NOTE ON SOURCES
Necessarily, in treating a subject of this nature, great dependence must be placed in the newspapers of the period, as sources of material. First, in the records of what actually took place—reports of conventions and meetings of various kinds, resolutions and platforms adopted, legislative proceedings, etc. Second, fully as important, but to be used more guardedly, the expression of public opinion upon those passing events, this public opinion being registered in editorial comment, contributed articles and in oral public expression. Obviously, to measure public sentiment at all accurately by newspaper utterances, it is necessary to have before one, papers representing the various political points of view. In this the writer has been fortunate. From the time political activity in Oregon really begins, newspapers of opposite political tendencies have been available.
Of these, the Oregonian, the Oregon Statesman and the Oregon Argus have been relied upon most extensively. They were the most representative of the Oregon press and extended over the greater part of the period under consideration. On the period of ante-political organization, access was had to the Spectator, and, in a limited degree, to the Western Star, Milwaukie, changed to the Oregon Weekly Times in June, 1851. Next in importance to the first three journals mentioned should be named the Oregon Weekly Union, the exponent of anti-Union sentiment in the Civil War era. Other papers directly consulted, were the Oregon Weekly Times, the Oregon Sentinel and the Oregon Daily Herald. Indirectly, yet other papers have been frequently used, by means principally of editorial utterances reproduced in the above mentioned journals.
Closely related to, but differing slightly from the Oregon newspaper sources, is the correspondence of Judge M. P. Deady to the San Francisco Bulletin, to be found in what is known as the "Deady scrapbook," in possession of the Oregon Historical Society. In Judge Deady the capacities of keen observation and trenchant expression were combined with the faculty of being able to write with a minimum of personal,
