Idaho World: a Pioneer Chronicle of the Territory 1863-1918
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1982 Idaho world: A pioneer chronicle of the territory 1863-1918 Ronnie R. Hayes The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Hayes, Ronnie R., "Idaho world: A pioneer chronicle of the territory 1863-1918" (1982). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 5028. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5028 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. rOPVl' irur i\rr m: ]0 7r, L*Jt iiMull! Hu! Ui .iJ/U T h i s is an unpublished manuscript in which copyright. sub SiSTS. Any FURTHER REPRINTING of its contents must be approv BY THE AUTHOR, Ma n s f ie ld L ibrary Un iv e r s it y of Montana Da t e : __ THE IDAHO WORLD A PIONEER CHRONICLE OF THE TERRITORY 1863-1918 By Ronnie R. Hayes B .A ./ Idaho State College, 1962 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 1981 Approved by: J X d A A t M . y f j i A A z h / Chairman•man, Board ^pf/Examiners Dean, Graduate •'S^noo 1 Date UMI Number: EP40492 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Diss®ftalbn UMI EP40492 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Hayes, Ronnie R., M.A., Autumn 1981 Journal ism The Idaho World / A Pioneer Chronicle of Its Territory 1863TT918 “T238- pp.) Director: Warren J. Brier This study traces the history of the Idaho World from its beginning as the Boise News in 1863 until the World suspended publication in 1918. It also includes the contributions of the World's editors, many of whom became political leaders in Idaho Territory and early statehood. The research sources include weekly and daily newspapers, magazine articles, photographs, maps, historical files, memos, letters, and interviews. The World and its editors fulfilled the duties of a frontier newspaper by "boasting" the community and territory to attract settlers and capital and to establish law and order. Its early editors practiced vituperative journalism, but as the gold-rush era subsided, their stands moderated. The last of the World1s editors, Charles E. Jones, was dean of Idaho's early-day journalists. He and his predecessors were visionaries who pleaded for social and economic improve ments. Their influence helped some of those improvements to eventually arrive. The problems associated with a frontier newspaper are chronicled in the World, which is an invaluable resource for journalistic contributions of Idaho history. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................... vi INTRODUCTION ........................................... 1 Chapter I. ESTABLISHING A NEWSPAPER ..................... 12 II. THE BOISE N E W S ................ 18 III. THE STREET E R A ................................ 37 Editor1s Duels and Threats ................. 52 Vigilantes and the W o r l d ................... 58 IV. 0 1 MEARA1S S T Y L E ................................ 73 V. DEMOCRATIC, BUT NOT BILLINGSGATE ............ 91 Ainslie1 s Politics .......................... 93 Other World Campaigns ........................ 100 "Fresh" News and M a i l ........................ 103 Indian Wars, Chinese, and Women ............. 106 Ainslie and His Contemporaries ............. 115 VI. WORLD CHANGES .................................. 119 New Quarters ................................ 124 VII. NEW OWNERS, NEW EDITORS, NEW E R A ............ 128 Campaigns Against Ainslie ................... 157 VIII. THE JONES E P O C H ............................... 171 Statehood and Old P r i n t s * ................. 177 IX. THE WORLD IN THE TWENTIETH C E N T U R Y .......... 187 Somber and Lighter Reportage ............... 203 Women Typos and School Papers ............... 208 iii X. "SLAP! BANG! HERE WE ARE A G A I N ! " ............. 215 XI. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE IDAHO WORLD ............... 227 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 234 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Idaho City about 1875, and the Butler brothers, John and Th o m a s ................ 14 2. Washington hand press used to print the Boise News and the Idaho W o r l d ......... 25 3,4. The Jones family and Idaho City residents in front of the World office in the 1880s? and George Ains l i e ................ 61 5,6. Idaho World editor and publisher Charles Jones and editor Thomas J. Sutton .... 72 7,8,9,10. Charles Jones, Egbert Jones, Emma Jones, Amelia Jones ............................ 84 11,12. Idaho City penitentiary and photograph of the city in the 188 0s .............. 