Asahel Bush was an American newspaper publisher and businessman in Salem, Oregon. As publisher of the Oregon Statesman newspaper, he moved the paper to Salem when the territorial capital moved to that city. A Massachusetts native, Bush became the first official printer for the state of Oregon, and his estate is now a city park.

Salem is the capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood of West Salem is in Polk County. Salem was founded in 1842, became the capital of the Oregon Territory in 1851, and was incorporated in 1857.