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 University of California • Berkeley 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
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X 
 
Dr. John Rocky Park 
 
 ^ By 
 
 LEVI EDGAR YOUNG 
 
 Head of the Department of Western History 
 University of Utah 
 
 Copyrighted 1919 by 
 LEVI EDGAR YOUNG 
 
To the Students of 
 
 Dr. John R. Park 
 
 I Dedicate this little book 
 
(O H^O S- 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 This brochure is only a brief sketch of the Hfe and work 
 of Dr. John R. Park. \Miile he was President of the Uni- 
 versity of Deseret his fame went out into all parts of the ter- 
 ritory, ^len who have done a great work fade from the 
 minds of the next generation. This little brochure has for its 
 purpose — to keep the memory of Dr. Park fresh and green. 
 His brilliant gifts and splendid service to the people of the 
 Territory of Utah and other parts of the West deserve to be 
 remembered with honor. It has not been the object of the 
 author to deal with details. Only the larger elements of the 
 work of the great teacher could be mentioned. Like all great 
 men in history, Dr. Park was not fully appreciated until long 
 after his death. Today hundreds of students recall the majesty 
 of his personality and the strength of his character. They 
 hold him in sacred memory, and happy are they that the beau- 
 tiful building on the University Campus will be named in his 
 honor. The many interesting reminiscences told by his old 
 colleagues and students are important and must be preserved 
 for the future biographer of this great man. ^lay this little 
 book help keep afresh the work of the ''Father of the Uni- 
 versit}' of Utah," and our honored Alma Plater. 
 
 Matthew Arnold once said.of his old professors at Oxford: 
 "Forty years ago when I was an undergraduate at Oxford, 
 voices were in the air which haunt my memory still. IIap])y 
 the man who in that susceptible season of youth hears such 
 voices. They are a possession to him forever." The voices 
 of many of the old professors of UTALL are heard no more, 
 yet in memory the words and teachings of such men as Prof. 
 Orson Spencer, Prof. Orson Pratt, A. M., Dr. John M. Bern- 
 hisel, Dr. Karl G. Maeser, Dr. William ]\[. Stewart, Prof. 
 Albert Carrington, Prof. James Cobb, Prof. George M. 
 Ottinger, Dr. F. D. Benedict, Prof. Dan Weggeland, Dr. 
 John R. Park, and many others, still live in the memory 
 of the old students to direct their minds to a higher life. 
 They were real teachers — men unselfish, and true to the 
 ideals of knowledge. These men threw the whole force of 
 their natures into the cause of education in early day Utah. 
 They were pioneers to a new country, it is true. Great prob- 
 lems had to be solved; nature had to be conquered. Coming 
 
li I 
 
 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 into the arid West, they met geographical conditions, which 
 combined to strengthen them in purpose and character. 
 Among these stalwart men of ideals and spiritualty — men of 
 real teaching ability, stood Dr. John Rocky Park, the man 
 who built a "University in the wilderness." 
 
 L. E. Y., University of Utah, May, 1919. 
 
JOHN R. PARK 
 
 John R. Park was of Scotch and French lineage, and was 
 born in the town of Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio, May 7, 1833. 
 His father was a native of New York State, where his fore- 
 bears settled after immigrating from Scotland in the seven- 
 teenth century. John R. Park's grandfather was a soldier 
 in the Revolutionary war, and saw service in the campaigns 
 of Washington in New Jersey in 1778-9. His father came 
 into the State of Ohio in the later twenties with the host of 
 pioneers who were taking up and settling new lands in the 
 West. Dr. Park's mother was a descendant of the French 
 Huguenots and her ancestry came to America about 1740. 
 
 Tiffin was a small town, for Ohio was one of the new 
 territories to be settled after the American Revolution. Ohio 
 was a progressive state and had a number of schools, most of 
 which were in charge of various religious denominations. 
 John R. attended the little public school of his native town, 
 and at the age of fourteen entered the Presbyterian seminary 
 known as Heidelberg College. When sixteen years old, he 
 matriculated at the Ohio Wesleyan University, a Methodist 
 institution, from which he was graduated in 1853. In the 
 boyhood days of Dr. Park, the pioneer life of Ohio was far 
 different from what life in towns and cities is today. Even 
 down to the year 1845, currency in Ohio and the West was 
 scarce, and skins and jugs of whiskey were used as legal 
 tender. A smok€ house for curing meat and a crib for the 
 storing of corn were adjuncts of every home. It was the day 
 when butter and meat were preserved by hanging them in the 
 well. Hogs were raised, and the settlers had their own sheep, 
 which furnished the wool from which clothes were made, the 
 housewife doing the spinning and weaving into homespun. 
 Tiffin was composed mostly of Presbyterians and Methodists 
 who were accustomed to holding revival meetings. 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 "I remember the revival meetings," said Dr. Park, 
 "and to these I was often taken when I w^as a boy." 
 Dr. Park taught school when he was fifteen years of age 
 and took part in the literary society which had been organized 
 in the town. His training at the Ohio Wesleyan covered a 
 period of two years, when he again taught school for a year, 
 preparatory to entering the University of the City of New 
 York. In 1855 Dr. Park went to New York, walking from his 
 native town to Buffalo, where he took boat down the Erie 
 canal and after three weeks, arrived at the metropolis of 
 America. 
 
 He entered the medical profession with a mind well fitted 
 for scientific work. The University of the City of New York 
 was near 22nd Street, and was one of the noted medical 
 schools of the day. John William Draper was a professor 
 there, and Oliver Wendall Holmes came there to lecture. It 
 has since become a part of Columbia University. Dr. Park 
 became a warm personal friend of Dr. Draper, whose work, 
 the INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPE will 
 always remain as one of the distinctive contributions of his- 
 torical studies made by an American scholar. 
 
 The INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT became Dr. 
 Park's favorite historical writing and he was greatly influ- 
 enced by Draper in his future work as a teacher. Draper held 
 that society develops largely because of geographical factors. 
 To understand the political and social growth of a people, one 
 must know the science of nature and how it bears directly 
 upon man's life both as an individual and in social groups. He 
 understood the influence of rivers and forests ; marshes and 
 sea-girt lands. "He perceived and enjoyed natural beauty 
 chiefly in reference to human life." These teachings all had 
 their effect on Dr. Draper's students. Said Dr. Park in later 
 years : "John William Draper is the American historian who 
 reasoned from cause to effect. His mind was analytical and 
 inductive; he saw the dependency of man on nature and how 
 nature in turn effected man. He believed in natural law, and 
 that mankind is subject to law. Human history has been the 
 result of man contending with nature fundamentally and 
 gradually learning nature's laws." 
 
 In 1857, Dr. Park was graduated from the University of 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 New York with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Returning 
 to Tiffin, his native town, he began to practice his profession, 
 but within a few months, he again took up teaching and be- 
 came head of the principal grammar school at Tiffin, where 
 high school subjects were taught. Dr. Park organized classes 
 in physiology and hygiene, and began his remarkable lectures 
 that made his teachings of the human body such a delight. 
 For two years, 1858 to 1860, Dr. Park was at the Ohio Wes- 
 leyan University as an instructor in zoology and physiology. 
 
 It must be kept in mind, that the science of medicine fifty 
 years ago was far different from that of the present time. 
 Medical colleges in the past generation have developed along 
 scientific lines, and today the science of medicine is regarded 
 as one of the most learned professions. It was not until 1840 
 that anesthetics were discovered, and even in Dr. Park's boy- 
 hood days, "the chills" and other forms of malarial fever 
 were treated by liberal doses of bitters made of bark and 
 whiskey. "Faith doctors" charmed away serious illness or 
 the tootache. Even bleeding was still resorted to. Yet in 
 the fifties, medical schools were making great advancement 
 along scientific lines, and vivi-section gave the students first 
 hand knowledge of the anatomy of the human body. Dr. Park 
 spent most of his time in the dissecting rooms and in the 
 teaching of anatomy and physiology. He inspired a love and 
 respect for the beauty of the human body that remained a 
 forceful lesson to his students throughout their lives. 
 
 Dr. Park had three brothers who went to California at the 
 time of the gold excitement in 1849-50. They located 
 in San Francisco, and impressed with the many great oppor- 
 tunities that lay before them in the new state, they wrote and 
 encouraged their brother to cross the plains and locate with 
 them in the Golden Gate State. Influenced by their appeal. 
 Dr. Park left for the West in 1861, going to St. Joseph, Mis- 
 souri, where he took a stage coach, and arrived in Denver in 
 June. 
 
 Colorado was then the new Eldorado, for the silver mines 
 were just opening in the Pike's Peak region. He decided, 
 however, to continue his journey westward in September. 
 Going to Fort Laramie by stage coach from Denver, he 
 joined a band of emigrants on their way to Montana. Travel- 
 
10 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 ling with them as far as Fort Bridger and taking his turn 
 in driving oxen and standing guard, he decided to go direct to 
 Salt Lake City, where he might be able to make suitable ar- 
 rangements for his further journey over the mountains to 
 California. Accompanying a small party of emigrants with 
 whom he travelled, he arrived in Salt Lake City September 
 30, 1861, and camped on Emigration Square, the present site 
 of the City and County building. 
 
 Dr. Park, in speaking of his journey from Denver, related 
 before his death the following story : 
 
 I went to Denver by stage coach from St. Joe, 
 Mo., remaining there a little over two months. I put 
 up at the old Planter's House. It was a typical west- 
 ern hotel. Buffalo meat, salt bacon, dried apples, 
 beans, coffee, and bread were what I had to eat. 
 Cattle grazed on the streets. There were many cabins 
 and rough board shanties. There was a population, 
 typical of western life ; fur traders, Mexicans, gold- 
 diggers, etc. 
 
 Great mountains to the north seemed to invite me 
 to continue the journey. I had California in mind and 
 to California I must go. Leaving in the early part of 
 September with a trapper who had come to Denver 
 from the Platte River to sell furs, I arrived in a few 
 days at Laramie, Wyoming. It was one of the prin- 
 cipal forts of the Oregon Trail, and a centre for re- 
 fitting and shoeing oxen and horses. I waited at Lar- 
 amie a day or two, when I met a band of emigrants 
 bound for Montana, and they consented to let me 
 travel with them. 
 
 In three weeks, we were at Fort Bridger, and 
 hearing about Salt Lake City and the splendid chances 
 there, I was helped by a party of Mormon immigrants 
 and arrived with them in Salt Lake City on the last 
 day of the month. The trip through Echo and Par- 
 ley's Canyons, was unique to me, as I had never been 
 in the mountains before. I recall eating breakfast 
 one morning at Mountain Dell, and my first view of 
 the valley was from the mouth of Parley's Canyon. 
 Near Ham's Fork in Wyoming, we saw thousands of 
 buffalo, and all the way from Laramie, we had buffalo 
 meat. Great numbers of overland emigrants were on 
 the plains during that year and in one company, there 
 were over three hundred wagons, carrying five hun- 
 dred people on their way to the northwest. 
 Dr. Park was a student of sociology, as well as of religion. 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 11 
 
 He had heard much about Utah and her people, and interested 
 in the general conditions both in the city and country, he bade 
 adieu to the people who had given him food and help from 
 Fort Bridger and set out one morning for Mill Creek, where 
 he was told a large number of well-to-do farmers lived. He 
 reached the home of John Neff, the founder of Mill Creek, and 
 the man who built the first grist mill south of Salt Lake City. 
 Mr. Neff, who was well educated, was born in Pennsyl- 
 vania in 1794, five years before the death of George Washing- 
 ton. He arrived in Utah in October, 1847, and built one of the 
 best and most substantial homes in those early days. To him, 
 Dr. Park applied for work, since he had determined to remain 
 in the valley for the winter. Mr. Neff took him in, and at his 
 home. Dr. Park spent six weeks in helping to gather the crops. 
 "I spent many a night talking on religion with 
 Mr. Neff," said Dr. Park. "He was a quiet unassum- 
 ing man, but in religious conservation he was clear 
 and lucid on what he thought was the true path of 
 God. He was the soul of honor, and had the reputa- 
 tion of being absolutely honest in the affairs of life." 
 Dr. Park was ambitious to obtain work and to make a 
 careful study of family life among the people of Utah. He 
 was given letters of introduction by Mr. Neff to a number of 
 prominent men of the country, among whom was Bishop Isaac 
 Stewart of Draper. Mr. Stewart opened his home to Dr. 
 Park, and the day after his arrival, he was helping the boys on 
 the farm, doing all kinds of work. He hoed the corn and 
 milked the cows, but in the conversation around the fire in 
 the evening. Bishop Stewart and others discovered the schol- 
 arly training of the man and determined to use his talents in 
 the school room. Dr. Park was made principal of the district 
 school and within a short time, the little school at Draper 
 came to have a high reputation. Many visitors travelled there 
 on horseback and in wagons to inspect it and to be benefitted 
 by its methods and system. Because of its interest in education. 
 Draper is known to this day as the mother of teachers and 
 professional men' in general. Students attended the school 
 from the surrounding towns of Salt Lake, Nephi, American 
 Fork, Provo, and Alpine and "in their ranks in later years, 
 they counted senators, lawyers, legislators, professors, as well 
 as an admiral in the United States Navy," 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 13 
 
 THE SCHOOL AT DRAPER. 
 