94 13,14. Charles Jones in front of the Idaho World office about 1918; and Heman Jones . 104 Map 1. Idaho City and other Boise Basin communities . ............................ vii v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer is indebted to the Idaho Historical Society for access to newspaper files and materials and for the interest of and encouragement from its staff. Assistance also was extended by the Boise City Library, the Lewiston Public Library, the University of Idaho Library, the Oregon Historical Society, and the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. Alfred B. Day of Boise provided valuable information and photographs of the Jones family. Appreciation is extended to Warren J. Brier, Charles Hood Jr., and William B. Evans, advisers for this thesis, for their patience and suggestions; to the writer's parents for their encouragement and help; and to the writer's family, which tolerated an absentee father during the summers of research. vi City loroncj Ai non Orogrando. / Doadwood 4*£&ay Horso* j^Bonanxa t Robinson Bor v Pionokrvitlo PlacsrvnU > \ j *> Csntifrvilljr \J' Fort Bois«(H.B.C.)y •oarl $( / #Maho d city riP‘i^AnSnta **_A-Ricer Fort ° V iBoiso f • iRocky Bar Boiso ittlo Smoky O,•is*' Hailoy Hailsy Gold Bolt Volcano ^South Mountain arlv dav mining camps vii INTRODUCTION A newspaper was considered an important asset to a frontier town. It was helpful in competition for trade, in attracting settlers and capital, in seeking prizes such as county seats and territorial capitals, in establishing law and order, in defending a town or region from attacks in other journals, generally, in "boasting" the community. The Idaho World, established at Idaho City, Idaho Territory, in the 1860s, was one such newspaper. The first printing press in western America was estab lished at a frontier site that eventually would become part of the Territory of Idaho— a land contested by England, the United States and Indian tribes.^" In 1839, 25 years before the Idaho World was founded, the missionaries of the Hawaiian Islands gave a small print ing press and type to the Presbyterian missionaries of 2 Oregon. The outfit was shipped to Walla Walla, then packed by mules to Henry Harman Spalding's mission on the Clear water River about 12 miles east of its junction with the Snake River. E. 0. Hall and McCready, a man whom history ■'■John Hailey, History of Idaho (Boise: Syms York, 1924) , I, p. 364. 2Ibid. 1 2 3 remembers only with a last name, put the press together. Hall worked for Spalding at the mission, but Spalding found McCready, a printer from Montreal, Canada, wandering along the Clearwater River. The Lewiston Nez Perce News of August 27, 1885, reported that McCready "was at once installed as publisher, and rendered invaluable service in compiling a spelling book in the Nez Perce native tongue. ..." The two men thus became the first editors and printers in the Idaho Territory. Spalding had other materials published, usually books of the Bible, but use of the press diminished and it finally was sent back to Oregon. Because there was no population to support it, the first newspaper in Idaho would have to wait until after the discovery of gold in 1860. When settlement came it was unique— a west-to-east invasion of itinerant miners from California and Oregon followed by Southern sympathizers, many from Missouri, fleeing the Civil War. Idaho was a part of Washington Territory when the first newspaper, the Golden Age, was established at Lewiston August 2, 1862, the day prospectors discovered gold in southern Idaho's Boise Basin.^ Idaho's 3 Hailey, History of Idaho, p. 364; Nez Perce News, August 27, 1885, p. 1. 4 Hailey, History of Idaho, p. 364; W. J. McConnell, Early History of Idaho (Caldwell; Caxton Printers, 1913), p. 82. 3 second newspaper, the Boise News, appeared at West Bannock, 5 later Idaho City, September 29, 1863. The Golden Age lasted two years and five months before it gave way to The North Idaho Radiator in January, g 1865. The Radiator was printed on the press of the Age. In October, 1865, the Radiator was moved to Helena, Montana, where the first issue of the Montana Radiator appeared in 7 December, 1865. The Boise News and its publishers fared better than g the Age, though the News lasted only 13 months. Its successor, the Idaho World, became one of the cornerstones of Idaho journalism. It managed to survive the rises and declines of Idaho's gold-rush era and the territory's entrance into the Union as the 43rd state.