March 28, 1851: The Oregon Statesman Publishes First Paper

The first edition of Oregon’s second oldest newspaper, The Oregon Statesman, was published in Oregon City on March 28, 1851. The paper took an editorial stance at the time strongly in support of the Democratic Party of Oregon, which contrasted with The Oregonian‘s Whig (later Republican) leanings.

Asahel Bush, the first publisher of the paper, was active in politics (Democratic Party of Oregon politics in particular), and moved the paper to Salem in 1853 when the city was selected as the territorial capitol.

In 1954 the Statesman formed an alliance with the another venerable newspaper, the Capitol Journal (founded in 1888). They shared production facilities but maintained separate staffs until the 1970s when both were purchased by Gannett, and in 1980 the newspapers merged to form The Statesman-Journal. (The hyphen was dropped in the late 80s)