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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1900)
. utwtt 1850 1900 VOL. XL. PORTLAND, OREGON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1900. NO. 12,473. rlSfvWW' ffitSttfflttWk Jfi ! Fifty Years Ago TKe Oregonlan. Completes Its First Half Century Today BY H. W. SCOTT. FIFTY YEARS AGO today the first number of The Oregonlan appeared. The population of Oregon by the census of that year -was 13,294. The territory that existed then under the designation of Oregon included the whole region -west of the Rocky Mountains between the 42d and 49th par allels of latitude. "Within this region at the present time He the States of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, part of "Wyoming and a large portion of Montana. Portland, when the first number of The Oregonlan was Issued, had probably COO Inhabitants. The Oregonlan has been a "witness and the main chronicler of all the growth of this great region, containing now 1,250,000 inhabitants, and Portland remains the most considerable city in It. The modern state finds a history, or transcript, of Its life in the growth of. the newspaper. In the olden time there was no newspaper to record the birth and growth of states. The state grew, and the newspaper came later. But in the modern time the newspaper appears at Che beginning, and its work and its growth are coincident with the progress of the state. So The Oregonlan appeared at the very beginning of development in the Pacific Northwest. American pioneers had, in deed, been in the country 10 or 15 years, but their number was too few to consti tute an active social organization and liv ing community. But as Portland began to grow into a village, the ambitious men of the place were resolved that there should be a newspaper to make her name known, to record her growth, to advo cate her Interests, to carry her message to the world. She must have a news paper, moreover, to set forth the attrac tions of the country, to represent Its pos sibilities, to prove to all who would read that here was a seat of coming empire. The time had come for Portland to reach out for trade, to assert her position In re spect to external and Internal commerce; and Jn the early part of the, year 1E50 "Will lam W. Chapman and Stephen Coffin, two citizens who took a leading part in all undertakings to establish Portland, de termined to visit San Francisco on vari ous business of this character, and one considerable part of their purpose was to make arrangements for establishing a newspaper here. On this errand they were in San Fran cisco July 4, 1850. There, and about iat date, Mr. Coffin happened to meet Thomas J. Dryer, a native of Ulster County, New York, who had recently arrived In Cali fornia. Mr. Dryer had worked on the country press in his state, and was a vig orous, rather-thanapolished,writer. -3l5j had brought with him to California a hand printing press and a small lot of printing material, and was looking for a place where he might start a newspaper. Mr. Coffin introduced him to Mr. Chap man, and the two explained to him that they wanted a newspaper at Portland. Mr. Dryer at once consented to come to Portland. "Now we shall have a paper at Portland," said Mr. Chapman, "and we will call it 'The Oregonlan.' " As soon as practicable Mr. Dryer's press and mate rial were shipped, but did not arrive at Portland till November. Messrs. Chap man and Coffin took great Interest in the forthcoming journal; they assisted Mr. Dryer In furnishing a publication office; they sat up all the night preceding the issue of the first number, and there was a series of solemnly amusing ceremonies as the first paper came off the press. It was a sheet of four pages, six columns to the page, and was to be published weekly On the morning of December 4, 1S50, the first number was delivered through the town by Arthur and Thomas, sons of Mr. Chapman, and by Henry Hill, stepson of Mr. Coffin. The subscription price of this little paper was $7 a year. Mr. Chapman hired a man to go on horseback and de liver the first number as far as Corval lis (then Marysvllle), on the West Side, with instructions to cross there and de liver it on the East Side upon his return. Thus The Oregonlan was given to the world. The office was at the northwest corner of Front and Morrison streets, in a "shack" that was pulled down a year or two later. Plunging Into the discussions that at tended the efforts to settle a new country and to lay the foundations of its growth, and adding no little to the controversies and contentions that grew out of such a situation. The Oregonlan at once be came well known. An incisive vigor char acterized its work. Mr. Dryer was an ag gressive and spirited writer, well suited to the requirements of pioneer Journalism. There was little of what would