The Register-Guard - History of The Guard

History of The Guard

In 1867, J. B. Alexander founded the Eugene Guard as a weekly Democratic newspaper. The following year, Alexander sold the paper to J. W. Skaggs who in turn sold it before the end of the year to the firm of Thompson & Victor. Thompson, who had previously been involved in the publication of the Eugene Herald, a paper founded in 1859, sold the Guard after a year and a half.

George J. Buys and A. Eltzroth purchased the paper in December 1869, and six months later bought out Eltzroth. Buys sold the paper eight years later to John R. and Ira Campbell, who would remain owners for 30 years. In 1890, the Eugene Guard became a daily newspaper. Charles H. Fisher took over the paper in 1907 and published it until 1912 when E. J. Finneran purchased the paper. Finneran bankrupted the newspaper in 1916, partly due to the purchase of a perfecting press that proved too expensive for such a small newspaper. The University of Oregon's journalism school briefly ran the paper during the receivership under the guidance of Eric W. Allen.

In April 1916, Fisher returned along with partner J. E. Shelton, forming The Guard Printing Company. Fisher continued to publish the Capital Journal in Salem until 1921. In 1924, after Fisher died, Paul R. Kelty purchased the Guard and published it with his son, before selling it in 1927. The paper was purchased in 1927 by publisher Alton F. Baker, Sr., whose father had published The Plain Dealer. Three years later, Baker bought the Morning Register and merged the two papers. Reporter William Tugman was recruited from The Plain Dealer to be the managing editor of the new paper.