 Draper is located twenty miles south of Salt Lake City, 
 near the base of the Wasatch mountains. In the year 1849 
 Ebenezer Brown and his two sons, Norman and Gurnsay, went 
 to South Willow Creek to herd cattle and horses, which they 
 had brought to the valley to fatten and sell the California 
 gold-seekers. The following spring they brought their house 
 out with them from "the city," and to it built an addition of 
 logs. Thus the humble beginning was made for a town, whose 
 distinguishing feature today is its splendid residences. Their 
 house located, the family, consisting of the wife and mother, 
 Phoebe Brown, and small son, John, joined the others in what 
 was then "South Willow Creek." As the pasture land's be- 
 came better known, new settlers joined the Brown family, the 
 earliest of these being the Drapers, William and Zemira, with 
 their families, Jackson Allen, Milo Andrus, Andrew Burnham, 
 and Perry Fitzgerald, until by 1853 the population had in- 
 creased to two hundred and twenty-two souls. Three of the 
 town fathers, Ebenezer Brown, William Draper, and Zemira 
 Draper made a visit to Salt Lake to secure a post office for 
 the growing village. It was suggested to change the name 
 of "Willow Creek" to "Brownville," but owing to another 
 settlement of the same name in the county, it was called 
 "Draper." Ebenezer Brown was made postmaster. 
 
 These early settlers were often called upon to aid in keep- 
 ing order in and about the valley. When the Indians went 
 on the war-path the settlers were sent to suppress the up- 
 risings. In the early spring of 1852, Norman and Guernsey 
 Brown went to Provo, where they participated in the Indian 
 wars of that time which from the Indian standpoint was a 
 natural consequence of circumstances. The "Whites" had 
 taken their lands, their hunting grounds ; the Indians were 
 hungry and begged for food. This being refused them, they 
 appropriated horses and cattle to their own use and the set- 
 tlers had many difficulties with them. By 1854 an adobe wall 
 or fort was built by the settlers for protection around Draper, 
 though the pioneers followed a wise course with the Indians 
 afterwards and seldom had any trouble. On one occasion, when 
 a band of Indians went through the village to visit a neighbor- 
 ing tribe, they called on William Draper, then bishop, for a 
 
14 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 beef, for they were hungry. The bishop did not have a beef to 
 give but soon told the villagers the request and immediately 
 they collected means and bought a fat steer v^hich they gave 
 the three hundred warriors who appreciated the hospitality 
 of the whites. 
 
 All the institutions of the early times were represented 
 in this typical pioneer village. A sawmill, tannery, brewery, 
 sorgham mill, and numerous adobe plants were estab- 
 lished. A famous blacksmith, who turned their weapons to 
 ploughshares, was also located there; these industries, with 
 farming, furnished activities for all the members of the ex- 
 ceptionally large and healthy families. 
 
 Social development was not neglected. The old spelling 
 school, dramatic clubs, and a baseball team were popular 
 among the youth, and there was that very popular amuse- 
 ment, the dance, in which the old found new life and of which 
 the young never tired. Quadrilles and reels were tripped mer- 
 rily to the music of the old town orchestra. An adobe build- 
 ing, consisting of a large assembly room and a vestry which 
 served as church, town hall, amusement hall, opera house and 
 school house, was erected at a very early date by popular 
 subscription. 
 
 It was in this same building that the teacher, Dr. 
 Park, came in 1861 to lead, instruct, and inspire the 
 youthful minds to higher ideals. There had been numerous 
 teachers before him, for since 1850, when an adobe room was 
 erected for the cause of education, there had been a term of 
 school of about three months each winter. The teacher, if a 
 woman, easily found a family with whom to make her home 
 if she would work for her board ; or if a man, he could board 
 with the families who sent children to school. Seated 
 on the slab benches, with their bare feet dangling, or, on 
 cold mornings, curled under them, the students were arranged 
 according to size. The studies consisted of the three "R's," 
 as well as history, geography, spelling, and grammar, — 
 which the child might elect as his tendencies led him, or as 
 his parents decided. Usually the boys took arithmetic, spell- 
 ing, writing, and history, while the girls elected reading, gram- 
 mar, and writing. The pupils were classified according to the 
 reader they used. The texts were McGuffey's and Wilson's 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 15 
 
 readers, with the old Webster Spelhng Book. Old and young 
 attended school. Parents who had children attending, often 
 had them bring copies of writing home, from which they ac- 
 quired the knowledge they had hitherto been deprived of. 
 Teachers received from $20 to $35 a month or from $60 to 
 $100 a term ; this remuneration was often in produce, as 
 ready cash was very scarce. 
 
 What were the methods of Dr. Park, and how did he 
 gain results? These questions we ask the former students, 
 and they reply by picturing the school as they remem- 
 ber it. Scholarly, dignified, firm, yet tender and modest 
 as a girl, he gained the respect, confidence and love of those 
 who came in contact with him. Many and varied are the in- 
 cidents related by the disciples of the "Old School." The 
 following is told by an old student of the Draper school : 
 
 The master wore a large, flowered, red duster in 
 the school room, which, when he sat down, had a 
 tendency to slip up at the back and become creased ; 
 this presented a humorous situation for some busy- 
 fingered youngster, who would seize the coat and 
 attempt to straighten its folds as the teacher ])ro- 
 ceeded down the aisle. A pair of beaded moccasins, 
 instead of shoes, adorned his feet, enabling him to 
 move about among the pupils without warning them 
 of his a])proach. Aiding, commending, suggesting; or 
 repremanding and punishing, he performed all in a 
 quiet, dignified manner as he noiselessly glided among 
 them. There were al^xnit a hundred and fifty pupils 
 in all the grades and it became necessary for the ad- 
 vanced pupils to hear the small ones recite, while the 
 "master" taught the higher branches. Thoroughness 
 was the chief characteristic of the w^ork. W^ork placed 
 upon the board had to be explained until every mem- 
 ber became familiar with every detail. 
 
 The love for his work and his enthusiasm in- 
 spired the pupils to high ideals and ambitions. He 
 possessed that quality which enabled him to become 
 as familiar as a playfellow with the children, securing 
 their co-operation in all the activities he planned. In- 
 centives were introduced as honor marks, or even a 
 book as a prize for some special merit. On Friday 
 afternoons they had school entertainments, which the 
 parents were induced to attend ; or, being an excellent 
 physician and surgeon, he would give lectures on an- 
 atomy, illustrating the talks with numerous charts. 
 
16 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 He was also efficient in music and led the ward choir. 
 He organized a fife and drum corps in the school and 
 gave military drill, for which gray homespun uni- 
 forms and wooden guns were suppHed by the people. 
 Expeditions were often made into the fields and hills 
 for live nature work, during which he never lost an 
 opportunity to teach kindness and protection to all 
 living creatures. He administered to their physical as 
 well as their intellectual welfare, setting broken bones 
 or extracting teeth for his flock." 
 
 CALLED TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 In 1867, the University of Deseret was opened as a first 
 class Business College under the direction of David O. Calder. 
 The school became popular from the first, and the demands of 
 the students were so varied, that there was but one thing to do, 
 and that was to establish a University in the true sense of the 
 term. The University of Deseret was opened in September, 
 1869, with Dr. John R. Park as president. Dr. Park had been 
 chosen for this important position by the Board of Regents 
 of the University, and immediately left his little school in 
 Draper to take up the arduous duties of a college president. 
 The permanency of the University was now assured. 
 
 The first catalogue issued by the University in 1869, an- 
 nounced the following. 
 
 CHANCELLOR AND BOARD OF REGENTS. 
 CHANCELLOR, 
 
 Daniel H. Wells, 
 
 BOARD OF REGENTS, 
 
 Isaac Groo, 
 Joseph A. Young, 
 Robert L. Campbell, 
 Henry I. Doremus, 
 Samuel W. Richards, 
 George Q. Cannon, 
 George J. Taylor, 
 Brigham Young, Jun., 
 David O. Calder, 
 Henry W. Naisbitt, 
 George Reynolds, 
 David McKenzie. 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 17 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE BOARD. 
 
 CHANCELLOR, 
 Daniel H. Wells, 
 SECRETARY, 
 Robert L. Campbell. 
 TREASURER, 
 Thomas W. EUerbeck. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 
 
 Robert L. Campbell, 
 Isaac Groo, 
 David O. Calder. 
 Then came the announcement of the faculty. 
 
 FACULTY. 
 
 John R. Park, M. D., President, 
 
 Professor of Natural History and Chemistry. 
 Orson Pratt, A. M. 
 
 Professor of Mathematics, Astronomy, and Moral Science. 
 Bernhard H. Bergman, A. M., 
 
 Professor of Ancient and Modern Languages and Lit- 
 erature. 
 William Riess, Ph. D., 
 
 Professor of Analytical Chemistry and Metallurgy. 
 Louis F. Monch, 
 
 Professor of German, Drawing, and Penmanship. 
 Harmal Pratt, 
 
 Professor of Instrumental Music. 
 W. D. Johnson, 
 
 Assistant Instructor in Commercial Department. 
 Joseph L. Rawlins, 
 
 Assistant Instructor in Preparator}^ Department and 
 Mathematics. 
 Volney King, 
 
 Instructor in Telegraphy. 
 M. H. Hardy, 
 
 Instructor in Phonography. 
 
 Dr. Park had one impelling ideal and that was the es- 
 tablishrnent of a great University of Utah. For this reason he 
 called scholars to be his associates. Orson Pratt was known 
 as a mathematician and astronomer of rare attainment, both 
 in America and in England. William Riess was one of the 
 first men to make a careful study of the geology and mineral 
 deposits of Utah, while Joseph L. Rawlins took up the study 
 of law at Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was graduated. 
 
18 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 He returned to Utah and eventually was Utah's repre- 
 sentative to Congress and later served one term in the United 
 States Senate. Mr. Raw^lins was instrumental in obtaining 
 through Congress the grant of land from the U. S. Military 
 Reservation, which has become the permanent home of the 
 University. Mr. Monch was actively engaged for years in 
 teaching, and it was through his efforts that the splendid 
 school known as the Weber Academy was established. Milton 
 H. Hardy became one of the most prominent physicians and 
 surgeons of the state. 
 
