Two early day millstones which stand on a pedestal at the southwest corner of the administration building will be an object of interest to newcomers on the campus for years to come and will serve to link them with the early day pioneers.
|
| Have you noticed these stones out by the corner of the new tennis courts? They are a memorial to the hardships and sacrifice of the men who first settled the Willamette valley. The stones were shaped from the native rock by Medis Vanderpool, and were used in a mill operated by him. All of the early settlers of this vicinity ate bread made of flour, ground from wheat by these millstones. Mr. Vanderpool came to Oregon and settled near the present site of Wellsdale, between Monmouth and Corvallis. At that time it was very hard to purchase flour which had to be sent by boat around Cape Horn. |
| As soon as they were able to grow wheat the farmers set to work to get grist mills. There was one such mill three miles from Dallas and there was also one in Rickreall. Mr. Vanderpool was a surveyor but was a handy sort of man and proceeded to establish a mill. The stones were known as buhrstones, usually shortened to burrs. The upper stone revolved and the lower one was rigid. Grain to be ground was fed through the hole in the center of the upper stone. The upper surface of the lower stone and the lower surface of the upper stone had ridges across them which were kept sharp by means of hamer [sic] like steel picks. |
| These stones of the Vanderpool mill served their purpose in the early days but when subjected to more modern competition they were idle for lack of patronage. In time they were used for door steps on a house at Suver. From this ignoble position they were recently rescued and brought to the campus as souvenirs of the pioneer days. The combination make a testimonial to the ingenuity and ability of those who have gone before us to provide for those things necessary to their maintenance. Like the ox-team, it seems very crude but also like the ox-team the grist mill served its purpose. |
Location on campus:
|
Sandwiched between the north tennis court and the |