there were three newspapers in the little town of Moro, for the People's Republic, launched in 1898, seems to have shuttled back and forth between Moro and Wasco that year. W. J. Peddicord, county superintendent, edited the Republic at Wasco. In July, 1898, the Republic was taken back to Moro, and the Observer, the Leader, and the Republic existed side by side in Moro until the Leader moved away.
In December 1900 (170) V. C. Brock of Wasco and G. E. Kellogg of Moro formed a partnership for the publication of the two papers, the Wasco News and the Moro Republic. Both papers were printed at Wasco, but the Republic maintained an office at Moro Land notices explain the existence of so many newspapers in such a small town. But even these could not maintain so many publications, and the Republic soon was merged into the News under the title of the Wasco paper.
The Leader had been moved to Shaniko, but with the departure of the Republic Mr. Holder thought he saw an opportunity and moved the Shaniko plant back to Moro, starting the Moro Bulletin in April 1902 (171) as a four-page six-column paper. He soon raised it to a seven-column, but it failed to thrive in the face of the Observer's competition and suspended November 21, 1902.
This left the Observer, under the direction of the Ireland family, in sole possession of the field. After the death of his father, in 1913, C. L. Ireland continued publication of the paper, his brother F. C. having sold out ten years before. The new publisher, who now conducts the Pioneer at Molalla, has spent more than half a century in Oregon journalism, beginning, when he was 13 years old, with the publication, in his father's Pioneer office in Astoria, of the Early Bird. Starting in 1888, he kept the little publication going more than a year.
The Observer was purchased by Giles L. French of the Grass Valley Journal in 1931 and the papers were combined and published at Moro as the Sherman County Journal. French also took over the Sherman County News, from Asa Richelderfer and changed the name back to the Wasco News-Enterprise. He had both papers set in the Journal office at Moro. The News-Enterprise finally (March 4, 1932) was combined with the Sherman County Journal. The Journal, directed by Mr. and Mrs. French, is now the only newspaper in the county.
Grass Valley.—W. I. Westerfield did not found the Grass Valley Journal, but he conducted it longer than all other persons combined The paper was launched as an Independent Republican sheet November 12, 1897, by the Journal Publishing Company, with C. E. Brown as editor. The next July the Grass Valley Publishing Company was formed with a capitalization of $2,000 by C. E. Brown, George W. Bourhill, and J. H. Smith as incorporators, William Holder, C. W. Moore, and J. D. Wilcox as stockholders. Mr. Westerfield succeeded
