EARLY
NEWSPAPERS OF WHITE PINE
Contributed
by Mike Bunker 2003
For White Pine history enthusiasts who are
not fortunate enough to have access to the “History of Nevada,
1881” edited by Myron Angel, the following early newspaper
information has been compiled by Mike Bunker. This 680-page book
(in small type) was first published by Thompson & West of
Oakland, California, and reprinted in 1958 by Howell-North Books
of Berkeley, California.
Entries appearing inside [brackets] were
added by Mike when this document was re-typed. This is the first
of many subsequent Nevada books that came to be known as “mug
histories,” since they featured pictures and biographies of
many prominent (and sometimes not so prominent) people of the
era. Many “patrons” sponsored the printing of this valuable
history, and we should all be thankful for their contributions!
THE
PRESS OF WHITE PINE COUNTY.
Following
the great mining excitement attending the discovery of the
Hidden Treasure and Eberhardt mines of Treasure Hill, in 1868,
came the printer with press and type; and on the twenty-sixth
day of December, 1868, the first number of the White
Pine News was published by Messrs. W. H. Pitchford and
Robert W. Simpson. The press and material, as well as the
publishers and printers, had come from the Reese
River Reveille office, at Austin, though having first been
used in printing the Silver Bend Reporter [at Belmont]. The News began life as a weekly, with six columns to the page,
independent in politics, but devoted to the development of the
mining interests of the immediate vicinity. The office was one
of the earliest buildings erected in Treasure City, and the News
had the honor of being the most “elevated” daily paper in
the world, the locality having an elevation of over 9,000 feet
above the level of the sea.
On the summit of this bleak and storm-driven
peak flourished a city of 5,000 inhabitants, busy in search of
other bonanzas like the extraordinary one that had attracted
them hither. Here was a good field for a newspaper, and the News
prospered. Myron Angel, formerly of the Reveille,
became the editor, and in February the paper was advanced to a
tri-weekly, and in March to a daily, with John I. Ginn as
“local.” In April, George W. Cassidy, now member of
Congress, succeeded Mr. Ginn, and thus became attached to the
press of Nevada. Among the citizens of this city in the clouds
was an experienced and distinguished editor and printer, Mr.
William J. Forbes, formerly of the Humboldt
Register, and late of the Virginia Trespass
[named so by Forbes because he felt he was trespassing on a
field already occupied by other papers], who had left the
profession in disgust, saying he was tired of working to please
one in twenty; he would now work for the other nineteen; and
therefore had established a saloon [Bureau Saloon], thinking
selling whisky a shorter road to wealth than publishing a
newspaper. But “once an editor, always an editor,” it is
said, and Forbes was uneasy out of his old vocation, so in May,
1869, he leased the News,
and became its editor, and in July purchased a half interest.
The paper was enlarged to nine columns, which size it retained
until 1873, and was distinguished for its fine typographical
appearance as well as the ability of it editorial management. In
January, 1870, the News was removed to Hamilton, which place had been made
the county seat of White Pine County. Under Mr. Forbes' control
the paper was a pronounced and active Republican advocate, being
noted as a political power. In 1873, A. [Abraham] Skillman and
Fred Elliott purchase the office, reduced the size of the paper,
and changed its political character to Democratic. From this
date the News
experienced many vicissitudes. Skillman & Elliott continued
the publication until 1875, when Mr. Elliott retired from the
firm, the senior partner maintaining the paper as a tri-weekly
and as a weekly until November, 18778, when its publication was
suspended, Mr. Skillman transferring his capital and energies to
the Sentinel, in the neighboring county of Eureka. Several
efforts were made to revive the News
at Hamilton, but the issue of December 23, 1880, says the
material of the office will be removed to Cherry Creek, where
the paper will be published hereafter, Mr. W. R. Forrest and Mr.
W. L. Davis being the proprietors.
THE
INLAND EMPIRE
The promising field of White Pine, as it
appeared in the fall and winter of 1868-69, was very inviting to
the enterprising journalist, and two experienced and skilled
gentlemen of the craft, Mr. James J. Ayers, formerly of the San
Francisco Call, now of
the Los Angeles Express,
and Mr. C. A. V. Putnam, at present connected with the Territorial
Enterprise, prepared themselves with one of the most
complete outfits ever put in a printing-office outside of the
large commercial cities, and by great labor and expense
transported it to Hamilton in February, 1869, and in March
following issued the first number of the Daily
Inland Empire. This was a large, handsome paper and well
conducted, but with the decline in the “White Pine
excitement,” the roseate hue of the promised wealth and fame
faded into sombre colors, the enthusiastic publishers succumbed
to their fate, and the Inland
Empire ceased to be, the last publication being in April,
1870. But the end was not yet. The News
being a powerful political element on the Republican side, the
Democrats, wishing to counteract its influence, purchased the
material of the Inland Empire, and revived its publication in the
gubernatorial campaign of 1870, under the charge of G. W.
