several of the Walkers’ children (Cyrus Hamlin, Abigail Boutwell, Marcus Whitman, Joseph Elkanah, Jeremiah, John Richardson, Levi Chamberlin and Samuel Thompson) became missionaries and Indian Agents.
A label on the reverse of this photo identifies it as a shot of damage to the campus during the Columbus Day Storm; however, it also shows the Harvey W. Scott Memorial Library, which was not constructed until 1967, so this must be storm damage from a storm other than the Columbus Day Storm of 1962.
Marsh Hall in the background of a man cutting the tree up, to be able to move the tree off the Pacific University campus. The debris is from the Columbus Day Storm in 1962.
