 He accompanied Joseph Lane , the newly appointed governor of the territory , on his return trip to Oregon . Chapman was elected to the first session of the Oregon Territorial Legislature later in 1849 , representing Champoeg County ( now Marion ) in the legislature 's lower house . After the legislature finished its session , he moved to Oregon City and then Portland , both downstream of Salem on the Willamette River . Later in 1849 , he took a trip to San Francisco , California , where he recruited Thomas J. Dryer to move to Portland and start a newspaper . He also purchased The Gold Hunter newspaper and moved the assets of the paper to Portland . In 1850 , The Oregonian began publishing as a weekly newspaper in Portland . Dryer served as the publisher with Chapman as a co @-@ founder . Chapman gave the paper its name . The assets of The Gold Hunter were used to start the paper . 