 The catalogue gave somewhat in detail the courses of 
 study, and announced the establishment of a first class library. 
 A literary journal was to "be established in connection with 
 the institution, to which all the students will be required to 
 contribute." Instruction in the University included classical, 
 normal, commercial, and preparatory courses, and for the first 
 time, a model school was opened in connection with the Nor- 
 mal Department, in which boys and girls "would be prepared 
 to enter immediately the college classes, and thus preclude 
 the necessity of the present preparatory course." Military 
 training and physical culture were also to be prominent fea- 
 tures of the school. Literary societies were to be organized, 
 and "have for their object a theoretical and practical training 
 in oratory, debate, declamation, composition, and parliament- 
 ary rule and order." In speaking of the cabinet, the catalogue 
 says : 
 
 The Cabinet of the University, is yet in embryo, 
 containing but a small collection of a few hundred 
 specimens, yet, it is designed to increase it until it 
 shall fully represent the mineralogical and geological 
 formations of our Territory, its entomological life 
 and its flora, and thus form a valuable adjunct to 
 illustration in the department of Natural History. 
 
 Aid is solicited from the friends of the University 
 in different parts of the Territory, and also from mis- 
 sionaries and others in dififerent parts of the world to 
 assist in collecting such specimens of value and curi- 
 osity as they can obtain. 
 In reference to graduation from the University: 
 
 Students completing the Classical Course will re- 
 ceive a diploma and the Degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
 Those completing the Normal and Scientific Course 
 will receive a diploma and the degree of Bachelor of 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 19 
 
 Science. Those completing the Commercial Course 
 
 will receive a diploma with appropriate honors. 
 
 The story of the first few months of the history of the 
 University after Dr. Park became president is told vividly in 
 his journal. Joseph L. Rawlins was hired at a salary of $15 a 
 term, and Dr. F. D. Benedict "has been hired to conduct 
 classes in chemistry." The journal shows the general activi- 
 ties of the students of those days : how they celebrated the 
 Fourth of July or took part in the exercises celebrating the 
 completion of the Utah Central railroad. A model school, we 
 are told, was opened in the old Brigham Young school house, 
 the principal of which was Mrs. Mildred Randall, and on one 
 occasion, the president "met with the City Council in the even- 
 ing and made a report as chairman of the Board of Inspectors 
 of the District schools of the City, and also submitted a plan 
 for the grading of the City schools." 
 
 A part of the journal is here transcribed. 
 
 1869. 
 
 March 1. A meeting of the Chancellor and Board of Regents 
 of the University of Deseret was held today, at which Mr. 
 David O. Calder, Principal of the University, who had 
 conducted the Institution as a Commercial College since 
 November, 1867, resigned his office as Principal, and Doc- 
 tor John R. Park was elected and employed as Principal 
 of the University in his stead. A salary of sixteen hun- 
 dred dollars per annum was voted the new Principal. 
 
 Robert S. Campbell, Isaac Groo, and D. O. Calder 
 were elected as an executive committee of the board. 
 
 March 8. The University opened its school today in the 
 Council House under John R. Park as Principal, with its 
 organization extended so as to include in addition to its 
 Commercial Course, a classical, a Normal, a Scientific, and 
 a Preparatory Course. The exercises of the school, were 
 initiated by prayer from Regent Robert S. Campbell. Re- 
 gent Isaac Groo was also present. Eighty-four students 
 were enrolled. Louis F. Monch was employed as teacher 
 in the Institution for $1200 per annum, and H. Milton 
 Davis for one month in the Commercial Department for 
 $75. 
 
 The Executive Committee supplied the Institution 
 with additional apparatus, Guyot's Geographical Wall 
 Maps, blackboards, charts, globes, etc. 
 
 March. 25. Joseph L. Rawlins was employed as an occasional 
 
20 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 assistant in teaching, receiving for services his tuition, 
 that is, fifteen dollars per term. 
 
 April 5. The school adjourned for General Church Confer- 
 ence, till the 12th inst. 
 
 May 27. At a meeting of the teachers of the University to- 
 day, an organization of the faculty w^as effected. There 
 w^ere present John R. Park, L. F. Monch, B. H. Burgh- 
 man, S. W. Darke and J. L. Rav^Hns. John R. Park was 
 elected President and L. F. Monch, Secretary. 
 
 June 4. First term closed. There were 190 students enrolled 
 during the term. 
 
 June 7. The second terms commenced with 114 students, 
 Joseph L. Rawlins was employed with additional serv- 
 ices given him, at $30 per month. 
 
 June 28. The school dismissed till July 7, to prepare for and 
 celebrate the 4th of July. 
 
 July 5. The University took part in the general celebration, 
 representing the 13 original Colonies, the 37 States, and 
 the 9 Territories, with young ladies of the Institution in 
 uniform, also, representing Deseret by a young lady in 
 homespun. Flags, banners, apparatus, etc. of the Insti- 
 tution were also used in the celebration, borne by the 
 young men of the school in procession. In the evening 
 a social party was held for the students in the upper room 
 of the University building. 
 
 August 24. First Annual Catalogue of the University issued 
 — 500 copies. 
 
 September 29. Today the contract for repairing the "Old 
 Store" opposite the South Gate of the Temple Block, to 
 use for students of the University and for the Model 
 wSchool to be opened Oct. 11th, was given to Wm. Paul at 
 $350, also the contract for making 56 desks and seats for 
 the Model School at $6.25 each — all to be completed by 
 the 11th of October. 
 
 October 11. The fall term of the University was opened this 
 morning with prayer by Robert L. Campbell. 125 students 
 were enrolled, including a few for the Model School, 
 which on account of the repairs to the building intended 
 for its use not yet being completed, is not yet formally 
 opened. Milton H. Hardy has been secured as principal 
 of the Model School. O. H. Riggs has been employed as 
 teacher in the University proper, though his salary has 
 not yet been definitely fixed. 
 
 The business of the day consisted chiefly in regis- 
 tering names of students and formally opening the term 
 without the organization of any classes. After prayer a 
 few remarks were made by the President of the faculty, 
 followed by an address to the students by Robert L. 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 21 
 
 Campbell, and remarks from Profs. Riggs, Bellerive, and 
 Monch. W. O. Johnson has been re-engaged as teacher 
 in the Commercial Department, and commences his serv- 
 ices with the term. 
 
 October 14. The Model School in connection with the Nor- 
 mal Department of the University was formally inaugu- 
 rated this morning, with M. H. Hardy as Principal. The 
 School was opened with prayer by Robert L. Campbell, 
 who dedicated the building and all connected with the 
 school to the Lord. Though the school has commenced, 
 the building is not yet quite completed. There were Z7 
 pupils enrolled. 
 
 October 19. The Model School was dismissed today until the 
 25th inst., Mr. Hardy being required to drill on the 20th, 
 21st, and 22nd with the Nauvoo Legion, and needing to- 
 day to prepare. 
 
 November 5. Today the first University ^Manuscript paper 
 was read before the students. The articles were con- 
 tributed by the male students, and the paper edited by D. 
 Hamner Wells. The paper bore the title, "The Prickly 
 Pear." 
 
 November 9. The first lyceum of the University was organ- 
 ized this evening. It was opened with prayer by Robert 
 L. Campbell. A temporary organization was effected by 
 electing John R. Park president and L. F. Monch, secre- 
 tary. A committee to draft a Constitution and by-laws 
 was appointed and other business done when the meeting 
 adjourned till Thursday evening the 11th inst. for per- 
 manent organization. There were 13 members. 
 
 November 12. Today the second manuscript paper of the 
 L^niversity, prepared by the lady students, was read. Miss 
 Mary E. Culin was editress. The paper was called the 
 ''Ladies' University Magazine." Select reading by the 
 ladies and declamations by the gentlemen were also given 
 on the occasion. These latter exercises were the first of 
 the kind given in the University. 
 
 December 11. President Brigham Young today visited the 
 school, also the Chancellor D. H. Wells, and both spoke 
 to the students encouraging them to diligence in the 
 acquisition of knowledge and learning. The President 
 expressed himself well pleased with the exercises and the 
 school. 
 
 1870. 
 
 January 10. Adjourned the school to celebrate the comple- 
 tion of the Utah Central Rail Road to Salt Lake City, by 
 laying the last rail and driving the last spike. At night 
 took part in the general illumination in honor of the 
 
22 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 event, by lighting up the University building on the 
 north and east sides. 
 
 April 14. "The College Lantern" for May was printed to- 
 day: the first number. A number with the date of April 
 was struck oflf before the proof was corrected, and was 
 therefore, thrown aside, and the publication postponed 
 till today, because the printers, as they alleged, were be- 
 ing pressed by other matter. 
 
 April 18. The spring term opened today. L. F. Monch had 
 been released as teacher in the University and John Mor- 
 gan employed to take charge of the classes in penman- 
 ship. Miss May Culin has taken charge as teacher of 
 some of the classes in the preparatory department. The 
 school opened today with an encouraging patronage, 
 about hundred students including the pupils in the Model 
 School being present. 
 
 Mrs. O. H. Riggs and Miss Pratt have been em- 
 ployed as assistant teachers in the Model School. 
 
 June 10. Today introduced calisthenics as an exercise into 
 the Model School. 
 
 June 15. Today began the construction of a gymnasium for 
 the University in the yard at the west end of the build- 
 ing. 
 
 July 8. Today read the manuscript of the University Cata- 
 logue for the year 1869-70 to Chancellor D. H. Wells and 
 Regent R. L. Campbell, which was approved by them. It 
 was of Analytical Chemistry and Metallurgy, Mr. C. Bar- 
 rett not having filled that position to my satisfaction ; and 
 that Prof. John Morgan should act as Principal of the 
 Commercial Department; that Prof. George Careless 
 should fill the Chair of Vocal and Instrumental Music; 
 and Prof. Karl G. Maeser that of German. The Chan- 
 cellor agreed to arrange for the publication of the cata- 
 logue and announcement. 
 
 July 14. Today Doctor F. D. Benedict, professor elect to 
 the Chair of Analytical Chemistry and Metallurgy, in the 
 University, gave some interesting experiments before the 
 class in chemistry, thus introducing his work. 
 
 September 19. Today the fall term of the University opened 
 with nearly two hundred students in attendance. The 
 following teachers are engaged in actual work : John 
 R. Park, O. H. Riggs, C. L. Bellerive, John Morgan, J. L. 
 Rawlins, and F. D. Benedict in the University; and M. H. 
 Hardy and Miss Saraph C. Young in the Model School. 
 Prof. Morgan has taken full charge of the Com- 
 mercial Department in the place of W. D. Johnson re- 
 leased. Prof. RawHns has charge of the classes in Math- 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 23 
 
 ematics, and teaches other classes besides. Miss Fanny 
 Young has been engaged to assist in the Model School 
 when it shall be fully organized and further accommoda- 
 tions provided. 
 
 New desks for the primary grade in the Model 
 School, and for the male students in the University have 
 been ordered and are being prepared. They are to be 
 placed upstairs in the Model School building. 
 
 Mrs. Riggs was released, at her own request, from 
 teaching in the University the present term. 
 
 1871. 
 
 January 5. Fast day. No session of school today. Arrange- 
 ments have been made for conducting hereafter all the 
 classes as announced on the programme. Prof. Maeser 
 takes Latin, Greek, History, and Natural Science. Prof. 
 Dan Weggeland has been employed to take charge of the 
 class in Drawing, heretofore taught by Prof. Bellerive. 
 
 January 6. Everything in the conduct of the classes has gone 
 off well today, considering the interruption and change to 
 new teachers. Prof. Weggeland gave his first lesson in 
 drawing today, and Prof. Maeser in Latin, Greek, History, 
 etc. 
 
 January 13. Have arranged with Dr. Benedict for a series 
 of general lectures on the subject of Chemistry, to be 
 given each week on Friday, from 3:15 to 4 p. m. The 
 subject today was oxygen. 
 
 January 17. Prof. Orson Pratt this evening gave his first 
 lecture before the students of the University, and the 
 public, on the subject of Astronomy, in the large Taber- 
 nacle. 
 
 April 18. The University and Model School opened and were 
 conducted today under the new arrangement and pro- 
 grams decided on yesterday. Met with the City Council 
 in the evening and made a report as Chairman of the 
 Board of Inspectors of District Schools of the City, and 
 also submitted a plan for the grading of the City 
 Schools. The report with plan was referred to the Com- 
 mittee on Municipal Laws, consisting of Raleigh, Mc- 
 Kean, and Winder. 
 
