The western newspaper was as big a part of frontier town life as the livery stable, the sheriffs office and the saloon. In many ways, a frontier town wasn't a real town without the perceived presence of a newspaper. As the frontier kept moving west it didn't take long for a newspaper to pop up. The first newspaper to begin publication west of the Alleghenies was in Pittsburgh in 1786. The first west of the Mississippi was in St. Louis in 1808. Gradually through the mid 1800's newspapers would begin all across the west. The Black Hills Pioneer began publication in 1876 during the great mining boom in Deadwood, Dakota Territory.
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| Daily Alta California newspaper bldg, 1851 |
At the end of the article we have listed several excellent museums that exhibit many of the printing presses used in the old west.
Who Ran the Western Newspaper?
If you use western cinema as a guide, you'll believe that the western newspaper owner/editor in a frontier town was a crusader for justice...a seeker of truth...a person of wisdom...a pillar of local society. The real truth was that newspaper owners/editors varied in personality and mission as in just about any other career. During the 1800's there were no journalism schools as we know of today and therefore no set way of reporting, writing or for that matter running a newspaper.
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| Chandler and Price Hand Press |
The tediousness of operating printing equipment was enough for many to give it up. You could say that there were easier ways to make money. Some who traveled to the California gold country to set up a newspaper found themselves struck with the gold bug themselves.
The Old Western Newspaper
If you research articles from western frontier newspapers chances are you'll often notice both grammatical errors and words misspelled. Some of this had to do with phraseology of the times as well as a lack of education of the editor. The good part was that many of the paper's readers were of the same background and spelling errors were not an issue nor were many of them noticed.
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| Type cabinet |
Another fact was that often more than one paper would pop up in a town and more times than not a squabble would erupt between the two paper's editors. It wasn't uncommon for one to call the other a liar in print. Sometimes this led to violence or threat of violence. An editor could also infuriate a group of citizens which could lead to a mob descending upon the editor's office.
One noted incident involved Mark Twain during his time as a reporter for the Virginia City Nevada Territorial paper. Twain was in Nevada City during the early 1860's when the mining boom was in full swing. Because of an unflattering and accusatory article Twain wrote about the owner of a competitor newspaper the story goes that Twain was challenged to a duel. It's an interesting tale and one with several versions of what ensued.
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| Washington Hand Press |
Newspapermen of the old frontier not only wrote and printed the news but often times made the news as well.
Trying to Make Money
While being caught up with the around the clock duties of news gathering, editing, printing and then distribution, there was scant time left for an owner/operator to try to make money. This was especially true with one man operations. In the early days being both the printer and editor was more the rule than the exception. Many small papers went broke and usually it didn't take long.
Small start up papers would often solicit for items in their editorials to stay afloat. They would accept merchandise as cash payment. When the town grew and stabilized and more and more businesses opened up, some publishers actually had a fair amount of financial success. The bread and butter for a small town frontier newspaper were legal notices that had to be put in print. These typically included land and timber notices. Another revenue source was the printing of political notices and candidate advertising. In addition, revenue was obtained from subscription sales which the paper tried hard to get paid up in advance. Cash flow was a real concern if one wanted to be able to order new printing supplies.
Yet another opportunity for the frontier western newspaper to make money was with printing jobs for the local territorial or state government. Much of this depended on the towns location.
You'll also enjoy our Western Trips articles on Tombstone Arizona and the Tombstone Epitaph and several Historic Stops in Frontier America. Also see our article on Breckenridge Colorado / Historic Mining Town and Year Round Resort
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| Columbian Jobber |
Johann Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press around the 1440s. Amazingly enough, for some 500 years afterward, raised-and-reversed letters were inked and pressed against paper to create an impression. Over the years quality did indeed improve.
Today, when you travel around the country, there are a great many exhibits of printing equipment that were used by newspapers and other community publications in the latter part of the 1800's.
The Columbian Jobber shown above was manufactured from 1878 to 1891 by Curtis & Mitchell of Boston. Although a clam shell press, this press has a device which provides a pause in the action of the platen to facilitate feeding.
For a good many years, printers would have to hand set each letter at a time. They would store the letters in a type cabinet similar to the one shown above.You can imagine the time it took to put out even a one sheet paper. If you were both the printer and editor you had an around the clock job.
Professional printers were often journeymen. typically they would be paid for the amount of lettering they worked with. In some instances skilled printers were paid a fairly good salary. In 1895 Kansas, a skilled printer might earn $8 per week.
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| Ink and printing supplies exhibit |
You may very well wish to add some of the following venues and museums to your western road trip planner. These sites exhibit a good collection of antique printing presses that made the western newspaper possible.
The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City features a western town layout with stores, a livery, offices, a church and a newspaper office with a good collection of printing equipment. This exhibit gives you a good idea of how the equipment was set up for use.
The New Mexico History Museum/ Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe New Mexico also has an entire print shop set up exhibiting a wide collection of various antique printing equipment and supplies.
Another excellent venue to add to your road trip is the International Printing Museum located in Carson California. For twenty-one years, the International Printing Museum has been devoted to bringing the history of books, printing and the book arts to life for diverse audiences. Carson is a southern suburb of Los Angeles just north of Long Beach.
Three additional sites where you can explore the world of frontier printing equipment include the Charitan County Historical Society and Museum in Salisbury Missouri, The Museum of Printing History in Houston Texas and the Childress County Heritage Museum in Childress Texas.
Some excellent books to explore this subject further include Newspapers in the Old West by author Robert F. Karolevitz and The Business of Newspapers on the Western Frontier by Barbara Lee Cloud.
(Photos from author's private collection. Photo of Alta California newspaper building from the public domain)
