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Page Four
80th Anniversary. Edition. The Oregon Statesman
iere.
Oregon City, Then Corvallis and Finally Salem Had Seat of Temtbrial Government:
oiaiesman t-iayea Dig i-arr. m DnngingJUovernment tenter riere;i via apuoi rirea
fiiMMadeto
Get
Capital
f i
THE location of the capital of Oregon territory was being
fought over, 80 years' Ago when The Statesman began its
career. The first seat of the government was a& Oregon City
under the order xf the provisional government. This was
continued under the territorial government, but on January
13, 1851 the legislature voted to remove the capital to Salem,
as the new settlement on Chemeketa plain was called. Judge
Nelson and Strdng of the supreme court and Governor
Gaines the Whig appointee; declared this act unconstitutional
and refused to remove to Salem. Judge Pratt, the third
member of the court, upheld theO
act. The legislature of December,
1851, however, met: in Salem I in
rooms furnished by the Oregon' In
stitute (Willamette univer
sity). Through the Efforts of Cen.
Lane, delegate to congress from
the territory, congress passed I a
law in May, 1852, i ratifying the
act of the territorial legislature in
fixing the capital at Salem, and
the executive offices were movfed
from Oregon City. h 4
The building used for a state
house in Oregon City in 1S51
was located on the southeast cor
ner of Sixth and Main streets, a
site now occupied; by a market.
The governor's office is thought
to have been there also. if
The sessions of 1852-3 ;ahd
1853-4 were held downtown. The
house met in the Nesmith build
ing at Front and Trade, and the
council met in the Rector build
ing which also boused the li
brary. I '
Rector's hall was located on the
west side of Commercial street, be
tween Trade and Ferry streets, t It
was the principal assembly hall of
the '50's. It was a two-story, frame
structure. r J
Congress, Territory V I
Put up Capitol 1 Fund 1 1
The organic act bf the territory
had provided $5000 for territorial
capital and congress had appropri
ated $20,000 for public buildings.
Construction of the new capitol
authorized by the legislature, Jan
uary, 1853, begun in that year and
the legislative session of 1854 was
held in this uncompleted structure.
The foundation was of stone, the
super-structure of jumber. In: 1&55
congress appropriated another $27,
000, but this was not sufficient to
complete the structure. I f
In January, 1855, the legislature
through the infuence of J. C. Avery
representative of i Benton county,
who was interested in the own
site of Corvallis, fixed the c&jjital
at Corvallis and i the university,
' .6:
TAKtS FROM NjCTHWf NT, COKKKR STATE
AT
l . F r 1 IS PKp.SKNT
WHICH HOUSED THp STATESMAN
previously allotted to Corvallis, at
Jacksonville.
The secretary of the federal trea
sury considered the act void and
instructed the territorial secretary
to contract no debt nor to pay the
per diem of legislators. Gov. Cur
ry and Secretary Harding accord
ingly remained in Salem. The leg
islature met in Corvallis in Decem
ber of 1855, occupying rooms fur
nished by Corvallis citizens, in a
building on the corner of Second
and Adams streets. I. F. G rover,
member from Marion county, at
the opening of the session intro
duced a resolution to move the
capital back U, Salem. Efforts
were made to delay the motion
pending arrival of Jackson coun
try members, but without avail.
Debates Reported
In Full in Statesman
The debates were reported very
fully in The Statesman, which was
being printed in Corvallis. Those
supporting Salem denounced the
deal of the previous session as a
rotten political bargain. The Polk
county members, F. A. Waymire
and R. P. Boise, Sr., opposed mov
ing back to Salem. Finally after
adding an amendment submitting
the matter to the pople for a vote,
Grover's resolution prevailed and
the legislature moved back to Sa
lem. . It took up quarters in the
still uncompleted capitol building,
in the middle of the month. On
Dec. 28, 1855, the new building was
completely destroyed by fire. There
was much talk that the fire -was
incendiary and suspicions were di
rected at the Corvallis partisans.
It became something of a political
issue, and the reaction destroyed
the chances of Corvallis winning at
an election.
; The question of locating the cap
ital was submitted to the voters in
the election held January, 1856,
but there was comparatively little
interest in the question. The
Statesman and the Salem inter-
STALLION SHOW IN EARLY WS
AIHHTH ,V WATF.Hs BTII.niN Tlir KKirk' IV umnt
AM) riivycsrtAi. nvts?
PRINTERS ARE STiSWNG OX UHW Ol'
CORNERSTONE LADING FOR
i ,
i:
J. . "' '-'i - ) ,
' OCTOBER 8. 187S. ' PICTPRE TAKEN FROM CORNE fe 8TTMMER : AND
THE DE LUXE EXCURSION TRAIN RUN BY THE OR2".N CALIFORNIA
IX THE BACKGROUND WAS THE BLIND SCHOOL ON I'WtXFTJI HTREET.
esta took the position that the at
titude of the federal authorities
made the election futile. The vote
gave Eugene City a majority but
the legislature of the territorial of.
fTceTS ignored the result of the
election.