now be known as news; Oregon was remote and Isolated; Intercourse with the outside world was infrequent, and the Journals of that day gave little attention to re porting the ordinary Incidents and af fairs of their own localities. Petty polit ical contention formed the staple of the newspaper's work. A few months after The Oregonlan was started at Portland, the Statesman was started at Oregon City, then the capital of the territory, and as one was Whig and the other Democrat, each was a spur to the partisanship of the other. In those days there was no rivalry in the obtalnment and publication of news. The rivalry of newspapers was shown in the championship of the claims of their respective localities and in the rough discussions of local and provincial politics. During the first 10 years of the existence of The Oregonlan. the territory, and then the state, were controlled by the Democratic party, and opposition was vir tually hopeless. But The Oregonlan never relaxed Its efforts against the overwhelm ing odds in politics, and It was the steady champion of the Interests of Portland against all rivals. At first it received Its news from abroad at irregular intervals, as vessels would come in from San Fran cisco; but after a time there was a month ly steamer, and later two steamers a month; while San Francisco herself re ceived the news of the world from New York, by the Isthmus of Panama, often after it was a month old. Many times The Oregonlan exhausted Its slender stock of white paper, and for weeks together would be compelled to appear on colored chects, but it never missed an Issue or begged the indulgence of Its readers for .Imperfection or missions,. It was al ways on time, with the best it could give. The paper had been published nearly three years when Henry I. Pittock came to it. He was a practical printer, a youth of steady habits and untiring industry, and be it Is who has made The Orego nlan. He came across the plains with the emigration of 1853, was in Oregon City in October of that year, and about No vember 1 came to Portland to seel: work at his trade. He was engaged at once, and upon him gradually fell the duty of publishing the paper. Mr. Dryer gave little attention to details, and the office needed a man who was steady and method ical. Mr. Pittock was Just the man it wanted, and to this day he has continued the soul of its management, carrying the paper from one stage of Improvement to another, and rising continually to meet every new opportunity and to fill every new demand of the. situation. Nay, more; he has anticipated possibilities, and has kept The Oregonlan at all times ahead of the general development of the coun try. To him, more than to all others, it owes the triumph of its career. It was slow business for many years, for growth was hardly possible under the limitations of pioneer life in so small and so sparse a community. The earn ings of the paper were small and debts accumulated. Mr. Dryer, through its col umns and through his activity In the small politics of the time, kept himself continually before the people, and was one of the prominent figures of that day; he was several times a member of the Territorial Legislature, where he was as aggressive as In the columns of his news paper; and later he was a member of the convention that framed the constitution of the state. He was not a man of busi ness hab,its. yet, as he was owner of the paper,, he did what he chose with it, and his fitful methods of work and management were hindrances to busi ness success. Nevertheless, Mr. Dryer was a sturdy character, a man for the times, and the paper under his direction was a positive force in Portland and throughout Oregon. In 1860 Mr. Dryer was chosen, one of the Electors of Oregon on the Lincoln Presi dential ticket. He now looked for official recognition from the Administration, and obtained it. After an experience of 10 years, he. had found that there was no profit, In the way of business, in con ducting a weekly paper in a new and sparsely settled state, and the day of the dally newspaper here had not come and could not be foreseen. An official position much bolow the flrs't class was considered better than The Oregonlan of that day, and Mr. Dryer was elated with the offer of the mission at the Hawaiian Islands. Owing Mr. Pittock quite a sum for serv ices, jwhich he .had no other means of paying, Mr. Dryer -gave Mr. Pittock The Oregonlan for the debt, and in a short time took his departure for Honolulu, where he remained several years as the representative of the United States. Aft erward he returned to Portland, where he died in 1879. Mr. Pittock now had to find means to publish the paper on his own account. Its fortunes, never promising, were at the lowest ebb. The paper was in debt; quite an amount of credits stood on Its books, little of which was