Author Description

Newspapers in mining boom camps were life the towns they served--rough and explosive. Putting out a paper in the turbulent Rocky Mountain mining fields was often more troublesome and dangerous than claiming and working a placer mine--particularly if an editor wanted to encourage stability, harmony, and economic growth in his community. In Boom Town Newspapers, the turmoils and triumphs of the papers and their editors are recorded in compelling detail. Rutted roads, saloons, ne'er-do-wells, and a newspaper--such were the main features of a boom town. Camp editors, many of whom were journeymen printers with little if any editorial experience, used their newspapers to aid them in their self-appointed missions to bring law and order--and new settlers--to their communities. Editors alternately praised and berated their readers in an attempt to show the world that life in the mining towns of the West were safe and civilized. The caustic columns of these frontier moralists were note always received with equanimity by their readers, however. Fights and even duels between editors and subscribers--and particularly between rival newspapermen--were common occurrences, as editors competed against mud, gambling, violence, and each other in their struggle to improve life in the camps. This engaging book brings hardship and humor of mining camps and their newspapers vividly to life. The combination of lively prose and historical detail will delight readers who enjoy books about the West as it really was.