Sometimes, when the issue arose, parents protested that the particular organization involved was not a secret society and that it was not operating in the schools. The system was found only partially effective. ![]() If it was discovered that a pupil had violated the pledge he was suspended afterward he and a parent could come to the superintendent's office and agree that the pupil would resign *475 from the organization, whereupon the suspension would be lifted. In 1936 a pledge system was inaugurated under which pupils and their parents were required to sign a pledge that the pupil was not and would not become a member of any such society. Until 1936 the school authorities seem to have done little if anything to discharge their statutory duty to "suppress all secret societies" in the high schools, although there were for many years in the high schools of Portland a number of secret fraternities and sororities, some of the former being local chapters of national organizations. 1, Multnomah County, Oregon, up until the time of the action of the school board of that district which brought on the present litigation, the statute appears to have been more honored in the breach than the observance. In the high schools of the city of Portland, which embraces School District No. These provisions were originally enacted as Ch 215, General Laws of Oregon 1909. "This act shall not apply to either the state agricultural college or the state university." "It is hereby made the duty of each school board within the state, to examine, from time to time, into the condition of all schools under its charge and to suppress all secret societies therein, and for this purpose such boards are hereby authorized to suspend or expel from school, in their discretion, all pupils who engage in the organization or maintenance of such societies." ![]() "Secret societies of every kind and *474 character, including fraternities and sororities, so called, which may now or hereafter exist among the pupils of any of the public schools of this state, including high schools, either local or county, are hereby declared unlawful." Since 1909 secret societies in the high schools of this state have been prohibited by law. With them on the brief were King, Wood, Miller, Anderson & Nash, of Portland, and Koerner, Young, McColloch & Dezendorf, of Portland.īefore BRAND, Chief Justice, and HAY, ROSSMAN and LUSK, Justices. Anderson argued the cause for respondents and Clarence J. Sayre, of Portland, argued the cause for appellants. The students named it “the Witch’s Castle” (despite no connection to witches) and made a tradition of holding gatherings on Friday nights, something that still happens today.SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. It was mostly forgotten until the 1980s, when local high school students found it was a fun place to hold parties. Moss soon covered the stone walls, the roof caved in, and some people graffitied its walls. In 1962, the structure was heavily damaged in a storm and was abandoned. In the 1930s, the stone structure that is seen today was built near the site of the Balch homestead. It was maintained by Portland Parks and Recreation, and was used as a park ranger station and restrooms for hikers. Balch was quickly arrested, but was able to escape from the wooden jail he was held in. This led to his execution in mid-October of 1859, which became the first legal execution in Oregon.Īfter Balch’s death, the property was passed around through different hands down the next century, eventually bequeathed to the city of Portland. When the young couple returned to Portland, Balch quickly remedied the situation as he saw fit: He shot Stump in the face with a double-barreled shotgun while all were aboard the Stark Street Ferry. When Balch learned of the elopement, he became deeply depressed, which led to days of no sleep and of heavy drinking. The young couple didn’t heed the warning, and decided to elope in November of 1858. Balch became infuriated and told Stump that he would murder him if they did. ![]() Balch refused, resulting in Stump and Anna threatening to elope. Over time, Stump and Balch’s daughter Anna fell in love, and eventually Stump asked Balch for his Anna’s hand in marriage. It was a big enough area that he had to hire help to clear the area, so he hired a man named Mortimer Stump, who lived in the cabin on the property with Balch’s family of 10. In the mid-1800s, well before the structure was built, a man named Danford Balch bought a large portion of land around the area while Portland was still in the process of being developed. From tales of murder to bathrooms to the site of high school keggers, the ruins that are now known as The Witch’s Castle have lived a number of lives, and none of them were very pleasant.
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