collectible; there were other newspapers In Portland that divided with it the little business there was, and two of these papers, the Times and Advertiser, had begun to issue dailies. Mr. Pittock's first resolve on coming into possession of The Oregonlan was to start a daily also. As yet there was no room or business for a daily paper, but Mr. Pittock had to compete with his rivals or drop out altogether; so February 4, 1SG1, he Issued the first number of The Dally Oregonlan. The weekly had then been published 10 years and two months. The first number of the daily was a paper of four pages, four col umns to the page. As the Civil War was just then breaking out, great efforts were made to get news, and the energy of The Oregonlan, under the direction of Mr. Pittock, soon put it in the lead of its competitors. The contest was one in which patience. Industry, application and skill had the usual result, and the con test was soon decided In Mr. Pittock's favor. Another helpful thing was The Oregonlan's vigorous espousal of the Na tional cause in the crisis of the Rebellion. The people began to look to It, not only for the news, but for expression of the National sentiment of the Northwest. Then, and for a long time afterward, the news of the world came to Oregon wholly through San Francisco. In 1S61 there was a weekly steamer from San Francisco to Portland, which was the main dependence; so Portland got a week's news at a time. California now had telegraphic communication with the East, and not much later extension of a line from California to Oregon began. As this line approached Oregon, the time was shortened. Brief news reports were taken oft at Redding, then at Yreka, then at Jacksonville, , and forwarded to Port land by dally mall, then first established. The Oregonlan was foremost In getting news by this method, and as the war news of those days was eagerly sought, the paper quickly took the leading posi tion as a medium of news that it has ever since maintained. In the early part of the year 1S54 telegraphic communication was established between San Francisco and Portland, and The Oregonlan began to receive regular telrgraphlc reports, which, however, for a long time gave only a bare outline of most important news. The rates were high, the resources of the paper were small, there was but a poor system of gathering news at that day, and even the Journals of San Francisco were obliged to content themselves with slender reports, though the news was of the most Important character. Though The Oregonlan's competitors, soon after It started a daily, dropped out of the field, other papers were started no long time after; but they, too, were short lived. It Is unnecessary to make any list of them here. In the year 1S65 a more pre tentious and formidable effort was made. The Oregon Herald, dally and weekly, was started; it was a Democratic paper, was backed by a good deal of money, and as time went on was able to enlist a good deal more. The Herald was published nearly 10 years. It was able to get the same telegraphic news as The Oregonlan, but It never was prosperous, probably never paid its way, and when its re sources were finally exhausted and it was forced to succumb, its various propri etors had sunk fully $150,000. Yet. while this competitor was In the field. The Ore gonlan had still another to meet. In 1S70 Ben Holladay started the Oregon Bulletin. This paper he backed lavishly, but It was always a losing business, and after a career of a little over five years it, too. gave up the ghost. In that time it had sunk nearly or quite 5200,000. A third for midable effort was made In 1SS0, .when the dally Northwest News appeared. This paper was as unsuccessful as its prede cessors. The original proprietor, after los ing a great amount of money, abandoned it, and it passed from the hands of one ;&7 . - - : '-"" "iit vcfv -, v i.?" - . -v ' tt &. . JPf'e a ' v J&SSi&f&ftKi' rtA.iA J9? y , sty :: Wli.: - Mr jfl -J -"t V - ' "i'- t :: ;; it JLJUr5rp &J&M - " ' r -- jhsSL MU. r :: f THE OREGONIAN BUILDING. t t to another, till finally, after a career of six ' or seven years, it suspended. Its losses had also been very heavy equal probably to those of either of the un fortunate ventures that preceded It. There have been other efforts of like kind, vigorous, yet unsuccessful, needless to re count here. These statements are pre sented as part of the history of Tne Ore gonlan, since they tend to show that it OREGONIAN tt A.. - - ? iKmm. tm gm f"spRmI .' ?