Pioneer Imprints from Fifty States · Roger J. Trienens
A SLIGHT MISTAKE
We understand Col. Bonneville says he has taken the names of all the Americans, between the Rio Grande and the Santa Cruz, and they number only one hundred and eighty. Come and pay us a longer visit, Colonel, and count again. There are nearly that number in and around Tucson alone, and there are a good many of us that dislike to be denationalized in so summary a manner. The Overland Mail Company alone, employs some seventy five Americans, between here and the Rio Grande, and they justly think, they have a right to be included, as well as the farmers living on the San Pedro and the Miembres rivers, it is hardly fair to leave them out. It is nearly as bad as cutting down the Americans on the Gila and Colorado to twelve. When there are ten times that number. Try it again Colonel, for evidently there is a slight mistake, some where. In the same issue is a notice illustrating the production difficulties characteristic of a frontier press: We have to apologize to the readers of the Arizonian, for the delay in issuing this our regular number; the detention has been unavoidably caused, by the indisposition of our printer. We hope it may not occur again, and will not as far as lays in our power to prevent it.
Mr. Joseph A. Gebow, having been a resident in the Mountains for nearly twenty years, has had ample opportunity of acquiring the language of the several tribes of Indians, and offers this sample of Indian Literature, hoping it may beguile many a tedious hour to the trader, the trapper, and to any one who feels an interest in the language of the Aborigines of the Mountains. Even for those unfamiliar with the native dialect, the words and phrases in English can be beguiling. Among the phrases chosen for translation are "Go slow, friend, don't get mad" and "You done wrong." The present Library of Congress copy is inscribed to the Smithsonian Institution, and to judge from a date stamp it was added to the Smithsonian Library by May 1870. Later it was transferred to the Library of Congress through the Smithsonian Deposit (see above, p. 52). It is in an old library binding with the original printed wrappers bound in. Montana Authorities do not agree on when or by whom Montana's first printing was undertaken. It was either at Bannack or Virginia City, both gold-mining towns, probably in October 1863.[138]
The earliest Montana imprints in the Library of Congress were printed at Virginia City in 1866 by John P. Bruce, who owned _The Montana Democrat_ and was designated Public Printer. Of these, the first may be an eight-page pamphlet, _Reports of the Auditor, Treasurer, and Indian Commissioner, of the Territory of Montana_. The latest document incorporated in the text is dated February 22, 1866, and the pamphlet was printed in the office of _The Montana Democrat_ probably not long after that date. Most likely the second Montana imprint in the Library is the _Message of Governor Thomas Francis Meagher, to the Legislature of Montana Territory, Delivered on the 6th Day of March, 1866_. Three thousand copies were ordered, according to a printed note on the eighth and final page of this work. Neither of these two imprints bears any mark of provenance, and both appear to have entered the Library before the turn of the century. Another early example of Montana printing in the Library is the 22d number, dated April 12, 1866, of _The Montana Democrat_, a sizable four-page sheet displaying the paper's motto: "Be faithful in all accepted trusts." It is addressed in pencil to the State Department. From about the same time the Library can boast two copies of _Laws of the Teritory_ [sic] _of Montana, Passed at the Second Session of the Legislature, 1866. Beginning March 5, 1866, and Ending April 14, 1866_, a work of 54 pages. Although copy one is imperfect, lacking pages 49-54, it is of interest for the penciled inscription on its title page: "President Johnson."
The Library of Congress also owns three copies of a celebrated Montana book published at Virginia City in the same year by the proprietors of _The Montana Post_ press, S. W. Tilton & Co.: _The Vigilantes of Montana, or Popular Justice in the Rocky Mountains. Being a Correct and Impartial Narrative of the Chase, Trial, Capture and Execution of Henry Plummer's Road Agent Band, Together With Accounts of the Lives and Crimes of Many of the Robbers and Desperadoes, the Whole Being Interspersed With Sketches of Life in the Mining Camps of the "Far West;" Forming the Only Reliable Work on the Subject Ever Offered the Public._ The author, Prof. Thos. J. Dimsdale, was an Englishman who served Virginia City as a teacher and as editor of the _Post_, where his work originally appeared in installments. This first edition in book form contains 228 pages of text. The Library date-stamped copy one in 1874. Copy two was deposited for copyright in 1882, the year that D. W. Tilton put out a second edition. Copy three bears the signature of Henry Gannett (1846-1914), geographer of the U.S. Geological Survey and at the time of his death president of the National Geographic Society. It contains a "War Service Library" bookplate and an "American Library Association Camp Library" borrower's card (unused). The Library of Congress received the copy from an unknown source in 1925.[139]
North Dakota As early as 1853 a printing press is said to have been at the St. Joseph mission station, site of the present town of Walhalla, but there is no evidence that the press was actually used there. The first confirmed North Dakota printing was done on a press which Company I of the 30th Wisconsin Volunteers brought to Fort Union in June 1864. In July of that year a small newspaper, the _Frontier Scout_, made its appearance at the fort, and extant issues name the Company as "proprietors" and identify (Robert) Winegar and (Ira F.) Goodwin, both from Eau Claire but otherwise unknown, as publishers.[140] Possibly antedating the _Frontier Scout_ is a rare broadside notice which either issued from the same press (not before June 17) or else could be the first extant Montana imprint.[141] With its early North Dakota newspapers the Library of Congress has a facsimile reprint of the _Frontier Scout_, volume 1, number 2 (the first extant issue), dated July 14, 1864. The Library's earliest original specimen of North Dakota printing is a copy of the _Frontier Scout_, volume 1, number 9 in a new series of issues at the paper's second location, Fort Rice. Dated August 10, 1865, this issue names Capt. E. G. Adams as editor and Lt. C. H. Champney as publisher. The Library's copy is printed on a four-page sheet of blue-ruled notebook paper.
