Eric W. Allen

“ HISTORICAL investigation lacks meaning and interest unless one can pose some kind of a question for himself and then direct his research toward an effort to find the answer. The question set up as the theme for this paper is, why was the Oregon Press Association organized in 1887, not sooner and not later? And why was it founded at Yaquina City? ”

“ The population in this decade grew 82 %o, which is far faster than it has grown at any time since.
Oregon had 15 dailies in 1887. Except for the Portland Evening Telegram everyone of these was the offshoot of a weekly, perhaps even to be counted as a side issue, for in 1887, without exception, the weekly always claimed a much greater circulation than the daily. ”

“ Counting dailies and weeklies published in the same office as separate papers, and including religious and trade weeklies and monthlies, there were 110 publications issued in Oregon as re ported to Ayer's in 1887. Counting only general newspapers, however, and listing as a single unit the weekly paper and its daily edition-this seems more in line with the realities of those days-there were 79 papers. Of these 79 papers existing in 1887, 13 were old-timers established before 1870 and representative perhaps of the first of these three streams of immigration, the northern Republican stream. ”

“ Those which have survived are the Salem Capital Journal, unique in that its weekly and daily were started at the same time, the Albany Democrat's daily edition, the Dallas Observer, now consolidated with the Itemizer, the Tillamook Headlight, and the Union Eastern Oregon Republican. Also, in 1888 the Pendleton East Oregonian, apparently a glutton for punishment, undertook the publication of three separate editions, a weekly, twice-a-week, and a daily, and kept on under that schedule for at least nine years, probably more. ”

“ Those who came by sea had a character determined by the fact that the most active ship ping centers on the Atlantic coast were in the northern states, and those that came by land were at first very largely of those northern religious denominations that were represented by the missionaries. ”

“ Class D includes seven papers which were not represented at the organization meeting, but which were admitted to membership by mail. They also count as charter members and are the Lakeview Examiner; Oregon City Courier; Astoria Astorian, J. F. Halloran; Silverton Appeal, H. G. Guild; Salem Statesman, R. J. Hendricks sending regrets to the first meeting, but E. B. Piper attending second two months later; Portland Catholic Sentinel, 1869; Portland Sunday Welcome.
Class E has just one paper, which will be explained later, the Independence Enterprise. ”

“ The 1887 Ayer's also missed the Woodburn Independent, which started in that year. In the 1896 Ayer's the Independent is given as starting in 1888. The 1887 Ayer's also fails to men tion the Corvallis Times, which later, however, claims an 1882 origin.
These claims are probably good. The writer has not had time to examine the evidence with adequate completeness. So far as this monograph goes, they are hereby admitted to provisional standing as semi-centennial newspapers, making the score 31 instead of 27, that is, 13 dailies and 18 weeklies. ”