 April 21. Incorporated Mrs. Mildred Randall's school, held 
 in Pres. Brigham Young's School House, as a grade of 
 the Model School of the University. The teachers of 
 the Model School now are Miss Mary E. Cook, principal, 
 and Miss Seraph C. Young, Miss Dora Wilckin, and Mrs. 
 Mildred Randall assistants. 
 
 May 6. Removed the Model School from the building it has 
 been occupying opposite the South Gate of the Temple 
 
24 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 Block, to the Social Hall, which is much more commodi- 
 ous, convenient, and healthful. Mrs. Randall's grade still 
 occupies Prest. Young's School House. 
 May 12. Today gave a May walk to the pupils of the Model 
 School. They went to Pleasant Valley, City Creek Canon, 
 accompanied by Miss May E. Cook, Miss Ida lone Cook, 
 Miss Seraph C. Young, and Miss Dora Wilcken. 
 
 June 1. Adjourned the school today in honor of President 
 Brigham Young, it being the 70th anniversary of his birth- 
 day. 
 
 July 4. The University took part, today, in the general cele- 
 bration. The ladies of the University represented the 
 Thirteen original States, the twenty-five States since ad- 
 mitted to the Union, the eleven Territories now organized, 
 the District of Columbia, and the State of Deseret. These 
 were drawn in three large cars beautifully decorated ; the 
 first by two white span of horses, the second by two black 
 span, and the third by two white span. 
 
 The University also represented two Continental sol- 
 diers, two cavalry soldiers of today, and two mountain- 
 eers, all on horseback. The other students followed in 
 procession with appropriate insignia and badges. The 
 display was the finest in the procession. 
 
 STUDENT LIFE IN THE SIXTIES. 
 
 The University of Deseret had a policy and custom in 
 those days that has been adopted in eastern universities to- 
 day, but which has not been lived up to so well in the last few 
 years by our own institution. It was the custom of the pro- 
 fessors and instructors, together with the Board of Regents, 
 to take part in public affairs of state and to mix with the 
 people.* In other words the people were not isolated from 
 the University, nOr the University from the people. When 
 our national holiday, the Fourth of July, came, the 
 people celebrated and the University regents and teachers to- 
 gether took part in a manner that was conducive to patriotism, 
 as well as a love for education. In the year 1869, there was 
 a stirring celebration in honor of our nation's natal day, and 
 in the procession, the regents, faculty, and students of the 
 University marched. A handsome banner was carried on 
 which appeared, in reHef, UNIVERSITY OF DESERET, sur- 
 mounted by a figure of Minerva, with the inscription, PRO- 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 25 
 
 TECTERIAM SCIENTIARUM ET ARTIUM. Robert L. 
 Campbell and John R. Park, headed the University faculty, 
 and they were followed by eight students carrying two large 
 globes and philosophical and school apparatus. They in turn 
 were followed by "thirteen young ladies, dressed in white, 
 with red sashes representing the original thirteen states, with 
 the name of each state in bronze on the sashes." The states, 
 as well as the different territories, were represented by other 
 girls of the school. They carried a banner on which were in- 
 scribed the words "The Union Inseparable." The girls repre- 
 senting the territories carried a banner on wdiich was inscribed 
 the. motto "The Territories — Our hope in the Future." 
 
 The young men of the University brought up the rear, 
 bearing sextants, quadrants, telegraphic instruments, and a 
 banner with the following sentiment: "OUR NATION'S 
 PROSPERITY LIES IN THE EDUCATION OF HER CHIL- 
 DREN." The following notice of this celebration was pub- 
 lished in the different newspaper a few days before the 
 Fourth : 
 
 FOURTH OF JULY. 
 
 The Professors of the University, and the Teachers of 
 the Select, Ward, and Sunday Schools in this city, are hereby 
 requested to meet the Committee of Arrangements for cele- 
 brating the 4th of July next, at the CITY HALL, tomorrow, 
 SATURDAY, at 5 o'clock p. m. The Tradesmen and Artisans 
 of the City arc also requested to meet at the same place at 
 7, the same evening. 
 
 (Signed) R. H. BURTON, Chairman. 
 
 The states and territories were represented by the fol- 
 lowing young ladies : 
 
 Maine Miss Margaret Mair 
 
 New Hampshire Miss Eva Young 
 
 Vermont Miss Rose Young 
 
 Massachusett Miss Emma Wells 
 
 Rhode Island Miss Harriet Woolley 
 
 Connecticut Miss Alice Slade 
 
 New York Miss Jessie Fox 
 
 Pennsylvania Miss Mary Culin 
 
 New Jersey Miss Hannah Taylor 
 
 Delaware Miss Annie Jeremy 
 
2b DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 Virginia Miss Bessie Wells 
 
 North Carolina _Miss Sarah Slaker 
 
 South Carolina «Miss Harriet Taylor 
 
 Georgia Miss Abbie Wells 
 
 Florida Miss Jettie Little 
 
 Alabama Miss Susie Young 
 
 Mississippi Miss Kate Sharp 
 
 Louisiana Miss Louisa Young 
 
 Texas Miss Georgia Calder 
 
 Arkansas Miss Lizzie Johnson 
 
 Tennessee „Miss Mamie Decker 
 
 Kentucky Miss Isabel Calder 
 
 West Virginia Miss Bell Parks 
 
 Ohio Miss Louisa Green 
 
 Indiana Miss Elizabeth Emery 
 
 Illinois „Miss Phoebe Young 
 
 Michigan Miss Kate Wells 
 
 Wisconsin Miss Henrietta Richards 
 
 Minnesota Miss Lavina Pandleton 
 
 Iowa , Miss Hereima Pratt 
 
 Nebraska Miss Ellen McAlister 
 
 California Miss Cynthia Crismon 
 
 Oregon Miss Elizabeth Pyper 
 
 Nevada Miss Frances Wells 
 
 Missouri Miss Dora Young 
 
 Kansas -Miss Carrington 
 
 Maryland Miss Julia Young 
 
 Deseret Miss Matilda Streeper 
 
 Utah ^Miss Myra Young 
 
 Montana Miss Mary Wells 
 
 Idaho Miss Elizabeth Sharp 
 
 Arizona Miss Jane Lynch 
 
 New Mexico Miss Lizzie Winder 
 
 Washington Miss Clara Little 
 
 Wyoming Miss Matilda Bryan 
 
 Dakota Miss Jamima Jack 
 
 Colorado Miss Alice Ellerbeck 
 
 A BUSY COLLEGE LIFE. 
 
 In 1871 Dr. Park left for an extended trip to Europe. 
 While abroad he visited the noted cities of the Old World, 
 particularly Berlin, Paris, and London. Making a collection of 
 books, pamphlets, and maps, he brought them home with him 
 and added them to his private library, which in time he turned 
 over to the University. The return of Dr. Park to the East- 
 ern states bv railroad was in marked contrast to the time 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 27 
 
 when he crossed the plains by ox teams. His trip did much 
 to add to the virility and life of the University. A natural 
 observer, Dr. Park was able to gather data at first hand, which 
 was a contribution to the thought of the University. He 
 lectured extensively throughout the Territory on the social, 
 economic, and political conditions in Europe. 
 
 From 1870 to the time when Utah was admitted as a 
 state, the University had rough sailing at times. It will be 
 remembered that the governors from the day of Brigham 
 Young to Heber M. Wells in 1896 w^ere men who were sent 
 here by the government and were therefore not in sympathy 
 at times with the people. Neither could the people always 
 support them. As a result, every territorial institution suf- 
 fered more or less because of politics. At times, the legisla- 
 ture would refuse to confirm appointments made by the gov- 
 ernor, and the governor on the other hand would not support 
 the acts of the legislatures. This political trouble has been 
 common more or less to all our western territories, and Utah 
 is not an exception to the rule. 
 
 Dr. Park, however, was diplomatic, and through all the 
 political troubles in Utah, he directed the institution, and 
 the University graduates and planted ideals in the minds of 
 hundreds of students whose true manhood and womanhood 
 are seen to this day. In those days, a student was not always 
 blessed with every desire of his heart. If he needed a test 
 tube, he was compelled to make one. Quite in contrast to 
 the student of today who buys a dozen for a mere trifle! 
 But the early-day student was resourceful and constructive. 
 He went to the University for knowledge, and nothing 
 daunted him. In his reading he was sincere and studied for 
 the real love of it. 
 
 I like to recall some who were students of those days and 
 who received inspiration from Dr. Park. They are well 
 known. Who of the old students do not love to think of Dr. 
 Joseph Toronto — ''great and scholarly in every line of work." 
 Of all the scholars of the old days, he takes first place in the 
 estimation of the Alumni. Then there were Dr. Paul, Dr. 
 Kingsbury, Dr. Howard, Dr. Stewart, Prof. Stephens, Prof. Al- 
 len, Prof. Careless, Prof. Bishop, and many others who have 
 
28 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 held scholarship on a high and noble basis, and men who have 
 directed thousands of students to the sources of knowledge. 
 Hundreds of the alumni of those days — a generation ago, have 
 won distinction in life, and indicate to the generatio nof today 
 that the University of Deseret was a place where students had 
 but one ideal and dream, and that was to work for truth — for 
 knowledge. The University of forty years ago was for char- 
 acter-making, for the creation of the truer ideals of life. Would 
 that we could always hold to such ideals today ! Many of the 
 old professors and students have gone to their reward, but 
 they have left the youth of today a rich and noble message — 
 the message of what true education means. May the present 
 generation profit by their heritage. A great man chooses 
 great characters to help in any important work. So with Dr. 
 Park. He chose men of viriHty and learning and they were 
 the educators who moulded the ideals of the youth of the 
 State. 
 
 Dr. Park made a careful study of the times in which he 
 lived and adapted the University courses to the real needs of 
 the people. Yet he never forgot that education is for the 
 spiritualizing of the race, and not primarily for the mere 
 purpose of solving the material problems of life. A great 
 advocate of the "humanities," he always printed in the Uni- 
 versity catalogues courses of studies that tended to keep be- 
 fore the students the spirit of history and the classical lan- 
 guages. In the third annual catalog, printed in 1870-71, we 
 have the following courses of study for the Classical course. 
 
 CLASSICAL STUDIES. 
 Freshman Year. 
 
 First Term — Cicero (Orations) Latin Prose Com- 
 position, Xenophon's Anabasis, Greek Pose Composi- 
 tion, Higher Algebra completed, Natural Philosophy. 
 
 Second Term — Virgil's Aeneid, Latin Prose Com- 
 position, Xenophon's Anabasis, Greek Prose Composi- 
 tion, Cubic and Biquadratic Equations, Natural Phil- 
 osophy. 
 
 Third Term — Virgil's Aeneid, Latin Prose Com- 
 position, Homer's Iliad, Greek Prose Composition, 
 Geometry, Roman History. 
 
 Fourth Term — Virgil's Bucolics, Homer's Iliad, 
 Greek Prose Composition, Greek Testament (Gos- 
 pels), Geometry, Roman History. 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 29 
 
 Sophomore Year. 
 
 First Term — Cicero de Senectute, and Horace, 
 Xenophon's Memorabilia, Greek Testament (Acts of 
 the Apostles), Geometry completed, and Plane Trig- 
 onometry, Zoology. 
 
 Second Term — Livy and Terence, Demosthenes 
 (Philippics), Creek Testament (Epistles), Spherical 
 Trigonometry and Mensuration, and Surveying and 
 Navigation, Zoology. 
 
 Third Term — Livy and Juvenal, Plato (Apology), 
 Greek Testament (Epistles), Analytical Geometry, 
 Grecian History, Physiology. 
 
 Fourth Term — Tacitus (Germania and Agricola), 
 Thucydides, Analytical Geometry completed, Grecian 
 History, Physiology. 
 
 Junior Year. 
 