- I P'HiH -----(-:-4 -t, Tl!j3 ,4 does not owe its position and success to absence of competition or to the fortune of opportunity, but to vigilance, manage ment and hard work. Of the editorial management of The Ore gonlan, after Mr. Dryer's time, it now re mains to speak. .During some months there was no regular editor. Mr. Pittock got work done as he could, and superin tended It himself. In 1S61 Simeon Fran cis, who had long published the Spring field (I1L) Journal, came to Oregon and took the editorship of The Oregonlan Hls experience as an editor and his gen eral knowledge of newspaper work were very serviceable. He was an old friend of President Lincoln, who presently made him a Paymaster In the Army, and In 1862 he withdrew from The Oregonlan. His successor was Amory- Holbrook, an able man, but an Irregular worker, who held the position about two years. After him, John F. Damon, now of Seattle, and Samuel A. Clarke, of Salem, were editors, successively. In May, 1SC5, Mr. Clarke re signed, and Harvey W. Scott succeeded him. Mr. Scott had come to Oregon in his early boyhood, had educated himself . M.eW v!&V& j-V'gL a& 4 ?V &-'-i r ?. LV v - v V --w Hi !?3?3s- BUILDING IN 1853. WITH RESIDENCE OF tjtjt (amid great difficulties, and was glad of an opportunity to show his willingness to work. In his hands continuous and la borious editorial work upon The Orego nlan, by one who had no thought beyond doing his best and his utmost for the paper, began. With the exception of the Interval be tween October, 1S72, and April, 1S77, The Oregonlan has ever since been under the editorial direction of Mr. Scott. During that Interval the editor was W. Lair Hill, an able lawyer, well known throughout the Northwest, now a resident of Oakland, CaL Mr. Hill came Into the paper in consequence of a partial change in the proprietorship. Mr. Pittock had sold to 1 Hon. H. W. Corbett and others, Including Mr. Hill, a controlling Interest In the paper, but Mr. Pittock retained the busi ness management. In March, 1S77, Mr. Scott bought the Interest that had been sold to Mr. Corbett, and Mr. Pittock and Mr. Scott together bought the shares that had been sold to others, and Mr. Scott re sumed editorial charge. Since then The Oregonlan, as known today, has been created. WISMAi vfisl t ijjgggoS&gjgg " T - . Kj -. Si - THfc EDITOR. ! .- JJLM.M MJ--M.M-MJA A. Personal Narrative Hew tKe Old 'WeeKly Oregoixian "Was Conducted Starting the Daily BY H, L. PITTOCK. BECAUSE of my long and contin uous connection with The Ore gonlan, I am told that a personal narrative is, for this particular oc casion, not only justified, but de manded. I am induced, therefore, to re late a part of my own experiences In the early days of The Oregonlan, and to tell some things that may be of Interest in its history at times when Its vicissitudes were many and its future not certain. I shall have little to say about the later career of The Oregonlan, for it is all suf ficiently within the knowledge of the present generation of readers; and I shall confine myself largely to the period when its first proprietor controlled Its desti nies, and also to the time when my own efforts were exerted to establish a dally newspaper strong enough to survive the fierce competition to which it was long subjected. The responsibility of "getting out the paper" was placed upon my shoulders at an early date; and it was not divided with another for some years. My association with Mr. Scott dates from. 1864; and it has continued, with one interruption, made necessary by busi ness exigencies, until the present time. It will continue, no doubt, until its natu ral end. I came to Oregon in 1S53, with my brother, Robert Pittock. I was first at tracted to the distant Northwest by let ters written to the papers of Pittsburg, where I lived, from members of the United Presbyterian church. That de nomination, then as now, was quite strong in Pennsylvania, and it had a flourishing missionary colony out here In Oregon. I read also in the Pittsburg Dispatch much Interesting correspondence from Mr. Ed ward Jay Allen, who had come out here in 1852 and rafted down the Snake River. I was then a mere boy, but I determined to go out and seek my fortune. My brother was of the same mind. We Joined two families named Stewart and Love, and in April, 1853, started down the Ohio River to St. Louis, and then up the Mis souri to St. Joseph, which was the usual point of rendezvous for the long journey across the plains. We met with some ad ventures, the most serious of which was an unsuccessful effort on the partjof In dians to cut off a part of our train at Boise River. The Stewarts and Loves left us at the Malheur River and went up that stream across the Cascades to Eu gene City. My brother Rpbert went with them. I came on down to the Columbia with the family of John Stephenson, of Parkersburg, Va., who afterward lo cated a claim near what Is now Fulton, In this county. At the John Day River we cut off from the main road and came through Tygh Valley vand over.the. Barlow road Into Oregon City. My father was a printer, and I had learned a little more than the rudiments of the trade with him. When I was 12 years