THE ACORN. VOL. I. FEBRUARY, 1904. No. I OUR FOUNDERS. Generally the older an institution grows, the more interesting becomes its early history. Every true citizen of the United States is thrilled by reading the account of the beginning of the nation. In fancy he loves to live among the scenes of the writing of the Constitution, and to associate with the men who fought so bravely for it. The framers of the Constitution built the foundation upon which our government rests. To them we owe our standing as a nation today, and it is good to hold them in loving remembrance. As with the nation so with other organizations. Every loyal patron of our school will enjoy reading about her beginning; her struggle for existence, and her final success. Her founders are still with us; and The Acorn takes pleasure in devoting its first page to a short sketch of the lives of the men who have "watched us in infancy, and guide us in youth:" Lewis W. Shurtliff was born at Sullivan, Lorain County, Ohio, on July 24, 1835. His parents, human A. and Eunice B. Shurtliff, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints the same year their son was born. They fol-owed the Saints from Kirtland, Ohio, to Far West, Missouri, and then to Nauvoo, Illinois, and witnessed many persecutions of their people. In 1846 they were with the Church at Winter Quarters; but instead of leaving for Utah the next vear, they stayed at Council Bluffs till 1851. President Shurtliff was only sixteen years old when he crossed the plains. He spent his birthday at Chimney Rook on the Platte River. After his arrival in Ogden, in 1851, he attended school for a short time, but had to work at whatever he could find in order to help his parents. His devotion to the Church soon attracted the attention of the authorities and in 1854, at the age of nineteen years, he was called on a colonization mission to the Salmon River. He helped build Fort Lemhi; and while doing so, saw many trying scenes among the Indians. He dug the first irrigation ditch in Northern Idaho and ever since has been very much interested in building up the systems of western irrigation. In 1858 he returned from his mission, but, on account of Johnston's army, he found the people had moved south. Consequently he went to Spanish Fork, Utah County, but soon returned to Ogden. He engaged in the lum-