Salem won Capital
Vote in 1864
The state constitution called for
aumittmg the question of location
to a vote of the people. In the
election of 1862 no city had a ma
jonty. In 1864 Salera had a ma
jority of 79 -oyer the other competi
tors, the principal ones being Eu
gene and Portland, i .
After the burning of the territor
ial capital in 1855, the legislature
resumed. its sittings in the building
owned by J. W. Nesmith near the
steamboat landing. : This was the
same building, a two-story house,
which: had previously been occu
pied by ths Statesman prior to its
removal to corvallis. The coun
cil met In Rector's building.
In. September, i860, the legis
lature met in Holman's brick,
northwest corner,' Commercial
and Ferry and met there until
the capitol was built.
The city directories of 1871
and 1872 give the location of
governor's office, the state library,
0P't; courUijr Crooika Studio.
rivniTin: r Dforrn
v r.v u. to uV ; J '.' ' V'
PORfH Ti) Virw piSiML-1 BWlK
i n
it'.'
v. .
. w-.. v wr-s ")r -jl .."-.j'
the supreme court In Grover &
Miller's brick, Isauth west corner of
commercial anil r jerry streets, i ma
is the structurf owned and occupied
at present by iThe Statesman and
the Salem W. p. T. U. The secre
tary of. state,! the state treasurer
had offices ! i! tol man's brck.
$100,000 Appropriated
For Capitols ia 1872
The legislaurcj of 1872 appro
priated $ 1 00,000 lior 4 new capitol.
Ground was broken in May, 1878,
and the cornerstone laid October 8,
1873. It was 'accepted as partially
completed August 8, 1876 and sub
sequent legislatures have met
there; and fthi major state offices
have been located there.
The supremje court building was
erected in 191 4 jiind the state of
fice building p 1929, completed in
1930. j I i j
,
LUMBER! $70 PER M.
Oregon Cltf 4ices: "Lumber is
worth $70 pjr thousand feet at
the mills. , Blcjur? commands $15
per hundred jpunds, and sales
brisk. A considerable quantity has
been bought fsinice the arrival of
the la&t stealer if or the California
market. Wheat' Lells for $4 and $5
per bushel afid scarce. t"ou who
are raising itlin the states for six
ty or seventy cents pet bushel think
oi mat, anaj men pack up your
traps and cpieto Oregon. Your
sixty or seventy j cents you are
obliged to ttfke in promises or
truck, while f here vou cet e-old
slugs "on deljvesy," Statesman,
(Oregon City, Nov. 20, 1852. -
JULY 4, 1 860, AT SALEM
The glorious Fourth -was ushered
in at Salerabya national salute
of thirty-thte guns, and the hoist
ing of the srs and stripes upon
the tall liberti' pjle which had been
erected in the Cpurt house square
the previous fevering . . . The pro
cession marciedi throueh the prin
cipal streeU, and finally halted in
the oak grore Inear Commercial
street, where . j . an eloquent arid
soul-stirring loration was delivered
by Col. E. pi Bajker to an audience
of near two ttiousand'Statesman
July 10, "
COLORADO -GOLD STRIKE
"Kansas jQolnJ Mines The gold
diggings near Pike's Peak in West
ern Kansasj sr4 exciting consider
able attention in the eastern States.
The probabi$t is that there is a
small quarijay jof gold in Kansas,
but .not enHgMto justify the ex
citement it, tia" created." States,
man, Nov. , iB58.
CAPITOL
1 m
-Copyright; tourwt OonUe Btudio.
CODRT 8TREET8. IN THE REAR IS
FOR THE EVENT. THE WHITE HOUSE
.ft
First Almanac
Came Out in 9A8
1
At Oregon City
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, The first almanac published on
the western coast in the English
language was the "Pregon Alman
ac" of 1848, printed at the Spec
tator office in Oregon! City by W.
P. Hudson. A copy is sin the S. A."
Clarke collection of ,Ms. Sally
Dyer. It was well printed on white
paper of excellent quality. In the
"Table of Important Scientific Dis.
coveries and Inventions? the last
entries are: : . '. ;
1825. Rail-road, locomotion by
the power of steam j invented in.
England. 1, ... ,
"1844. Mat-netio telegraph in
vented in America." h j
IN THE NEWS OF '57
. "Illness of Dr. McLoughlin
We learn that Dr. McLoughlin of
Oregon City haa been' quite ill re
cently, and on Thursday of last
week, it was thought . could not
survive. He however 'revived, and
at last advices was a little better
He is about eighty years of age.
He has acted a prominent part in
the settlement of Oregon and we
should deeply regret to hear of his
demise." Statesman, July 21, 1857.
Role Unique
By P. R. Finlay
Publisher, LaGrande
Evening Observer
"rpHERE are few
X 'newspapers in this
part of the country that
have had the opportun
ity of such a long period
of service as has been
the privilege of IThe Ore
gon Statesman j and we
wish to extend ( congrat
ulations to all who have
had a part in the lattain
ment of the present rec-.
prd. I . i
' "In connection with
the celebration of your
"80th anniversary; please
accept for yourself and
your associates bur good
wishes and the hope
that you may continual
ly increase in! helpful
neas to all uithin the
circle of your; Influ
ence." , . (