Harvey W. Scott

Who was Harvey W. Scott?

Harvey Whitefield Scott was an American pioneer, newspaper editor, and historian.

Scott was born in on a farm in Peoria, Illinois and migrated to Oregon with his family in 1852, settling in Yamhill County. He and his family moved near Olympia, Washington in 1853. At age 18, he fought in the American Indian Wars. Scott walked from the Puget Sound to Forest Grove, Oregon in 1857. He attended high school there for two years and then became the first alumnus of Pacific University in 1863. He worked for a short time as the librarian of the Library Association of Portland, and then was editor of The Oregonian newspaper from 1866–1872. His editorials strongly supported the Union and the newly emerging Republican party during the Civil War. Scott also edited the first history of Portland, Oregon, published in 1890, and compiled the six-volume History of the Oregon Country with his son, Leslie M. Scott, who published it after Harvey's death.

After leaving the paper in 1872, Scott was the collector of customs for the Port of Portland until 1877. He then bought a sizable amount of stock in The Oregonian and returned as its editor-in-chief.