In 1854, during the political infighting over where to locate the seat of Oregon state government, Corvallis was briefly chosen by the legislature as state capital. As a result, pugnacious Democrat Asahel Bush, then serving as Territorial printer, moved his weekly "Oregon Statesman" from Salem to Corvallis to be close to legislative newsmakers. The tenure of the paper in Corvallis, like that of the state capital, was brief and fleeting and soon the town was left with no paper of its own.