Charles Arthur Sprague (1887-1969) was born in Lawrence, Kansas, and studied to be a teacher. In 1912, he married Blanche Chamberlain (1887-1976), and the couple had two children, Wallace and Martha. By the 1920s, Sprague was working in journalism, and in 1929, he acquired a two-thirds ownership interest in the Oregon Statesman newspaper in Salem, Oregon.

Sprague was elected governor of Oregon in 1938 as Republican. His administration was noted for its progressive forestry policies and for Oregon's civil defense preparation during World War II. In 1942, Sprague lost the Republican nomination for governor to Earl Snell.

Sprague maintained his interest in forest management as a member of the Oregon and California (O & C) Advisory Board of the Bureau of Land Management, which administered land that the federal government had taken over from the 19th-century Oregon and California Railroad land grant, and which distributed a portion of timber sale proceeds to Oregon counties in which the land was located. Sprague also was interested in many civic and educational groups throughout his life, including the Community Chest, the Salvation Army, the YMCA, and Willamette University.