The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-10-17
THE PIONEER PAPER.
STORY or THE FIRST NEWSPAPER 49,
SUED ~ CALIFORNIA.

An Old Philadelphian Was the SIainsprlng
of les Early Rigging Up Plant
Under Great Diflcultles-A Member Of
the Original star Honored I'm Monterey.
The only living member of the origi-
nal star Of the first newspaper ever
printed In California resides about FIVE
m1les from the city of Monterey, i'm the
Carmel valley His name is Swan, and
every one calls him Pioneer" Swan,
partly to please him and partly because
he deserves the title. Few men are in
teresting at 50 but Pioneer is still
bright and clear in his memory and not
entirely without ambition. If you ask
him, he will tell you, with evident rel.
ish, about some highly interesting inter.
views of his reportorial days.
The small beginnings Of this first
newspaper in California are quite curl.
ous as related by Swan. The original
press was imported from Spain by Jose
Figueroa, the sixth governor of Califor.
mia under Maxican rule. Figueroa,
whose term Of Office expired In 1885,
imported the press with the intention of
printing his official reports. His guber-
material career, however, was brief and
stormy, and he never found time to col
lect his materials, much less print his
reports, 20 the machine was consigned
to q stnreroom in the old cuartel, which
was the Mexican soldiers barracks in
Monterey. There ID lay, together with
keg of ink, covered with rubbish and
undisturbed, until 1916.
This was the year when Cotton be-
came alcalde, and with the character
istic American restlessness commenced
to stir things up in the sleepy old town.
The first thing that he did was to COM
mence an investigation Of all the gov
ernment property. Among this proper
ty was the cuartel, and here he found
the old press. Being man Of literary
tastes and some experience, he decided
to start newspaper and utilize his dis
covery. First, he selected partner,
Robert Semple, and then began search
for the requisite materials. There were
ink and press, but the ingenuity of the
pair was taxed to restore the rules and
leads, which had become separated from
the press and lost during it's years Of
idlaness. A-
In Colton's diary there is descrip-
tion OF the paper. Under the date of
Aug. 10, 1916, he writes: To-day the
first newspaper ever published in Cali
fornia made It's appearance. The hon
on, If such 1t may be, Of writing the
prospectus falls to me. It is TO be issued
every Saturday and is published by
Semple 81 Cotton.
Little did ! think when relin-.
quished the editorship Of The North
American. in Philadelphia, that my
next feat in this line would be of here
In California.
My partner, Semple, is an emigrant
from Kentucky. who stands . feet 8
inches In his stockings. He wears q
buckskin dress, foxskin cap, Is true
with his rifle, ready with his pen and
quick at the type case.
He created the materials of our Office
out of chaos OF small concern which
jose Figueroa intended to use In print
ing official reports.
The press Is old enough to be pre-
served % D curiosity. The mice had
burrowed In the balls, there were no
rules nor leads, and the types were
rusty and all in pi. II was only by