OTTAWA — Ottawa University celebrated Charter Day Monday. Ottawa University was founded 149 years ago in 1865, as part of a deal with the Ottawa Indian tribe. The original intent was to charter a boarding school for the children of the tribe. The tribe endowed 20,000 acres of its land to be used as an endowment to support the fledgling institution, which had no other means of income. Operating funds were to be generated from the sale of land subject to various terms and conditions. However there was some shady land deals coming out of that. In exchange, the Baptists agreed to build and operate the school with a promise to provide free education to Ottawas set forth in the agreement, an agreement still in effect. The school was later expanded into a college. OU became formally affiliated with the American Baptist Convention in 1905.
Wednesday, April 23, 3 p.m.