 First Term — Differential Calculus, General 
 Chemistry (inorganic), Rhetoric, Political Economy. 
 
 Second Term — Integral Calculus, General 
 Chemistry (organic), Rhetoric, Political Economy. 
 
 Third Term — x\stronomy. Practical Chemistry, 
 Logic, Botany, Mental Philosophy. 
 
 Fourth Term — Astronomy, Practical Chemistry, 
 Logic, Botany, Mental Philosophy. 
 
 Senior Year. 
 
 First Term — English Literature, Natural The- 
 ology, Elements of Criticism, Moral Philosophy. 
 
 Second Term — English Literature, Natural The- 
 ology, Elements of Criticism, Moral Philosophy. 
 
 Third Term — Geology, Mineralogy, Analogy of 
 Religion, International Lav^, Constitution of the 
 United States. 
 
 Fourth Term — Geology, Mineralogy, Analogy of 
 Religion, International Lav^, Constitution of the 
 United States. 
 
 During the decade from 1880 to 1890, the various depart- 
 ments of the University grew in power and efficiency. The 
 laboratories were well equipped, and the mathematical, phil- 
 osophical, and chemical apparatus in possession of the Uni- 
 versity cost several thousand dollars. A good museum was 
 established, and every facility offered for the study of the 
 natural sciences. Dr. Park organized many literary societies 
 among the students, one of which was the old Zeta Gamma 
 found in 1876, the Delta Phi, and the Normal. Other so- 
 cieties not connected with the University were closely af- 
 
30 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 filiated with the institution such as the old Wasatch Club, a 
 literary and debating association, which had as members a 
 large number of men and women who have made their mark 
 in life. 
 
 The general condition of the University may be best given 
 by extracts taken at random from the University catalogue for 
 1882-83. In announcing courses we find the following inter- 
 esting points. 
 
 History. 
 
 In the course of general and special History, the 
 object will not be to memorize alone the conspicuous 
 events of past times, but to consider them rather as 
 land-marks in the course, or, perhaps, more appropri- 
 ately, as results whose causes will be found in the 
 study of the habits and thoughts of the people of con- 
 temporaneous and previous times. Royalty and arms 
 will be studied more as the exponents of popular 
 thought and feeling than for any practical value in 
 themselves. The knowledge of History acquired in 
 the course will be utilized, as far as possible, by its 
 practical adaptation to the events and circumstances 
 of our own times, and thus be made to exhibit the 
 philosophy of intelligent prophecy. 
 
 Politics. 
 
 The course of Politics will be embraced in the 
 study of Civil Government and Political Economy. 
 
 A knowledge of Political Government may be 
 considered essential to every one who would exercise 
 sovereign rights, as he should, in a republican country. 
 It is, indeed, imperative where usurpation and des- 
 potism are possible. 
 
 In the study of Civil Government, the student is 
 made acquainted with the various forms of political 
 government, their character, peculiarities and effects, 
 and intimately with the history, and detailed workings 
 of our own. 
 
 The class is organized into a society, governed 
 by Parliamentary Law, and takes up for discussion 
 the different sections and clauses of the Constitution, 
 as they are given in Townsend's Analysis of Civil 
 Government. 
 
 International Law is also briefly considered, but 
 at sufficient length, however, to give the student a 
 clear understanding of its origin, importance, and 
 
 effects. 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 31 
 
 Commercial and business forms are exhibited and 
 explained; moot courts are also held, in which ordi- 
 nary suits are carried on by the class. 
 
 In the study of Political Economy will be taught 
 the guiding principles to be considered in all schemes 
 for national and individual wealth. 
 
 Mathematics. 
 
 In the course of Mathematics a full exhibit is 
 given of the principles of exact reasoning. The im- 
 portance of truth and well established facts in the 
 consideration of every subject worthy of contempla- 
 tion, is thus made apparent, and habits of definite and 
 concentrated thought induced. 
 
 The studies lead to surveying, which includes a 
 practical acquaintance with instruments and field 
 work. Especial care is taken that the student shall 
 thoroughly understand the different operations and 
 shall be enabled to formulate his own rules when 
 necessary. 
 
 Natural History and Science. 
 
 In the study of Natural History and Science, 
 ample opportunity will be oiTered the student for a 
 practical acquaintance with their subjects. The Cab- 
 inets of the University contain material for illustra- 
 tion in Zoology, Geology, and Botany ; besides, an ex- 
 tensive and valuable collection of apparatus and pure 
 chemicals offers rare facilities of illustration in Chem- 
 istry and Physics, and for laboratory practice. In 
 addition to these advantages offered the scientific stu- 
 dent in the University, free access is also given him 
 to the extensive and diversified collections of the 
 Deseret Museum, which is due to the favor and pat- 
 ronage of the custodian. 
 
 DR. PARK AS A SCIENTIFIC MAN AND TEACHER. 
 
 On taking his position as president of the University Dr. 
 Park determined to have the mineral and geological forma- 
 tions of Utah studied, and also the fauna and flora. Dr. Orson 
 Howard made an extensive study of the animal and vegetable 
 life of Utah and wrote a scientific treatise on the botany of 
 the Rocky mountains. Professor Barfoot made a care- 
 ful examination of the geological and mineralogical for- 
 mations in the territory, and Albert Carrington, one of the re- 
 gents, was always occupied in helping government investi- 
 
32 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 gators sent to the Far West for scientific study. Careful in 
 his choice of teachers, during his administration of the Uni- 
 versity Dr. Park gathered about him men and women who 
 were capable of contributing to the intellectual life of the 
 people. At the head of this list was Orson Pratt, scientist and 
 philosopher. The writer remembers a remark concerning Or- 
 son Pratt made by Dr. Charles Venneziani, a professor of 
 mathematics duing the early nineties. Said he : "I have read 
 the works of Orson Pratt and consider them contributions to 
 the world of science." Pratt's CUBIC AND BI-QUADRATIC 
 EQUATIONS published by the Longmans, Green company of 
 London in 1866 was a work that was completed while the 
 author was travelling in Europe. With the opening of the 
 University of Deseret in 1850, Professor Pratt was one of the 
 men instrumental in establishing the higher institution of 
 learning, and on his return from England in 1852 he gave 
 lectures on astronomy and physics in the Social Hall. Again 
 in 1871, Professor Pratt began a series of lectures in the large 
 Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, which were prefaced with the 
 remarks : "These lectures are given especially for the in- 
 struction of the students of the University of Deseret." Be- 
 sides Professor Pratt, there were Dr. F. D. Benedict, Dr. Karl 
 S. Masser, George Careless, Dan Weggeland, Dr. M. H. flardy, 
 O. H. Riggs, T. B. Lewis, C. L. Bellrive, Bartlett Tripp, James 
 Cobb, and many others. Later there came such men as Or- 
 son Howard, a scientist of national reputation, Joseph Tor- 
 onto, Joseph T. Kingsbury, Joshua H. Paul, William M. Ste- 
 wart, and Henry M. Schmidtwartenburg. Prominent lectur- 
 ers visited the University, among whom were Richard A. 
 Proctor, Charles Eliot, President of Harvard, and Count de 
 Lesseps, engineer for the French government of the Panama 
 canal. 
 
 Scientist himself, Dr. Park saw the possibility of great 
 scientific research at the University. For example in 1874, 
 the citizens of Salt Lake called on the department of chem- 
 istry to make a test of the drinking water from Dry Canyon. 
 The test was made by Dr. Joseph T. Kingsbury, and an ex- 
 tensive report made to the city government. Dr. F. D. Bene- 
 dict gave a series of lectures to the public on physiology and 
 hygiene; Orson Howard prepared an extensive herbarium of 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 33 
 
 the flowers of Utah, and Dr. Park reported in 1875, the dis- 
 covery of Hfe in the form of a tiny shrimp in the waters of the 
 Great Salt Lake. In fact nature was the great text book in 
 those days, and this text book the University used then as 
 never before, or since. 
 
 Dr. Park was a careful student of life and nature. Al- 
 ways at his work, he constantly discovered facts and gave 
 them to the students. In his addresses before the Territorial 
 teachers, he encouraged them to study the fauna and flora of 
 Utah and the West in general. He had that scientific atti- 
 tude of mind that expressed itself in research and careful in- 
 vestigation, a mark of the true scientist. For this reason Dr. 
 Park was never dogmatic. The true scientist never is. He 
 had that humility which is impressive because of the fact that 
 it indicates a man's realization of the vastness of the universe 
 and his ignorance of it. Yet in study did he find his life, and 
 the interesting thing about Dr. Park was his passionate love 
 for humanity, and his faith in the power of the human mind 
 to grasp big truths as a result of study. He sensed keenly 
 the character of the hills ; the position of rivers, deserts, can- 
 yons, mountain peaks. Discovering a law of nature or some 
 beautiful form and color in nature, he saw their beauty in ref- 
 erence to their influence on human life. Mere facts with him 
 did not constitute knowledge, but only as the facts were means 
 to the understanding of some great truth. "And truth is only 
 good as it causes man to find eternal happiness, and faith in 
 Hfe and God." 
 
 Dr. Park lived in his search for know^ledge, and truth was 
 his ideal. He found "sermons in stones and books in running 
 brooks!" Armed with knowledge, he approached his students 
 with the personal power of a great and inspiring teacher. His 
 lectures on human anatomy were one round of delight. Al- 
 though he had learned his science by the process of vivisec- 
 tion, yet when he gave the results in lecture and writing, the 
 student did not sense the flow of human blood, nor the repul- 
 sive appearance of some dry bone, but every part of the body 
 was shown to have a function to make up the harmony of the 
 whole. At the dismissal of a class in anatomy or physiology, 
 the student left the room with an appreciation of the beauty 
 and divinity of the human body. In fact every lesson or lee- 
 
34 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 ture in physiology engendered a profound respect for the hu- 
 man body, and this was conducive to a high moral attitude. 
 Thus did the students receive the fundamentals of morality. 
 One old student aptly remarked: "Dr. Park never taught a 
 class but w^hat at the close, the students v^ere impressed with 
 some great law of life that should be observed to obtain hap- 
 piness." 
 
 In his teachings, Dr. Park did not give facts : he inspired 
 one to search for truth by research and patient and careful 
 thinking. Facts were not the end in view. Facts might be a 
 means to an end; but the end was knowledge. In an address 
 to the graduating class of the University in May, 1885, Dr. 
 Park said among other things : 
 
 "The duty of the teacher is not to carry his stu- 
 dents, but to teach them to carry themselves. If they 
 would be strong intellectually and physically, they 
 must think and act for themselves." * * * 
 In the teaching of mathematics, Dr. Park seemed to have 
 the impelling force to have every student acquire a love for 
 the subject. Says one of his old students, "I remember learn- 
 ing the geometrical theorum that the square erected on the 
 hypotenuse of a right angle triangle is equal to the sum of 
 the squares of the other two sides. After giving us the 
 history of this proposition from the day it was announced by 
 some ancient Greek to the time we were using it, he showed 
 the several ways in which it could be proved. We left the 
 class with a firm desire to master not only this theorum, but 
 with an intense love for the subject of geometry in general." 
 Not only did Dr. Park teach in the school room. He was 
 the same quiet teacher wherever he was in society; at a re- 
 ception or with a company of scientists on the top of some 
 Wasatch peak. With a party of students, he ascended Mount 
 Nebo in 1886, and there "in the very clouds he told about cloud 
 formation and the growth of mountains. He knew the fauna 
 and flora, and talked about the geological formations as clearly 
 as a geologist could possibly do." 
 