The contents of the August 10 issue are almost entirely from the pen of Captain Adams, who saw fit to run the statement: "Every article in the paper is original and sees the light for the first time." A long poem about Columbus, which he entitled "San Salvador," occupies most of the front page. More interesting is a second-page editorial headed "Indian Impolicy," rebuking the authorities in Washington for not allowing General Sully a free hand in his current operations against the Indians (whom the editor calls "these miserable land-pirates"). From this issue one gains an impression that Fort Rice must have been a dreary post. The following is under date of August 6 in a section captioned "Local Items": By the Big Horn and Spray [vessels] the Q. M. Dept. at Fort Rice receive 4500 sacks of corn. The Mail arrives. The wolves are howling on all sides tonight; we can see them, some of them are as large as year old calves. The first cat arrives at Fort Rice. There are so many rats and mice here it is a great field for feline missionaries. The Library of Congress obtained its copy of this issue of the _Frontier Scout_ through an exchange with the South Dakota Historical Society in November 1939. Alaska Printing is not known to have been undertaken by the Russians in Alaska,[142] nor can a broadside notice of 1854 printed by an English searching party aboard H.M.S. _Plover_ at Point Barrow[143] be properly considered as Alaskan printing. The first printing in Alaska evidently followed its transfer to United States rule on October 18, 1867.
Despite the absence of a bibliography or trustworthy history of early Alaskan printing, it seems safe to say that the earliest imprints were the orders issued by the Military District of Alaska beginning with General Orders No. 1, dated October 29, 1867.[144] The District headquarters were at Sitka. There is no statement on the orders about place of printing, but it is difficult to imagine how they could have been printed elsewhere than Alaska and still have served their immediate purpose. The earliest Alaskan printing in the Library of Congress is a series of general orders dating from April 11, 1868, to July 1, 1870. These orders, printed as small sheets and leaflets, are mostly of a routine character, the majority reporting courts-martial held at Sitka. In the General Orders No. 1, of April 11, 1868, Jefferson C. Davis announces his assumption of command of the Department of Alaska, which superseded the Military District of Alaska on March 18, 1868, and he names the members of his departmental staff. The orders are printed on different kinds of paper, including blue-ruled, and many of them carry official signatures in manuscript. General Orders No. 13, of December 31, 1868, is stamped: "Received Adjutant Gen'ls Office Apr 6 1870." The whole series is bound into a volume, now destitute of both covers, which was weeded from the Army War College Library sometime after World War II. The National War College transferred it to the Library of Congress in or about 1953.
Since the facts surrounding the Army press have yet to be documented, it may be well to consider the civilian printing of Alaska also. This apparently began with the initial issue of _The Alaskan Times_, dated April 23, 1869, and printed on a press obtained from San Francisco.[145] The _Times_ ceased publication in 1870. Apart from the general orders of 1868-70, the earliest Alaskan printing in the Library is its file of _The Sitka Post_ beginning with the second issue, dated November 5, 1876. The _Post_, published in a small six-page format on the 5th and 20th of each month, was the second newspaper to be printed in Alaska. Neither the _Times_ nor the _Post_ identifies its printer. Featured in the November 5 issue is "The Cavalry Fight at Brandy Station," an extract from L. P. Brockett's _The Camp, the Battle Field, and the Hospital_ (Philadelphia, 1866). Following this is a forceful editorial on "The Indian Campaign," which advocates committing a greater number of U.S. troops to the war against the Sioux. Certain advertisements in this issue are noteworthy because they relate to the paper itself. One is on the fourth page: We wish to call the Attention of all BUSINESS MEN who intend to Trade in Alaska to the fact that The Sitka Post is the Only Newspaper PUBLISHED in the TERRITORY. It is devoted entirely to the Interests of ALASKA; will never be made the organ of any party [o]r ring, political, commercial, or otherwise; and will make it its object to give the news of the TERRITORY. ALL ENTERPRISING MEN who wish to bring their BUSINESS before the Public of Alaska Territory cannot do better than by ADVERTISING in The Sitka Post.
Another appears on the last page: MEN OF ENTERPRISE! TAKE NOTICE! The SITKA POST Is the only Paper printed in Alaska. It is the best medium of Advertising. It circulates in Sitka, Wrangel, Stikeen, Kodiak; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, Cal; Baltimore, Md, and Washington, D. C. Send your Advertisements to J. J. Daly Editor, Sitka Post, Sitka, A. And there is a brief appeal at the end of the last page: Wanted--More subscribers and contributors to this paper. The Library of Congress file of the _Post_ is in an old Library binding and extends from number 2 without break to the 14th and final number, dated June 5, 1877. The first page in the volume bears a Library date stamp of 1877. Also on the first page is the signature "M. Baker," preceded by the words "Purchased by" in a different hand. Thus the file was apparently assembled by Marcus Baker (1849-1903), a noted cartographer and writer on Alaska who was employed from 1873 to 1886 by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Some issues are addressed in pencil to individual subscribers, three of whom can be positively identified from company muster rolls at the National Archives as members of the 4th Artillery, U.S. Army, stationed at Sitka. They are "Ord[nance] Serg[ean]t [George] Go[l]kell"; "H[enry] Train," a corporal in Company G; and "W[illiam] J. Welch," a bugler in Company G. * * * * * Transcriber's Notes The images have not been cleaned up in order to keep the worn look of the old documents. The texts within the images have not been transcribed with the exception of some titles. Image descriptions, added for convenience, are within parentheses below the images. Captions found in the original book are not enclosed in parentheses. All [sic] notes were from the original book. Retained spelling variations found in the original book.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.