Cassidy. The result of the campaign was the election of L. R.
Bradley, Governor, whose money had been chiefly instrumental in
reviving the paper. The object accomplished, the paper ceased,
and soon after the material was sold to H. C. Patrick, who
removed it to Stockton, California.
THE
EVENING TELEGRAM.
The rivalry between the White
Pine News at Treasure City, and the Inland
Empire at Hamilton—both large and able morning
papers—induced Forbes of the News
to enter into an arrangement with Pat Holland, who had been the
carrier of the Inland Empire and become dissatisfied with his
business relations with that establishment, whereby Holland
should ostensibly be the publisher of an evening paper to be
circulated in Hamilton, hoping thereby to lessen the circulation
and advertising of the Empire.
In accordance with this arrangement, the Evening
Telegram sprang into life in the winter of 1869, with Pat
Holland as the proprietor. W. J. Forbes wrote its “heavy”
editorials, while Fred Hart tried his maiden pen upon the
“locals.” It was printed in the office of the White Pine News on Treasure Hill, and ceased its existence
when the Inland Empire
succumbed.
THE
SHERMANTOWN REPORTER.
In the early part of 1869, E. F. McElwain and
U. E. Allen began the publication of the Shermantown Reporter,
with Wm. H. Clipperton as editor, which was printed with the
material and press formerly used by the Mountain
Champion at Belmont. Subsequently it came into the
possession of A. Skillman and G. A. Brier, but had only a short
existence. The material and press were moved by Skillman &
Co. to Eureka, and there used in starting the Sentinel.
The press was a peripatetic one, a small Washington, and had
been in use in the publication of the Nye
County News as well as the Mountain
Champion, within the knowledge of the writer hereof, and was
an ancient affair when he first saw it. The Carson Appeal of May
19, 1870, says: “G. A. Brier, editor of the Shermantown Reporter,
dropped dead about three o'clock this afternoon, in the office
of Wells, Fargo & Co., at Shermantown.”
THE
SCHELL CREEK PROSPECT,
Chronologically,
comes next in the list of White Pine newspapers. In 1872 the
mines of the Schell Creek range of mountains gave great promise
of wealth, and the village of Schellbourne grew into importance.
As every thrifty village of the Silver State must have a paper,
Messrs. Forbes & Pitchford, of the White Pine News, at Hamilton in the same county, supplied
the demand, and established a six-column weekly, calling it the Schell
Creek Prospect, issuing the first number in July, 1872. This
continued for a period of six months, when, in January, 1873,
the office was abandoned, the building removed, and the press,
type, cases, etc., left exposed to the mercy of the elements.
Some of it was subsequently gathered together and moved to
Battle Mountain, in Lander County, where Mr. Forbes produced his
Measure for Measure.
THE
WARD MINER.
In
the history of the press a paper is a paper, whether it be the
size of a postal card or a blanket sheet. The Ward Miner,
as it appeared in the fall of 1876, was neither of these, but
was literally a 7x9 paper, being about the size of a sheet of
notepaper, and published by Mark W. Musgrove. The wealth of the
Martin White mine, and the rich croppings of many quartz ledges
in the neighborhood, had attracted a large population to Ward,
and the field seemed promising for a newspaper.
Musgrove was not an experienced journalist, and his paper
did not prosper exceedingly, therefore he transferred his office
and his “good-will” to Mr. Robert W. Simpson, one of the
pioneers of journalism in Nevada, who then established
THE
WARD REFLEX,
Issuing
his first number April 19, 1877, making it a handsome paper with
five columns to the page, which appears the favorite size in the
mining regions of Nevada. The Reflex
is independent in politics, though with Democratic proclivities,
ardently devoting itself to the interest of its section.
THE
CHERRY CREEK INDEPENDENT.
On the first of January, 1878, the first
number of the Cherry Creek Independent
was issued by Mr. B. M. Barney, who continued it about two
months, when he sold to A. V. Hoyt, who ran it about one month,
when it ceased to be. The paper was, with five-column pages,
Independent Democratic in politics, and had a circulation of
about 250 copies.
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Last Updated on 06/08/2007