 The next day, we find the doctor explaining to a conven- 
 tion of teachers a plan he had "for the proper ventilating of 
 the school rooms and at the same time retaining the warmth 
 necessary for the comfort of the pupils." Before the summer 
 session of the territorial teachers in 1886, he gave five lectures 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 35 
 
 on "physiology," and by way of introduction said : "I will not 
 attempt to treat the subject in a strictly scientific manner, but 
 in such a way as will be of special use to the teachers." Yet 
 he based his lectures on certain well defined biological the- 
 ories. In June, 1889, he lectured to the teachers of the State 
 on "Methods of Teaching." In his analysis of the true method 
 of imparting knowledge, he says of the teacher: 
 
 It takes a peculiar man to be the right sort of 
 teacher. As to his intellectual qualifications, his mind 
 should be a fountain and not a reservoir, so that his 
 knowledge and illustrations will gush up of them- 
 selves, and not have to be drawn as by a windlass. 
 He should be a man of ingenuity and tact, of various 
 resources and expedients, and not a helpless creature 
 of custom, plodding on day after day in the same 
 beaten path, like a horse in a bark mill. He should be 
 fresh in his feelings and sympathies and not a statue 
 or petrified post ; his heart should be young in all its 
 pulsations, though his head be as bald as that of the 
 prophet Elisha. His mental storehouse should be 
 filled with the fruits of various and extensive reading, 
 so that he need not be compelled to draw his illustra- 
 tions, for the recitation room, from the tales of his 
 grandmother, nor from the old text books he studied 
 years ago, nor alone from the examples and methods 
 of his own former teacher, nor from the treasures of 
 last year's almanac. 
 
 No two persons are exactly alike in their views 
 and actions. There may be many points of resem- 
 blance, but there will be shades of difference more or 
 less striking. While the teacher should ever be thank- 
 ful to learn from others, he should never seek to at- 
 tain results in precisely the same way that he has seen 
 them secured by others. 
 
 June 14, 1889, saw one of the most interesting graduating 
 exercises in the history of the University. Joseph Francis 
 Merrill gave the commencement address. He represented his 
 class, in which was Dr. Harry A. Young, who in 1898 fell on 
 the field of battle in Manilla during the Spanish-American 
 war. Dr. Park addressed the graduates, and sent them forth 
 with a ringing message. An impressive part of his address 
 contained this thought : 
 
 "Agesilaus, King of Sparata, on being asked what 
 things boys should learn, replied 'Those which they 
 will practice when they become men'." 
 
36 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 To Dr. Park, the power of education was expressed in 
 human service. On one occasion he declared in pubHc that 
 the flora of Utah if properly understood would account for 
 the life and development of ancient Indian tribes in the Far 
 West. Even in ethnology, he had ideas concerning ethno- 
 botany and ethno-zoology that scientists are accepting today. 
 He advocated the founding of an Indian school in Utah, and 
 declared that ''Indians can be educated only by approaching 
 them from their own outlook on life and its meaning." 
 
 Dr. William M. Stewart, late head of the State Normal 
 School, was a student under Dr. Park at Draper, and he de- 
 scribed his teacher in the following manner : 
 
 Dr. Park was truly a teacher. He took the chil- 
 dren of Draper and enthused them to a love of books, 
 nature, and life that they will never forget. In fact 
 Dr. Park for many years was the patron saint of the 
 town, his influence was so great. I have seen him 
 teach a class of small children, none of whom was 
 over six, and the stories he would tell and the little 
 poems he would recite to them, fairly lifted them into 
 another world of thought. He saw children as they 
 really are. Children live in an atmosphere of love for 
 life. Dr. Park therefore brought animal life into the 
 school room. "I can teach morals to the children by 
 telling them all about a tree or a cat,*' said he on one 
 occasion. He held that children should not have 
 moral sermons when taught correctly. Teaching is 
 creating a thoughtful attitude of mind toward all 
 God's creation. He got at fundamentals. I think no 
 greater kindergarten teacher ever lived since the days 
 of Pestalozzi and Froebel. With adults, he had that 
 same simple manner of imparting truth. He stimu- 
 lated the students to think. He cared for each one 
 in that his only ambition was to get the individual to 
 discover truth for himself. So we went truth seek- 
 ing: and truth we found. I am safe in saying that 
 not a single person under Dr. Park ever went astray 
 morally or intellectually if he once caught his great 
 message of the importance of the individual and his 
 powers in life and before God. In the University, I 
 was associated with him. Always dignified and full of 
 energy, he was humble as a child and had an impelling 
 force about him that called forth the utmost respect 
 from all the students and his colleagues in the faculty. 
 He could make an arithmetic class as entertaining and 
 instructive as a rich and varied history or literature 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 37 
 
 lesson could be made. It was the same with anatomy 
 or physiology. The students who took physiology un- 
 der Dr. Park left the course with a high regard for 
 the human body and the spirit. He often said : 'The 
 body is as divine as the spirit, and is the tabernacle 
 that God gave us with which we should express our 
 spiritual selves in this life. While we are here, its 
 divinity should be preserved." And we felt like pre- 
 serving its divinity, for as we love beauty and hate to 
 see it marred, so we learned to love the body as a 
 beautiful creation of God, and hated to see it marred. 
 Dr. Park traveled extensively throughout the West while 
 president of the University, particularly the state of Utah. 
 Under his management and foresight, the University Museum 
 grew, and every encouragement was given to the instructors 
 of the institution to gather archaeological, mineralogical, geo- 
 logical and palaentological specimens, illustrating the wealth 
 of scientific material within the state. In the Salt Lake 
 Herald of August 21, 1870, we find the following statement : 
 
 Meeting of Regents : — The Regents of the Uni- 
 versity held a meeting last night at the Historian's 
 office, at which Dr. Park, Principal of the University, 
 submitted a very lucid and able document on the 
 proper method of conducting schools, and laying 
 down a course of studies which he deemed the best 
 that could be adopted in the University and other 
 seminaries of education. The Regents were well 
 pleased with the arguments submitted and plan pro- 
 posed, and we believe the document will be printed. 
 Along other lines. Dr. Park was busy, for the Herald of 
 August 3, 1871, says: 
 
 A Trip North : — Professor Park has just returned 
 from a sixteen days' trip north, accompanied by some 
 members of the University, during which they visited 
 Parley's canon. Silver Creek canyon, Bear River, Bear 
 Lake, and Soda Springs. The latter region, as every- 
 body knows, is a most delightful place to visit at 
 this season of the year, and there is little wonder 
 that they admired it. One result of the trip has been 
 the securing by the Professor of a large number of 
 pieces of lava from the extinct volcanic craters there, 
 with shells and other specimens for the University 
 cabinet and for the Museum. 
 
 Dr. Park took hold of the University in the days when 
 local political parties were contending for political supremacy 
 
38 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 not only within the larger cities like Ogden, Salt Lake, and 
 Provo, but in the Territory as well. As a consequence of this, 
 the University suffered some, because of the lack of harmony 
 between the governors and the legislatures. The chief execu- 
 tives were always men from the outside, who failed to 
 understand the people. The legislative assemblies were nat- 
 urally chosen from among the people, and as a rule the mem- 
 bers were of the same religious faith. As an example of the 
 political contention we find a statement in the Salt Lake 
 ''Democrat" for December 18, 1885 : 
 
 The University of Deseret : — This institution of learn- 
 ing has come prominently before the public in the 
 last few days on account of the strictures of the 
 "news" on the Governor's report and the defense of 
 the report by the Tribune. We firmly believe that 
 the institution has been thoroughly misunderstood, 
 and that through such misunderstanding it has been 
 much wronged. Governor Murray vetoed a bill ap- 
 propriating some thousands of dollars to the insti- 
 tution on the ground that it was a purely sectarian 
 school. It is within our knowledge that some of the 
 members of the Legislature which passed the appro- 
 priation that the Governor vetoed objected to grant- 
 ing any money to the University because it was an 
 infidel school. This clearly shows that there is great 
 misapprehension as to the character of the Univer- 
 sity. It is an institution that has had to fight many 
 prejudices and it has lived through its merits and not 
 through favor. Strong Mormons and strong anti- 
 Mormons have both condemned it. It is safe to pre- 
 sume that this has been the case because it has not 
 made a propaganda of Mormonism or of anti-Mor- 
 monism, but has pursued the even tenor of its way as 
 a place of learning. It is not the place of the Univer- 
 sity to teach the doctrine of any sect nor to teach 
 against such doctrines. In the lectures upon the 
 growth and development of Christianity it is neces- 
 sary to show what the doctrines of various churches 
 have been, and what has been their influence upon 
 the course of history. The lectures upon the growth 
 and development of religion are of much the same 
 nature as those upon the history of philosophy, but in 
 all this there is no necessity to be pro-Catholic or 
 anti-Catholic, pro-Protestant or anti-Protestant, es- 
 pecially in an institution that does not pretend to be 
 theological. The University of Deseret has avoided 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 39 
 
 this so far as our experience and knowledge go. 
 
 It is an institution worthy of support and encour- 
 agement, and it should be made universal and Terri- 
 torial. The University is not in the true sense of the 
 word a university, and cannot be for many years, as 
 Utah does not supply students to maintain a univer- 
 sity, but it is doing much towards that preparatory 
 work which is absolutely necessary before higher edu- 
 cation can become general. The University has been 
 too exclusively under the control of the Council and 
 House, and this has been an injury to it. We under- 
 stand that a bill will be introduced into the Legisla- 
 ture this winter to create the University of Utah, and 
 that this bill provides for the transfer of all property 
 belonging to the University of Deseret to this new 
 institution of learning. This bill provides that the 
 Governor of the Territory shall be ex-officio Chan- 
 cellor of the University, and that the Territorial Su- 
 perintendent of schools shall be ex-officio a regent. It 
 also expressly provides that the new institution shall 
 be non-sectarian. This is as it should be, and will 
 tend to make the new university far more popular 
 than the University of Deseret ever was, for that in- 
 stitution has had the reputation of being sectarian 
 whether justly deserved or not. We hope the contem- 
 plated change will be effected, and that the bill pro- 
 posing it will take into consideration the peculiar con- 
 ditions in Utah and make provisions to harmonize 
 these things for the good of the institution. 
 In those very heated times, when political feeling ran 
 high. Dr. Park kept on working, not only within the Uni- 
 versity, but in the state, to bring about better educational 
 conditions. He was always progressive and took an interest 
 in the questions of the day. At times he was consulted by the 
 city authorities on civic questions ; particularly on the subject 
 of sanitation. On other occasions he visited social places 
 where the youth were accustomed to assemble, and gave valu- 
 able suggestions to the city government as to what should be 
 done to preserve the morals of the boys. 
 
 In 1888 a teacher's institution was held in Ogden. It was 
 for the teachers of Weber county, and was under the manage- 
 ment of Mr. Edward H. Anderson, then the county superin- 
 tendent of schools. On that occasion Dr. Park delivered a 
 memorable address, and it was typical of his thought and 
 genius. A rather extended abstract of his address shows the 
 
40 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 high minded professor giving the best constructive thought 
 possible to the teachers. He said in part on the subject of 
 ADAPTATION : 
 
 "There is an eternal fitness of things," somebody 
 has said, and we are inclined to acknow^ledge the truth 
 of the saying, though the majority of our experiences 
 may not aWays seem to support its correctness. We 
 often exclaim, or brood the sentiment at least, that 
 things go wrong and do not seem to fit ; that the times 
 are out of joint, if we do not give utterance to our 
 feelings in stronger language than this. In time, how- 
 ever, we modify our feelings and are willing to con- 
 fess that, as a rule, this apparently disjointed condi- 
 tion of things has its origin wholly within ourselves, 
 and that the outside world is about right after all. 
 Who, that has had experience as a teacher, does not 
 know what is meant by "dark days?" Days when 
 everything seems to go wrong and yet it is impossible 
 to locate any evil. There seems to be some subtle 
 and untraceable malignity in the school air ; the school 
 room seems to have fallen under the control of a 
 secret fiend of disorder. There is nothing to account 
 for this epidemic perversity. All the ordinary rules 
 of the place are in full recognition, and the exercises 
 tramp on in the accustomed succession; the classes 
 are arranged as usual, and the pupils come and go, 
 still preserving their identity and individuality. 
 There has been no apostacy, nor revolution, nor any 
 special accession to the pupils' stock of moral de- 
 pravity apparent. Yet 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF IRRITABILITY 
 
 seems to have taken possession of the school room, 
 and peace and harmony for a season to have bid 
 the little world farewell. This picture is not over- 
 drawn, as can be attested, I am quite sure, by most 
 of the practical teachers here present. It shows how 
 prone we are, without a good stock of moral stamina 
 and a firm will-power in our spiritual make up, to 
 allow imaginary evils to get the upper hand of us, and 
 to attribute selfishly all the perversity and wrong 
 doing that follow, to some evil genius in nature. So 
 often is poor gentle nature denounced for evils that 
 have their origin wholly without ourselves. A bad 
 stomach or a torpid, liver makes the world look black, 
 and our ignorance and indolence soon turn things 
 awrv. Can we doubt that for some end to us unseen. 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 41 
 
 nature in itself is perfect, and that to question it 
 would be to question the ominiscience and benevol- 
 ence of God, and to charge him with not doing all 
 things well? Science has revealed to us the wonder- 
 ful harmony of the universe. The innumerable worlds 
 and suns that are stars, spangle the great vault of 
 heaven, all move in beautiful consonance with the 
 "music of the spheres." Ehrenberg tells us that mil- 
 lions of animated forms are known to exist with in 
 the capacity of a single cubic inch. There they live, 
 grow and move without jostle and without conflict in 
 all the harmony and consistency that mark the 
 movements of the mighty creations of the universe 
 above. The same principle truly governs all — God 
 is everywhere. Thus 
 
 SCIENCE ADDS TO OUR FAITH 
 by exhibiting the unity, the harmony, the consistency, 
 the never-ending stability of the principles of nature, 
 and the adaptation of all things to each other and to 
 the ultimate purpose of all creation ; it is indeed, the 
 book of life. 
 
