Through its 150 years, the paper has covered it all - from Indian wars to Butch Cassidy’s bank robbery in Montpelier to the 1907 “Trial of the Century” in the death of its murdered governor to the building of dams, the rise of businesses from Morrison-Knudsen to Micron, and the triumphs of the Boise State Broncos and Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong. Through subsequent owners, publishers and editors, the role of the Idaho Statesman remains the same: To be the primary source of news for Idahoans. The Idaho Statesman was now connecting its readers to the outside and telling the world about Idaho. on July 26, 1864, the first newspaper came off the press before an audience of residents and business backers. That allowed Boise residents to crowd into the cabin as the two pressmen set type for the first edition of the Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman.Īt 2 p.m. In newly platted Boise, the promised office building turned out to be a log cabin with no floor, glassless windows and an open entry. He took the money to prove to the freighter that the partners were changing their destination to Boise. Boise’s livery stable owner caught the wagon between Emmett and Horseshoe Bend. But the freighter with the press was still headed to Idaho City. Tom quickly rode the 35 miles to bring his brother on board. He was going to be the editor and he had to agree to the deal. Their third brother, James Reynolds, was already in Idaho City. The merchants had $1,500 in cash and offered the use of an office building for free for a year. When the wagon reached the Snake River, the Reynolds brothers were persuaded enough to ride on ahead and listen to what Boise’s businessmen had to offer. Once Lincoln won the Civil War, Boise might become the capital of a new state. Boise, not Idaho City, was where people were going to come and stay and build a new society. It was situated on the main mail and express routes, including the Oregon Trail next to Fort Boise. Boise was the future!Įstablished the year before, Boise’s population had already reached 1,000. It already had a newspaper, the weekly Boise News. You can just imagine Riggs’ pitch: Yes, Idaho City was the largest city in the Pacific Northwest, with 7,000 residents. Like a modern-day business recruiter, Riggs promised the brothers the support of advertisers in the growing business community.Ībraham Lincoln had just declared Idaho a territory the year before and Boise businessmen were trying to move the territorial capital from Lewiston to Boise. He met the brothers at the Grand Ronde River and spent the day riding alongside their ox-drawn freight wagon, making the case for them to set up shop in Boise. When Dick and Tom Reynolds left Portland with a printing press in 1864, they thought they were going to the mining boom town of Idaho City to open a newspaper.īut Boise co-founder Henry Chiles Riggs had other ideas.
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