# William John Hill

William John Hill (March 3, 1840 – February 14, 1918) was a Canadian-American prospector, ferryman, newspaper publisher, and politician. He published the first daily newspaper in Idaho, the Idaho Daily Avalanche, in 1876. He was also the publisher of the Californian Salinas Index. Hill was a California state senator in 1880 and 1881, and in 1886, he was elected mayor of Salinas, California, serving three terms.

## Early life

Hill was born in Prescott, Canada West (now Ontario) in 1840 to John Hill and Elizabeth Smades, the eldest of thirteen children.
John Hill, born in Lochmaben, Dumfries-shire, Scotland, and Elizabeth Smades, born in Prescott, Upper Canada (now Ontario), were married about 1835. John Hill died at the age of 80 by drowning. When Elizabeth Samdes died, she was described in her obituary as an "old pioneer of Augusta" New York.
At 22, Hill travelled to British Columbia, then a British colony, via the Panama Canal, to prospect for gold. This prospecting took him to Alaska and Idaho, where he founded Hill's Ferry on the Owyhee River "at the junction of the Chico road from California, and the Humboldt road from Nevada," which operated from 1865 to 1867.

## Massacre of Indigenous peoples

In the 1860s, relations between the Indigenous people of the Owyhee and the settlers was frayed. The U.S. government reneged on its promises regarding Indigenous people of the region and their land, the Paitue people, in their joint treaties. White settlers began invading the area as well as prospectors against the terms of the treaties. This resulted in conflict between the two groups, with several atrocities being committed on both sides.
In 1866, US troops fought with Paiute warriors in what is called the Battle of Owyhee River, with one casualty and one wounded among the US troops. It was reported the 30 Paiute warriors were killed.
Around this time, it was reported, Hill and a group of 150 white settlers massacred 100 Indigenous people, with one death among the settlers. Hill was claimed to have been "shot through the left thigh." For this, Hill gained "the sobriquet Old Hill."

## Political career

Hill began his political career in Sliver City, Idaho Territory, USA, in the 1870s, "elected County Clerk, Sheriff, and Tax Collector."
Hill was a California State Senator, representing Monterrey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties in the 23rd (1880) and 24th (1881) sessions.
Hill served three terms as mayor of Salinas, California, USA, in 1886-92 and 1898. He was postmaster at Salinas from 1902 to 1915.

## Newspaper publisher

In 1875, in Silver CIty, Idaho Territory, USA, Hill purchased the Owyhee Avalanche, remaking it the Idaho Daily Avalanche, in 1876, as the first daily newspaper in Idaho. He later turned the paper into a weekly, renamed the Idaho Weekly Avalanche. He sold the paper in 1876, which continued to be published until 1897 as The Idaho Avalanche. The paper continues, published as The Owyhee Avalanche.
In 1885, Hill purchased a weekly publication, The Salinas City Index, at Salinas City, Monterrey County, California, USA, which he continued to publish as The Salinas Weekly Index until 1895.
In 1896, Hill began a new publication, a daily newspaper, The Salinas Index. He published the paper until 1928, when he retired from publishing. The paper continues to be published as The Salinas Californian.

## Family and death

In 1873, he and Arabella Amelia (Belle) Peck married in Silver City, Idaho, USA. They had one child, William Charles Hill, born in 1874.
Hill died of uremia on February 14, 1918, in Salinas, CA.