and pioneer Washington territory publisher, were admitted as equal partners with Dryer. After two years both withdrew from this association.
November 24, 1860, Dryer, in a leading editorial, announced the transfer of his ownership to Pittock, remaining as editor until January 12, 1861. Dryer's faithful and fruitful service to the Republican party in Oregon had brought him recognition from President-elect Lincoln, in the form of a promised appointment as commissioner from the United States to the Sandwich Islands, then an independent kingdom. This appointment came along just about right for Mr. Dryer, whose weakness as a managing publisher had practically lost that him his paper. The story as told by Harvey Scott and others Dryer owed Pittock more money for his services as printer and looked as he ever could pay, and the simple way manager than out seemed to be just to turn the paper over to his young associate.
Mr. Pittock, the first signed article of his long career as owner and part-owner of the paper, spoke frankly of plans to make the Oregonian a paying institution (apparently its financial difficulties were matter of public knowledge) and promised daily edition "probably the first of January."
The promise, substantially, was kept. The prospectus of the Daily Oregonian was published February 2, 1861, and Volume 1, No. 1 of the Morning Oregonian appeared two days later. In the meantime, the new publisher had gone to San Francisco (in December, 1860) in search of press bigger and faster than the Washington succeeded the old Ramage on which the hand-press which had first Oregonians were run. The desired power press could not be obtained for more than single-cylinder Hoe was year, when obtained. The old hand-press ran the daily until its more modern successor arrived.
When Mr. Pittock went to San Francisco, he was uncertain whether the Oregonian was to be morning or an evening publication. The story goes that he purchased three logotypes for the first word of the title: Mor, Eve, and ning. Before the first issue of his daily appeared, he had decided to use the Mor.
The first issue of the Morning Oregonian came off the press with less than one column of local news, all tinged with editorial comment. Obviously the modern journalistic preference for local over non-local news had not yet become accepted among early Oregon newspapers.
The paper was a four-page affair, with five 16½-inch columns to the page. Two columns of advertising ran down the right side of page one, and there were six columns more of "business" in this early Oregon daily.
Editorial matter, heavily political, totaled in excess of two columns. was the eve of the Civil war. seemed almost impos-