old I began to set type. My first effort, therefore, when I reached Oregon City, was to obtain employment in the office of the Oregon Spectator, then under the control of D. J. Schnebly. I failed, and I went on with the Stephensons, aided them, in their preliminary work of estab lishing a domicile among the trees on their claim, and after a month came on to Portland, arriving here In November, 1S53. I diligently hunted for work for some days. I remember that I was offered the place of assistant to the bartender at the Columbia Hotel, Front and Washing ton, but my talents and Inclinations did not He In that direction, and I declined. I sought out the office of the Times, then conducted by John Orvis Waterman and Russell D. Austin. The Times, by the way, was the successor ofhe Western Star, which had been started at Mllwau kle. but had been soon "run off" by Wa terman to the more promising City of Portland. They had no place for me. Finally Mr. Dryer offered me my board and clothing In exchange for my services for six months. I accepted. At the end of that period I engaged myself for a year for $900, and then I got journeyman's wages. It Is interesting to recall that the first piece I set up was an account of the negotiations for opening of the ports of Japan, then" under way between Com modore Perry and the Japanese Govern ment. The quarters of the paper at that time (1S53) were far from comfortable. The building was at the corner of First and Morrison streets, and had been cheaply and rudely built. It had no lining, and on cold Winter days it was very diffi cult to keep warm. That Winter It was so cold that the Willamette River froze over, and the Interior of the office was something like- a refrigerator. The types on the stone froze so solidly together that we had to pour boiling hot water over them when we wanted to distribute (the process of returning the type to the cases). We never did get Into a comfort able place until we moved into the second story of a brick building on Front street. The Weekly Oregonlan had a meager outfit. As nearly as I can remember, It consisted of one imposing stone, six stands, 40 or E0 (type) cases, a Washington hand press and a sink for wetting the paper. The editorial-rooms were In the adjoining residence of Mr. Dryer. In the composing-room of The Oregonlan Is still to be found that old stone, which Is, I think, the only remaining part of the paper's original mechanical equipment. I made myself generally useful about the office, doing anything that came to hand; and there was much to do. The mechan ical force consisted of two others besides myself. William Davis Carter, who had been associated with Waterman on the Times, was foreman, and E. T. Gunn was the printer. A man named D. S. South mayd. who lived down on the Columbia Slough, usually came in and helped out for a dayor two during the week. The hand press was a man-killer. It was a self-Inker, and it took muscle, and a great deal of It, to run it. It had taken the place of the original Ramage press, which A. M. Berry, first foreman of The Ore gonlan. took with him to Olympla, where he started a paper called the Pioneer. I never knew what became of that old press. I should like to know. The Wash ington hand press which succeeded the Ramage was in its turn- taken to Idaho, after The Oregonlan was through with it, and was used for the first paper started in that territory. Kr. Dryer composed tie eutira editorial and business force. He was editorial writer and local reporter. But there waa no very extensive amount of news in tha paper in those days, malls with the East ern papers coming on the steamer only twice a month. He conducted acrimonious controversies with the opposition Demo cratic press, and these were the great substance of the paper. It was Dryer's duty, too, to look after the business end, but for this he had very lit tle liking. He had, nevertheless, be come an active force in the affairs of tha territory, and his time was largely taken up In politics and public matters. His services were in demand as stump-speaker and orator- on various occasions, and he was also a member of the Constitutional Convention and of the Territorial Legis lature. It may be readily surmised that Mr. Dryer could not have given a great deal of time to the business of the paper, even if he, had had the inclination. It therefore naturally fell out that much of the responsibility of seeing that the paper went to press and reached its readers de volved upon somebody else, and that somebody was myself. It was my duty, for example, when the paper missed tha Oregon City boat, to get a horse and carry to Oregon City the list for up-Valley read ers. Publication day was" Saturday morn ing, but we went to press Friday after noon. The trip to Oregon City was not aa unpleasant experience, for as soon as I had