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First newspapers printed in Oregon…
July 18, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
It was in 1843 when the great migration over the Oregon trail to the Pacific Northwest began, with some 3000 settling in Oregon City just a few years later. Located on the Willamette 
River, this town became the Oregon Territory’s first capital.
It was also the location of the first newspaper in the territory, titled the “Oregon Spectator” which began publishing on Feb. 5, 1846. This newspaper changed hands several times, and one of its editors, George L. Curry, left the newspaper in 1848 to start the Oregon City “Free Press” printed on a press he crafted by hand out of wood and scrap iron. This newspapers lasted for less than eight months.
On June 8 in 1848, at Tualatin Plains, a religious newspaper was begun by the Rev. John Smith Griffin titled the “Oregon American & Evangelical Unionist“. By the early 1850’s Portland was being settled and numerous newspapers made their appearance, the first being the “Weekly Oregonian” on Dec. 4, 1850. As more migrated West, more newspapers (The Morning Oregonian & more) made their appearance in not only Portland but other settlement towns in the Oregon Territory. Oregon would become the 33rd state in early 1859. (credit: “Printing In The Americas”)
A well dressed runaway…
July 16, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
It is not uncommon that runaway reward ads include a small engraving of a person, but never have I seen an engraving of so well-heeled a runaway as this guy. And his reward of “1 mill” is a bit of an insult as to his value. This ad appeared in the “Middlesex Gazette” from Middletown, Connecticut, July 29, 1829…
The Traveler… “The Little Belt Affair”… Bonaparte putting up a “smoke front”…
June 6, 2011 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Today’s travels landed on a nice surprise! The Middlesex Gazette dated June 6, 1811 carries a lengthy letter by Commodore John Rodgers to the Secretary of the Navy dated May 23, 1811. This 
was referencing a confrontation between his frigate and a Britannic which at first would not identify itself, and then was revealed to be Little Belt. This incident furthered the tension between Britain and the United States which led to the War of 1812.
Also in this issue is the reporting that Bonaparte had established a public Manufactory of Tobacco and Snuff. This would be carried on by “a particular committee for the benefit of the public chest, or in other words for his own benefit, and that no private individual shall in future be concerned in the manufacture of these articles…” He would control what type and where all the tobacco would be purchased, etc. Does it sound a little self-serving??
~The Traveler
Hawaii’s first “regular” newspaper…
May 30, 2011 by TimHughes · 2 Comments
In a previous post we discussed the first newspaper in Hawaii was essentially a student newspaper, titled “Ka Lama Hawaii” (The Hawaiian Luminary), done by Protestant missionaries at their school at Lahainaluna on the island of Maui. But it was just a few months later when the second newspaper in Hawaii–and considered the first “regular” newspaper on the islands–was published. “Ke Kumu Hawaii” began publication on Nov. 12, 1834 (some references cite an October beginning which cannot be verified).
We were fortunate to bring into our inventory the volume one, number two issue of this title, dated Nov. 26, 1834. Very similar in size to “Ka Lama Hawaii” it contains 8 pages, 6 of which are in the Hawaiian language. Rather than a student, or school newspaper, this was a regular newspaper for the general public.
We provide photos of this very rare newspaper for our friends to enjoy.
First newspapers in Oklahoma…
May 9, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The history of present-day Oklahoma is different from most states, as most of the district was set apart by Congress in 1834 for the occupation of five tribes of southern Indians who were taken there from 1820-1840. In 1889 part of the area was opened for white settlement, although a considerable number moved into the territory before lawful entry, causing them to to be called “Sooners”. Oklahoma did not become a state until 1907, the third last of the continuous 48 to do so (New Mexico & Arizona were the last).
The first Oklahoma printing press came by way of Georgia & Tennessee where it published various Indian pamphlets. The first newspaper in Oklahoma was the “Cherokee Advocate” which began Se[pt. 26, 1844 at Tahlequah, printed in both English and Cherokee. It was preceded by one month by the “Cherokee Messenger” but it was more of a magazine than a newspaper, and it lasted for just 13 issues. The “Advocate” continued publishing–with some interruptions–for over 60 years.
