The second paper was the _Oregon Free Press_, which appeared in March, 1848, under the control of George L. Curry, who later became Governor of Oregon. The fourth in order was the _Western Star_, first issued at Milwaukie November 21, 1850, by Lot Whitcomb. At that time Milwaukie, on the east side of the Willamette, a few miles above Portland, was a rival of the latter place for commercial supremacy, but in May, 1851, Milwaukie had fallen behind in the race, and the _Star_ was moved to Portland, and its name changed to the _Oregon Weekly Times_. It lived much longer than most of the early newspaper ventures of the Northwest. Among its numerous editors were A. C. Gibbs, Governor of Oregon during the Civil War period, and also W. Lair Hill, with whom all lawyers of Oregon and Washington are familiar personally or by reputation. He was the author of the well-known code of this state bearing his name, and for a considerable period a resident of Seattle. The fifth was the _Weekly Oregonian_ and the only one of all the newspapers of Oregon and Washington appearing prior to 1860 to survive with its original name and without periodical suspensions. The _Oregonian_ had to struggle for existence during all its early years. Rivals unnumbered went to the newspaper graveyard during the succeeding quarter century. It is a conservative estimate to place the aggregate at a $1,000,000 sunk during that period by ambitious printers, dissatisfied politicians, and by corporations who could not control its editorials, in the various attempts to break the _Oregonian_ down. The most notable contest was between the _Oregonian_ and the _Bulletin_, when Ben. Holladay was the great magnate in railroad and steamship affairs of the Northwest. He established, about 1872, a first-class newspaper and job printing office that cost not less than $50,000. He employed the best newspaper talent he could secure, and the _Bulletin_ at once became a dangerous rival for the _Oregonian_, which had to depend solely on its own resources for its support, while the weekly deficit in the _Bulletin_ office was made good by a check from Ben. Holladay. The _Oregonian_ had at that time about seven thousand subscribers at $3 per year to its weekly paper, while the _Bulletin_ had only a few hundred. The _Weekly Oregonian_ saved the day, and the _Bulletin_ died the death. Its backer is reputed to have sunk not less than $100,000. This left the _Oregonian_ master of the field, and it became the overshadowing journalistic power of the Northwest until the great dailies of Seattle forced it to the rear in the State of Washington.