| Show THE MECHANICS OF PRINTING and during the 1820s the all-metal Washington hand press came into use It was the invention of Samuel Rust who patented it in 1829 two-man team could produce 175 copies in an hour on suchpress Hundreds were built and carried along in the expansion of the nation brought primitive but invaluable newspapers to settlements throughout the land Advancements added by Adam Ramage of Philadelphia somewhat accelerated the process and those bearing his name t00 came into common use on the frontier Ramage press in fact was purchased by William Phelps when he was sent East for that purpose by Mormon Church authorities in 1847 soon after the pioneering colonists had reached the Great Salt Lake valley Space in wagon trains was atpremium however and it didnactually reach Deseret as the land theysettled was called by the Saints until 1849 The following year it produced the first copies of the Deseret News Another Mormon-owned press built by Ramage eventually printed early newspapers in both Colorado and New Mexico It was in use in Independence Missouri whendestructive band decided to eliminate the churchprinting plant To avoid the press falling into gentile hands as non-Mormons were termed the Saints threw the press into the Missouri River When gold was discovered near present-day Denver Colorado one John Merrick bought the press which had been resur rected from its watery grave near St Joseph and took it to the Colorado goldfields at Cherry Creek In no hurry to unveil his newspaper Merrick spent time getting acquainted rather than putting the press to use Four days after hereached the camp William Byers arrived from Omaha withWashington hand press heintended to put into operation at Pike Peak There wildly exaggerated strike had resulted inmassive migration of gold-seekers -the one historically por trayed by the slogan PikePeak or Bust Italso remem bered as the one in which most would-be miners busted Because the strike fizzled Byers decided to newspaper at 215 Digital image 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah Al rights reserved |
