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Show UTO NIA NNineteen Twelvethe first term, the University was moved to the State House, afterwards called the Council House, located on the present site of the Deseret News building. Orson Pratt became a member of the teaching force at this time, and he, together with Orson Spencer and W. W. Phelps, formed the first faculty. Eighty pupils enrolled the first year, and, according to the rule, were required to pay eight dollars per quarter. The tuition was payable in advance, and in lieu of money, wheat, potatoes, flour, building rock, and lumber were taken. Some one has humorously, but truthfully, remarked that in those days the teachers' salaries, instead of being drawn on the bank, were drawn on wheelbarrows.It was at the first meeting of the Chancellor and Board of Regents in March, 1850, that Brigham Young announced that he had picked out a site on the bench immediately east of the city for the location of the University of Deseret. It was decided to enclose the grounds with a rock wall and to plant trees and flowers. The City Council designated certain strips of land where the government reservation is now, for the herding and grazing of the teams which were used to haul rock to the University campus. A part of the wall was erected and ran southward where the Library building stands today. The report to the Legislature of 1852-3 by the Chancellor says that one hundred and thirty-five rods of the wall had been completed up to that time, and enough stone had been hauled to build three fourths of a mile more. Considerable work must have been done, for the report continues by giving a full account of all money received and expended. Of the amount of money received, the Territorial treasury gave $4,589.14, and from subscriptions and donations, the amount reached during the years 1850-51, $7,948.08 for primary schools. The minutes of this meeting tell us that "subscriptions were forthwith opened, and appropriations were made by the Legislature of the State of Deseret to carry on the designs of the Board in forwarding the work and establishment of a 'Parent School.' "In April, 1850, the Regency of the University addressed a circular to the citizens of Utah "in all the world," calling upon them to send whatever they could at the expense of the Church, in the way of books, maps, charts, scientific apparatus, etc. And the circular continues."Facilities for acquiring knowledge from every portion of the globe will be secured to this institution, and correspondence will be kept up with persons in the service of the University living in London, Edinburgh, Paris, Rome, Copenhagen, and Calcutta.Religion, politics, literature, discrepant prejudices, private and public rights of Individuals in large communities, all can here meet on this loftiest platform of nature's heights, and enjoy the highest order of freedom and individuality, and of community that have been so long sought after by the great and good of all ages. The rim of this wonderful basin descends from the snowy heights of the clouds almost to the level of tropical heat in the time of summer. The composition of the soil surpasses that of the vale of the Nile. The elements only need to be modified and compounded by the hand of art, in order to become productive beyond the conception of the most credulous.Graduates of colleges and students of law, medicine, and theology may here receive weekly lectures gratis, and no persons will be denied the benefits of the University for want of pecuniary means."The University was continued in the Thirteenth ward school house until the spring of 1857, when all the schools of the city were closed, as the people moved from their homes to the south. Historical and philosophical subjects were taught at the University, together with the languages, and the natural and physical sciences. A laboratory for chemistry and physics was fitted up, and Professor Orson Pratt gave an extended course in astronomy.In 1860 the Union Academy was opened in the building that had been intended for a Hotel and built by Mr. David Wilken in 1858. It is now the Salt Lake Knitting Factory, and formerly the home of the University of Deseret. The Academy was under the supervision of the Chancellor and Regents of the University, and was formally opened by Brigham Young. It took the name of Union Academy from the Union Square, which was just opposite, and which in time became, the site of the University of Deseret. The school continued there until 1861, when it was merged with the University and the two schools became one. The Principal of the Academy was Orson Pratt, and he, with Orson Pratt, Jr., and James Cobb, were the teachers. The school was free, and the curriculum offered courses in12 |