The “Choctaw Telegraph” was issued at Doaksville in the Choctaw Nation near the end of 1848 but it did not last beyond a year. But it was then revived in 1870 and continued until 1907. Yet another newspaper was printed at Doaksville in May, 1850, called the “Choctaw Intelligencer“. Printed in both English & Choctaw it lasted for about a year. The other pre-Civil War newspaper was actually a high school publication called the “Cherokee Rosebud” and done by the students of Park Hill Female Seminary at Tahlequah. It began in 1848.
Antebellum American Newspapers… AAS…
April 11, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Vincent Golden of the American Antiquarian Society, recently produced a video which describes the history and characteristics of Antebellum American newspapers. We thought our readers might enjoy this informative piece, from the Curator of the AAS:
Antebellum American Newspapers from American Antiquarian Society on Vimeo.
Collecting Ideas: Charles Dickens…
April 4, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
An area of collecting interest which continues to draw interest is collecting newspapers with Charles Dickens related content. Whether one’s passion is Harper’s Weekly Illustrated issues containing serialized versions of his writings, issues published by him directly
(All the Year Round & Household Words) , or newspapers with news concerning his travels and/or his thoughts on various topics, there certainly are a host of ways to enjoy this particular area of newspaper collectability.
Although not directly related to the hobby, we recently came across a post we thought our Dickens-collecting friends might enjoy: 15 Things You Never Knew About Dickens, by Emma Taylor. Feel free to share your Dickens knowledge with the collecting world via responses to this post.
First newspapers in Ohio…
March 21, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Ohio was still part of the vast Northwest Territory when the first newspaper in present-day Ohio was published in 1793. The date was November 9 and William Maxwell’s newspaper the “Centinel of the North-Western Territory” was the first product of the printing press anywhere north of the Ohio River & west of the Allegheny & Blue Ridge mountains. The city of publication was Cincinnati, but just a few years earlier it’s name had changed from “Losantiville”. The newspaper would continue until June of 1796, although records show the newspaper was sold to Edmund Freeman in 1796 who changed the name to “Freeman’s Journal“. Records show, however, that it did not publish until July of 1800 and lasted less then 6 months.
The second newspaper published in Ohio was also done in Cincinnati, called the “Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette“, begun in May of 1799 and lasting till the end of 1822. Only one other pre-statehood (1803) newspaper published in Ohio, being the “Scioto Gazette” published in Chillicothe, it beginning January 8, 1801 and lasting through the end of 1803.
Galt, California, among our Old West titles…
March 17, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
We have many issues of the “Weekly Galt Gazette“, California, in our Old West inventory, but perhaps few of our collectors know this city–current population of some 23,000, in Sacramento County–had its start in the California Gold Rush.
In 1850, a group of farmers settled around the banks of a small stream, Dry Creek, close to Galt. Their plans were to grow beef and dairy products. In the year 1869, the town of Galt was laid out by the Western Pacific Railroad Company. The name Galt was given at the request of John McFarland, a local rancher, in honor of his home town in Canada. It was previously called Dry Creek Township after the stream by which they settled. By 1869, the community consisted of blacksmiths, dairymen and cattle ranchers. Raising cattle was the main occupation.
Galt was built almost entirely of wooden structures making fires the biggest problem for the town. However, many of the old original homes are still standing, in excellent preservation, around town.
In 1880, Galt had two general merchandise stores, one variety store, one hotel, one harness shop, two blacksmith shops, two wagon and carriage manufacture and repair shops, one wood yard, one livery stable, two barber shops, two shoe stores, two saloons, one meat market, one barely mill, Wells Fargo & Co.’s Express Office with three physicians and one attorney-at-law in town.
By the turn of the century, cattle raising and dairying gradually decreased and agriculture took over. The principal grain was wheat.
(credit: City of Galt)
The Traveler… Maine becoming a state?… the horses know the way!…
March 10, 2011 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
This week’s journey found me with the Middlesex Gazette issue dated March 7, 1811. This contained a headline “Another New State” in which the District of Maine (a part of the state of Massachusetts) had held a Convention in Boston and voted 56 to 18, that “it is expedient to take the sense of the people on a separation from Old Massachusetts.” However, they did not obtain their statehood until nine years later as part of the Missouri Comprise.
An amusing story (see below) is of a Coachman, who while fetching some straw for his seat, found his horses leaving without him. They proceeded to the next place (with the coachman in chase) and stopped as they would normally do. A countryman entered and called “go on!” and the horses took off again at full speed to the next place, four miles away. Early auto-pilot?
~The Traveler