Sometimes when I’m stuck on my historical novels about Oregon Territory, I go out to the Oregon Spectator newspaper for the month that I’m writing about and look for inspiration on what was actually on the minds of citizens of the day. I didn’t know what to write in today’s post, though I knew I wanted it to deal with the settlers’ life in Oregon. So I looked up the Oregon Spectator issue for May 22, 1851, the year in which my current novel takes place.
What struck me was that journalism hasn’t changed that much in the last 168 years. Today’s reporters and editors might take umbrage at my conclusion, but in fact, the Oregon Spectator in 1851 included most of the good and bad aspects of our media today.
The biggest difference is the lack of immediacy. Today, we can see events as they are happening on television and social media. In 1851, it typically took about three months for letters to reach Oregon from the States. Ships brought newspapers with them more regularly, but which papers arrived when was a very hit-or-miss affair.
When papers from the East arrived, the Oregon Spectator reprinted articles, much as local newspapers today will pick up articles from major news services. Just as titillating and poignant stories get repeated over and over on today’s news channels, articles from Eastern papers were repeated in the territorial paper of Oregon. In the May 22, 1851, issue, there was an article labeled “Mrs. Swishelm on Bigamy, etc.” reprinted from the Pittsburgh Sunday Visitor, and another article titled “From the New England Galaxy, Human Life; or the First and Last Minute.”
And there were articles about politics and local issues. The May 22, 1851, paper contained a long letter from a judge explaining his interpretation of procedures for becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen. One article reported on a recent Temperance Society meeting in Oregon City, during which the speaker described the effects of alcohol on mind and body. Another article reported on a reconciliation between General Scott and Governor Marcy “who had not been on friendly relations since the Mexican war.”
There was an article describing problems with the postal system and another on the awarding of postal contracts. And another article about the establishment of a reservation for the Tualatin tribe, forbidding settlers to file new claims on this land. Also, the paper contained a verbatim transcription of a new Act of Congress on appropriations for civil and diplomatic expenses.
There were also human interest stories, humor pieces, and a blurb entitled “Shirt Tree” (describing how South American natives wore garments made of tree bark). There were death notices and legal notices. And price lists for various goods available in the area. And reports of new schools opening.
And lots of advertisements—all text-based, not image-based—placed by general stores, mill owners, people seeking investments, and lawyers.
My favorite piece in this issue was a summary of an article from the Louisville Journal, in which the author refers to a Mr. Morse of Louisiana, who opposed cheap postage because it increased the circulation of newspapers. The article states that Mr. Morse lived on the Bayou Teche,
“where the only newspapers are printed on the skins of dead alligators, where whiskey is two cents a quart, where the gospel don’t shine but once in seven years, and where every man who can read and write is sent to Congress, to the Legislature, or to the Penitentiary.”
Many readers of newspapers today would probably agree with that last sentiment.
All newspapers in the mid-19th century had to be type-set. Photography did not yet exist on a commercial scale, and woodcut images in newspapers were rare. The telegraph had not reached Oregon, and, of course, radio and television were unknown.
The pace of reporting was slower in 1851, but humans had the same desire to connect and communicate. And their interests were not much different than those of Americans today.
What do you think of our news sources today?
