Oregon Spectator

The Oregon Spectator

The April 30, 1846 front page of The Oregon Spectator
Type	Bi-weekly
Format	Tabloid
Owner(s)	Oregon Printing Association
Editor	William G. T'Vault and others
Founded	1846
Ceased publication	1855
Headquarters	Oregon City, Oregon Territory, USA

The Oregon Spectator, was a newspaper published from 1846 to 1855 in Oregon City of what was first the Oregon Country and later the Oregon Territory of the United States. The Spectator was the first American newspaper west of the Rocky Mountains and was the main paper of the region used by politicians for public debate of the leading topics of the day. The paper's motto was Westward the Star of Empire takes its way.

Although small publications were printed in California from 1834, there were no newspapers published in that territory until after American triumph in the Mexican–American War of 1846 — several months after establishment of the Oregon Spectator.

The Oregon Printing Association published the first issue of the Oregon Spectator on Thursday, February 5, 1846. The publication thereby became the first newspaper published on the Pacific coast of the United States.

The Association publishing the newspaper consisted of a group of seven, including William G. T'Vault, James W. Nesmith, John P. Brooks, George Abernethy, John H. Couch, Robert Newell, and John E. Long. T'Vault served as president and the first editor of the paper. Most of the owners of the paper had roots in the Methodist Mission which had dominated Oregon politics prior to the establishment of the Provisional Government in 1841.

The first edition was only four tabloid pages, printed on a hand press which was purchased in New York City and shipped by sailing vessel around Cape Horn. The paper was initially published semi-monthly, with pages of 11 by 15 inches, arranged into four columns.