delivered the papers aboard the boat j which was waiting above the falls to go up the river, I crossed over and camo down to the home of my friends, tha Stephensons, and spent Sunday, returning home early Monday morning. I remember that on one occasion news reached Portland of the Cascades mas sacre, wherein a number of people had been slain by Indians. The entire popu lation of the town was much stirred up, and boarded the steamer Jennie Clark to go to the assistance of the white people. The printers In "tie office deserted their posts, and I wanted to go with them, but I could not. The paper had to be made up and put to press. I was alone in the office, and there was a good deal to d, but I managed somehow to set enough type to fill up, lock up the farms, put them on the press and run off the entire edition, which was then considerable. It was literally the hardest work I ever did in my life, and I have never, before or since, been so much worn out. I got home, went to bed, and the burning down of a house across the street, an exciting event for those days, was not sufficient to get me out, although some one awak ened me. The habit of Mr. Dryer may be illus trated by an experience I had in 1S35 I went up the "Valley on a canvassing and collection tour. I presented blil3 to many people, who appeared surprised, and said that they had already paid. When I re turned and reported occurrences of this kind to Mr. Dryer, he would say: "Well, if that man said he paid, give him credit for it." And so it was in other Instances. I had many disagreeable collisions with sub scribers and advertisers who were not de linquent. Mr. Dryer was entirely indif ferent to Income and outgo. He simply could not bring himself to pay attention to details. I do not at all narrate these things for the purpose of criticising him or his methods, but simply to show what his fashion was. It was. Indeed, the weak point in all the journalism of those days, and he was no exception to the rule. In the meantime Mr. Dryer became heavily in arrears to me, as well as to Gunn, who had come back to the paper. In 1S5S he proposed to take Gunn and my self into partnership with him. The valu ation of the paper was placed at $6000, and we each had a third interest. Thi3 arrangement did not last long. Gunn took sick and went away, the partnership was dissolved, and the old status resumed, so far as Dryer and I were concerned. Dur ing the campaign of 1S&0 I took charge of the paper under contract with Dryer. Ha was a Republican candidate for Presiden tial Elector, and made a joint canvass of the state with Delazon Smith, who was on the Democratic Electoral ticket. Smith died immediately after the elec tion, and Dryer came home a very sick man. It was at this time that he gava me a bill of sale for the paper to dis charge his debt to me. It had long seemed to me Imperative that The Oregonlan. If it could survive at all, must be transformed to a dally. Two dally papers one the Advertiser, run by S. J. McCormlck, and the Dally News, by Henry Miller were already established here, eking out a more or less precarious existence. The town had been growing rapidly, and the country filling up with population, and it seemed to one that a daily paper, properly conducted, could be made to go. I at once arranged to go to San Francisco to procure the necessary additional outfit, including a cylinder press. I embarked on the steamer Consti tution, in company with Dryer, who had recovered and was bound for Washing ton City, carrying the state's three Lin coln Electoral votes. We encountered a very violent storm. The vessel was old and had been long out of use, having been on the reserve list of the steamship com pany. She was called into use while tha regular steamer was being repaired. Her seams opened and the water poured Into the cabins through them. A foot of water sloshed around on the cabin floor. One of. my cabin-mates was Mr. N. G. Northrop, afterward editor of the Walla Walla Statesman, who was in the berth above me. Northrop and the man below ma were soaked in water, but somehow I es caped baptism and got through all right. On arrival the vessel had to be repaired for the Teturn Journey, and it took several weeks. I made the necessary arrange ments for press and additional equipment and re-embarked on her for the return voyage. Her appearance in the Columbia River was a surprise; for, -owing to her long delay, it had been believed in Ore gon that she had been wrecked. There had been no communication between San Francisca and Portland since she left. Upon my return I found that a third paper, the Times, had been started as a daily. I brought with me a lot of bour geois and nonpareil body type, and Feb ruary 4, 1861, The Daily Oregonlan mada Its appearance. We got along as best we could with the lold Washington band press until tbe Boa