 But man to a certain extent is an entity of him- 
 self, a free agency that may or may not act in concord 
 with the elements that surround him or with the uni- 
 versal and inevitable laws of nature that dictate the 
 harmonious condition of all things also. If he would 
 live in harmony with his surroundings he must adapt 
 himself to their conditions. This is the inevitable law 
 of the universe, and he cannot escape its influence in 
 the most ordinary affairs of life. He must learn to 
 conform to the circumstances about himself and 
 others in the world. So Cassius says : "The fault, dear 
 Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we 
 are underlings :" and I will add, that we do not always 
 live consistent and happy lives, and profit by our 
 labor. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen : I have been led into this 
 train of thought by the subject on which your com- 
 mittee has asked me to address you on this occasion 
 — "Adaptation." Why such a subject has been as- 
 signed to me, I am at a loss to divine, so I am not 
 sure that I shall treat it in a way to suit the com- 
 mittee, or to be profitable or entertaining to my 
 audience. 
 
 I will use my first quotation again, "There is an 
 eternal fitness of things." This iruth crowds it-elf 
 continually upon us and we cannot evade its obedi- 
 ence without damage and discord. 
 
42 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 THE LAWS OF NATURE 
 
 are inevitable and apply alike to our physical, our in- 
 tellectual, our moral and shall I not say our religious 
 being. Man is a free agency, existing in the midst 
 and constantly under the influence of these laws 
 which he may violate, but only at his own peril. How 
 necessary then, to his own well being, to any tolerable 
 existence in fact, that he know how to adapt himself 
 to his surrounding circumstances. The ability to do 
 this is the secret to which the prosperous man of the 
 world, in a great measure, owes his success. Adapt- 
 ation is the teacher's golden rule. If he would succeed, 
 he must know how to conform himself, in his learn- 
 ing, in his manners, in his government, in his illus- 
 trations, in everything in fact that pertains to his 
 special work. You will not forget that, nine out of 
 ten who attempt to teach, fail because they do not 
 know how to adapt themselves to their work. It isn't 
 so often want of learning, it isn't so often the dislike 
 for the business, nor is it so often the poor pay of the 
 teacher that causes him to abandon his work. It is 
 because he is not understood, and so has no sympathy 
 with his pupils, so that his work is cold and me- 
 chanical and uninspiring — thus he is literally "frozen 
 out." It must not be supposed for a moment,, says 
 one, that every person who can pass the strictest ex- 
 aminations is fit to manage a school. 
 
 IT TAKES A PECULIAR MAN 
 
 to be just the right sort of a teacher. As to his in- 
 tellectual qualifications, his mind should be a fountain 
 and not a reservoir, so that his knowledge and illus- 
 trations will gush up themselves and not have to be 
 drawn up as by a winlass. He should be a man of in- 
 genuity and tact of various resources and expedients 
 and not a helpless creature of custom, plodding on 
 day after day in the same beaten path, like a horse in 
 a bark mill. He should be fresh in his feelings and 
 sympathies and not a statue or a petrified post; his 
 heart should be young in all its pulsations, though his 
 head be as bald as that of the prophet Elisha. His 
 mental storehouse should be filled with the fruits 
 of various and extensive reading so that he needs 
 not be compelled to draw his illustrations for the reci- 
 tation room from the tales of his grandfather, nor 
 from the old text books he studied years before, nor 
 alone from the methods and examples of his own 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 43 
 
 former teacher, nor from the treasures of last year's 
 almanic. Individuality, or rather the ability to man- 
 ifest it on all occasions, is a prominent feature in the 
 character of one who knows how to suit himself to 
 others and to the circumstances that surround him. 
 In its expression, one always feels at home, hence, 
 he has an air of composure in his manners and speech 
 that makes others also feel at home in his presence. 
 
 NO TWO PERSONS ARE PRECISELY ALIKE. 
 
 in their views and actions. There may be many points 
 of resemblance, but there will be shades of difference 
 more or less striking. While the teacher would ever 
 be watchful from others, he should never seek to 
 attain results in precisely the same way that he has 
 seen them secured by others. A disposition to imi- 
 tate in this way, leads him into the habit of acting 
 without thinking which gravitates at last into a way 
 of teaching that is fixed and, mechanical- — a way that 
 to all intents is worse than useless for it not only 
 fails to reach the purpose of all teaching, but is mon- 
 otoneous, wearisome and discouraging to teacher and 
 pupil. 
 
 These attributes in the teacher are the well- 
 springs of adaptation. They will enable him to reach, 
 with effect, his purpose and to interest, instruct and 
 inspire every grade of pupils from the ABC tyro to 
 the student read yfor his diploma. 
 
 We hear a great deal about aptness to teach or 
 aptitude in teaching, which is nothing more nor less 
 than this power in the teacher to adapt himself to the 
 capacity, the advantages or disadvantages and the 
 general atitude of the pupil. 
 
 Some would believe such aptness to be an en- 
 dowment an dnot dependent on the exertion, the self- 
 devised ingenuity, or the acquisitions of the teacher. 
 There may be a tendency that originates as an endow- 
 ment, but the habit of comforting himself in the most 
 effective and agreeable manner to his immediate sit- 
 uation must be the result of application, study and 
 training. 
 
 INSTINCT IS NOT ENOUGH 
 
 to lead us to observe forcibly the peculiarities, the 
 
 agreement and disagreement of things, and to form 
 
 prompt and pertinent conclusions from the premises. 
 
 It seems to me that of all qualifications that do to 
 
44 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 make up the successful teacher, this ability to adapt 
 himself to his environment stands first. Any one 
 quality of the teacher could be better spared than 
 this. Though one cannot teach what he does not 
 know, yet less learning with this quality will meet 
 with better success in teaching than will a greater 
 stock of knowledge and more profound ilearning 
 without it. 
 
 "Will you never learn your letters, Patrick?" 
 said in an impatient tone, a lady teacher who had 
 become discouraged in her efforts to teach a little 
 Irish boy his letters. "Please, ma'am spake them a 
 littel asier, and Pll try," was the boy's reply. Here is 
 
 THE SECRET OF TEACHING 
 
 to know hoe to "spake asier" when necessary. The 
 teacher must keep constantly in mind that he has to 
 deal with growing humanity, "first the blade, then the 
 ear, then the full corn in the ear," and that in a live 
 school with a progressive teacher, there is not always 
 sameness where there is identity and so his methods 
 must be constantly changing to suit the varying con- 
 dition. 
 
 Some teachers can never improvise, they seem 
 to have no ingenuity whatever, either intellectual or 
 mechanical. If things are not made ready for them, 
 they can do nothing. The text book must do the 
 whole work of planning the recitation for them and 
 the trustees must furnish every trifling piece of ap- 
 paratus important for illustration, or nothing is done. 
 I knew a teacher in this city, several years ago, who 
 was so bound to the old forms she had learned for 
 giving mstruction that she could not vary from them 
 a single word without confusion and failure. 
 
 In her object lessons she must have the very same 
 material she had seen used for the purpose in the east, 
 or she could give no lesson. In asking the trustees to 
 provide her with material for such lessons, I remem- 
 ber she suggested to them that it would be necessary 
 to send to New York for them where she had prob- 
 ably seen them before or seen them used and one of 
 these articles, I call to mind, was a box of sand. 
 
 IT IS HARDLY POSSIBLE 
 
 to believe that a professional teacher would be so 
 artificially deperdeuc and thoughtless and such a 
 slave to form and so barren of any semblance of 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 45 
 
 ingenuity. He is a poor teacher who cannot make 
 most of the apparatus he needs and supply himself 
 with most of the means of illustration required in a 
 district school. The best schools I have visited are 
 those in which the teacher improvised most of the 
 apparatus he used. 
 
 Extensive apparatus, which is some times costly, 
 cannot always be provided in our district schools, at 
 least it is not, but very good substitutes can easily and 
 cheaply be improvised by the ingenious teacher who 
 knows how to adapt himself to the condition. 
 
 I would say in conclusion, ''Consistency" alias 
 adaptation, "thou are a jewel." 
 
 It was during the last year of Dr. Park's administration 
 that Senator Shoup of Idaho introduced a bill into the United 
 States Senate asking for sixty acres of the west side of the 
 Fort Douglas Reservation for a state university. Senator 
 Shoup had acted on request of the Utah territorial legislature 
 of 1892, which passed a memorial requesting the Congress of 
 the United States to make such a grant. At the same time 
 that the Senate was asked to consider the matter. Delegate 
 John T. Caine introduced a bill into the lower house of Con- 
 gress for the same purpose. Dr. Park was greatly interested 
 in this measure, as he had helped to formulate the memorial 
 for the Utah legislature which was introduced in January by 
 Representative Lund of San Pete county. While the bill was 
 not passed during that session of Congress, it paved the way 
 for the future act, which, through the work of Senator Joseph 
 L. Rawlins, was put through Congress, and the present campus 
 of the University was made a gift to the state by the govern- 
 ment. The Salt Lake Tribune in commenting on the Shoup 
 bill of February, 1892, said editorially : 
 
 The men of Utah, and especially of Salt Lake 
 City, will be under great obligations to Senator Shoup 
 for introducing a bill to grant sixty acres of the west 
 side of the Fort Douglas reservation as a free gift to 
 the Territory for the purpose of building thereon a 
 University. Sixty acres is equivalent to six of the - 
 present blocks of the city, and would be ample room 
 for the University and all necessary structures to ac- 
 commodate the University; and then there ought to 
 be, beside, enough ground to make a magnificent . 
 park, and that should be looked to as the breathing 
 place of this city when the sun is hot in summer. The 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 47 
 
 only trouble is, that a round million of dollars ought 
 to be expended thereon, and just now that sum is not 
 quite available. However, with the gift of the land, 
 that sum can be made available after a while, and we 
 can simply say that if the plan shall be carried out and 
 the University established there, there will be no 
 University in the world that will command so magni- 
 ficient a site; it will have for a background the grand 
 old Wasatch range ; the great lake and sacred Jordan 
 will ;6e in front; the Oquirrh range on the other side 
 of 'the valley, and the valley itself, which will be 
 stretched out a picture as beautiful as can be found in 
 the world; right below, will lie Salt Lake City, and 
 that will take on new splendor every year, until fifty 
 years hence the people who will be here will declare 
 that the University is on the most delightful spot 
 that ca nbe found in a journey around the world. The 
 Government can well afford to give up the land for 
 that purpose. It is practically useless land now, and 
 under present arrangements it will lie simply a barren 
 sage brush waste for years to come. 
 
 The obtaining of the tract from the government reser- 
 vation was one of the events that assured a large and pros- 
 perious university for Utah. As far back as 1850, the campus 
 on the East bench was picked out by Governor Brigham 
 Young and the Board of Regents for a university, and con- 
 siderable work was done in surrounding the campus with a 
 rock wall. While no building was erected until 1899-1900, 
 the people always held in memory the fact that within three 
 years after the settlement of Utah preparations were made 
 for the founding of a university, based on high and noble 
 standards. It was during the administration of Dr. Joseph 
 T. Kingsbury that the University was built on the original 
 campus. So the new John R. Park building occupies an his- 
 toric spot, and it is located near the old pioneer trail, over 
 which went not only the Mormon pioneers, but the Donner 
 Party in 1846, and many subsequent parties on their way to 
 California. 
 
 An important chair was established in the University in 
 1890. During that year, the territorial legislature passed an 
 act, which was signed by the governor, creating the chair 
 of geology and mining. The law provided that the Univer- 
 sity should offer courses to advanced students in geology, 
 mineralogy, meteorology, and metallurgy ; that a museum 
 
48 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 should be maintained for the collection and classification of 
 mineral and geological specimens; and that the University 
 should eventually develop a school of mines. This again was 
 a step forward in educational work and has resulted in the 
 establishment on the campus of one of the leading mining 
 schools of the country. 
 
 In 1891 the University library was enlarged by the addi- 
 tion of the old Territorial library. The history of this library 
 is interesting. In accordance with the fourteenth section of 
 the organic act of Utah, on the 9th of September, 1850, $5000 
 was appropriated to be expended "by and under the direction 
 of the governor of Utah, in the purchase of a library to be 
 kept at the seat of government for the use of the governor, 
 legislative assembly, judges of supreme court, secretary, mar- 
 shal and attorneys of Utah, and such other persons and under 
 such regulations as shall be provided by law." Under this 
 act and subsequent appropriations by the Utah legislature, va- 
 rious miscellaneous books were purchased; and many legal 
 books and documents were received from the various states 
 and territories, by the system of exchange which prevailed 
 throughout the country. 
 
 On the 13th of March, 1890, the Utah legislature passed 
 an act, providing for and regulating the Utah territorial li- 
 brary. Among other things it provided that all books, pam- 
 phlets, maps, charts, globes, papers, apparatus, and valuable 
 specimens, belonging to the territory now in the territorial 
 library or which shall be hereafter added shall make up the 
 Utah Territorial Library. It made the governor, secretary, 
 chief and assistant justices of the supreme court of the ter- 
 ritory the board of control of the library. Section 3 of that 
 act provided that "the board of control might, at its discretion, 
 classify the books and articles, and deliver to the University 
 of Deseret, such books and articles as belonged to and com- 
 prised the territorial library as they might consider more use- 
 ful to the University library than to the territorial library. 
 And any books and aticles thus delivered to the University 
 library should thereupon become and thereafter remain a por- 
 tion of the University library." 
 
 Late in the summer of 1888, Nephi W. Clayton, then ter- 
 ritorial librarian, removed the books and shelves belonging 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 49 
 
 to that library to the University, and placed them in the 
 charge of Dr. Park. Dr. Hardy, the librarian of the Uni- 
 versity, was placed in charge of the books delivered. On the 
 resignation of Dr. Hardy in 1889, Prof. M. E. Jones was ap- 
 pointed librarian for the academic year 1890. 
 
 The books of the two libraries which had heretofore been 
 kept separate, were rearranged on the general plan of sub- 
 jects and the books of the two libraries became one. 
 
 The State library had a steady growth, and on the death of 
 Dr. Park in September, 1900, his entire library of many thou- 
 sand volumes was given to the University. In the collection 
 were a number of rare and valuable volumes of the ancient 
 classics, and a copy of the Latin Vulgate, published in the six- 
 teenth century, which the doctor obtained while abroad in Eur- 
 ope in the early seventies. The library also contained splendid 
 works on philosophy, history, and science, and was one of the 
 best collections ever made by a single individual in the history 
 of the State. 
 
 By the spring of 1892, the University had grown into an 
 institution recognized for its stability of purpose and pro- 
 gressiveness. The days of pioneering were over, and Utah 
 was merging into statehood, which was to be realized in a 
 few years. Dr. Park resigned that spring as president 
 of the University of Descret and at the same time an act of 
 the legislature made it the University of Utah. In June of 
 that year, the regular commencement exercises were auspicu- 
 ous, and among the notable addresses was that of Dr. Joseph 
 T. Kingsbury, who had been closely associated with Dr. Park 
 for years. His address at the annual meeting of the alumni 
 was taken as the sentiments of the alumni of the institution. 
 In speaking to the subject of OUR ALMA MATER, Dr. 
 Kingsbury sketched the history of the University and the 
 splendid service of Dr. Park, and in closing said: 
 
 Now, by your kind indulgence for a few moments 
 more, I shall relate to you an event in the history of 
 our alma mater, an event which will awaken a com- 
 bination of the highest feehngs of sympathy and joy. 
 Alas ! now that the ship is safe, has been extricated 
 from the rocks, icebergs, sandbars, which have threat- 
 ened her on every side ; now that she has been saved 
 from a disastrous wreck and has been brought into 
 the smooth seas unstained, the watchful guide, the 
 
50 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 reserved and courageous pilot, wearied with constant 
 strain and close application, sees fit to give up the 
 work of years and to place the old ship into new 
 hands. To him it is due that the young men and 
 young ladies of our territory have arisen through 
 education to a position where the air inspires them 
 with sterner manhood, where they can recognize 
 the echoes of freedom, liberty, independence, con- 
 stantly coming forth from every crag, peak and hill- 
 top of our rugged mountainous homes, and where 
 they fully understand the murmuring songs as uttered 
 by the streams of our deep canyons, gorges, ravines, 
 of unbounded liberty to all, the sons and daughters 
 of Utah. Long may this veteran live, and ever may 
 the great good he has done for the people of our Ter- 
 ritory be cherished up and stored away in the mind 
 of every man, woman and child ! Let every one shout 
 with a loud voice of gratitude and praise to this vet- 
 eran pilot, to our retiring and much esteemed presi- 
 dent, Dr. John R. Park. 
 
 At the same meeting Dr. Joshua H. Paul presented the 
 following resolutions for adoption : 
 
 Whereas, It as seemed best to our beloved friend 
 and teacher, Dr. John R. Park, that, after twenty- 
 three years of honorable service as president of the 
 university he will now sever his official connection 
 with the institution which in the past has been almost 
 identical with his name and labors ; and 
 
 Whereas, In the resignation of Dr. Park the 
 cause of higher education in our midst will lose a 
 gentleman and scholar, while future students will 
 not enjoy his loving sympathy and genial interest in 
 their welfare ; now therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the members of the Alumni as- 
 sociation of the University of Utah do hereby extend 
 to Dr. Park our warmest expressions of esteem, con- 
 fidence and friendship, that we wish him every joy 
 of health, every pleasure of thought from old time 
 memories, increasing enjoyment from present repose 
 and the serene anticipation of faith for the glorious 
 future in store for those who have spent the best 
 years of their lives in the labor of elevating and en- 
 nobling mankind. 
 
 J. H. PAUL, 
 
 GEORGE WEBBER, 
 
 T. D. LEWIS, 
 
 ANNIE M. CANNON, 
 
 E. A. BENNION, Committee. 
 
52 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 Dr. Park was succeeded by Dr. Joseph T. Kingsbury, as 
 acting president of the University. In 1897 the later was 
 made president of the institution, which position he held 
 down to 1915. Under his careful administration the Univer- 
 sity has grown into an institution of higher learning, and is 
 loved by thousands of its graduates. 
 
 Dr. Park did not retire to an inactive Hfe. Though he 
 had passed his sixty-third year and had led a life of activity, 
 he w^as vigorous and interested in the educational welfare of 
 the new state — Utah. He was chosen the first State 
 Superintendent of Public Instruction. During the four years 
 he held this office, he visited the schools throughout the State 
 and imparted valuable instruction to the teachers, as well as 
 to the children of the grades. At one time in St. George he 
 spoke to a class of little children and held their attention for 
 nearly an hour, telling them about the beauties of nature and 
 the wonderful life of the animals of the wilds. That same 
 day he spoke to the teachers on "Methods of Teaching," and 
 the contrast showed the wonderful virile and teaching qual- 
 ities of the superintendent. Dr. Park encouraged the holding 
 of county institutes, and under his direction, the school law 
 of the state was revised and new buildings erected even in 
 remote parts of the State. It was Dr. Park who advocated 
 the consolidation plan, which should unite the schools in 
 larger units and make them more effective. Vocational work 
 was introduced far and wide, and the schools brought nearer 
 and nearer to the requirements of life. His reports to the 
 governor and legislature are full of interesting suggestions 
 for the betterment of educational conditions throughout the 
 state, and his messages to the teachers in forms of letters were 
 sources of great help and inspiration. 
 
 Dr. Park passed away September 29, 1900, and left his 
 small fortune to the University, as well as his splendid library. 
 His funeral was held in the assembly hall at Salt Lake City. 
 Addresses were made by Governor Heber M. Wells, Dr. Jo- 
 seph T. Kingsbury, president of the University, and many 
 others. It was an impressive service, and many hundreds of 
 Dr. Park's old students followed the remains to the City Cem- 
 etery, where they were buried beneath a veritable paradise of 
 flowers. 
 
DR. JOHN R. PARK 53 
 
 The dedication of the new building at the University cam- 
 pus in honor of the great teacher and friend is a fitting act 
 to perform. The building is one of the most beautiful in the 
 West, and overlooking the city as it does, it becomes the cen- 
 ter of learning for the youth of Utah, and will ever be a 
 temple where they may be inspired to grow into all that is 
 best and highest in life. The statute of Dr. Park, which will 
 adorn the front of the building, is the creation of M. M. Young, 
 a Utah boy and an old student of Dr. Park. Mr. Young is one 
 of America's most noted sculptors, and his work of Dr. 
 Park is recognized as one of the masterpieces of Utah art. On 
 the pedestal could be carved the words of the great educator 
 and former president of the University : 
 
 "In all of your work, let your faith and your 
 
 consciousness of right sustain you." 
 
 The University today takes its place as one of the great 
 Western institutions of learning. It is an expression of the 
 idealism of the people who founded it and who have loved it. 
 The University of Utah stands for the highest standards of 
 education and culture, and culture is characterized by the 
 words of Hamilton Wright Mabie. 
 
 "For culture, instead of being an artificial or 
 superficial accomplishment, is the natural and inevit- 
 able process by which a man comes into possession 
 of his own nature, and into real and fruitful relations 
 with the world about him. It is never taking on from 
 without of some grace or skill or knowledge; it is al- 
 ways an unfolding from within into some new power; 
 the flowering of some new quality hitherto dormant ; 
 the absorption of some knowledge hitherto unappro- 
 priated. The essence of culture is not possession of 
 information as one possesses an estate, but absorp 
 tion of knowledge into one's nature, so that it be- 
 comes bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. It 
 means the enrichment and expansion of the person- 
 ality by the taking into ourselves of all that can 
 nourish us from without. Its distinctive character- 
 istic is not extent, but quality of knowledge ; not scope 
 of activity, but depth of life. It is, in a word, the 
 process by which a man takes the world into his 
 nature and is fed, sustained and enlarged by natural, 
 simple, deep relations and fellowshij) with the whole 
 order of things of which he is a part." 
 To the students of today, there is a noble message, 
 
54 DR. JOHN R. PARK 
 
 summed up in the words of an ancient sage: "Not thine to 
 complete the work, nor art thou free to lay it down." 
 
 THE END.