December 1996 Blazer

Joseph E. Johnson and old guardy

THE HISTORY BLAZER ArEI\' S OF UTAH'S PAST FROI~ TI HE Utah State Historical Society 300 Rio Grailde Salt Lake Citv. tTT 84101 ( 801) 533- 3300 FAX ( 801) 533- 3503 Joseph E. Johnson and " Old Guardy" JOSEPHE LLIS JOHNSOMNUS T HAVE BEEN born with printing ink in his veins or he would not have started so many newspapers in so many places. He was an editor or owner of no less than five newspapers in Iowa and Nebraska. Once he had relocated in Utah County, he began to publish the Fanner's Oracle. After moving to Utah's Dixie he founded and operated newspapers in St. George and Silver Reef. Johnson's weer began when he purchased a printing press in 1852 with his brother- in- law, Almon Babbitt. At Kanesville, Iowa ( later called Council Bluffs), he managed the Weekly Western Bugle and as editor renamed it the Council BluD Bugle. When the Frontier Guardian, the Mormon newspaper run by Orson Hyde, ceased operation, Johnson purchased " Old Guardy," the printing press, and it remained with him in all his journalistic ventures. Over the next few years he fathered the Omaha Arrow, the first newspaper in Nebraska Temtory, the Crescent City Oracle, and the Council BluB Press. He became well known for his gleeful personality and flowery writing style. After a brief sojourn to the Colorado mines, where he established not a newspaper but a store, he returned to a small village named Wood River where he started the Huntsman's Echo in 1860, filling it with local, immigration, and mining news. In August 1861 Johnson prepared to move to Utah. " Old Guardy," the type, and other materials were freighted west at great expense. In southern Utah County he built a 20- room " mansion" of adobe that he called Spring Lake Villa. One room was reserved for the printing press, and once again Johnson began publishing. The year was 1863. There were few newspapers in Utah Territory. The Deseret News was widely circulated but had a religious emphasis. The coming of the U. S. Army to the temtory in 1858 had led to the establishment of the Valley Tan, an anti- Mormon newspaper mainly for soldiers. The Mountaineer emerged in an attempt to balance the negativism of the Valley Tan. Both papers were short- lived. The Deseret News again had a monopoly. But Johnson wuld not get journalism out of his system. In May 1863 his initial issue of the Farmer's Oracle appeared as the first newspaper published outside of the capital city. The 8- page, 8 by 11 inch paper came out ( when all went well) twice a month. Subscriptions sold for two dollars annually, payable in wheat if cash was unavailable. Newsprint was difficult to obtain and the homemade sheets were of inferior quality, with colors ranging fiom a sick- looking brown to faded blue, pink, and various off- whites. The articles Johnson published were geared to an agrarian population. He was an avid, well informed, and expert horticulturist and fded his paper with practical notes on growing vegetables, fruits, flowers, and trees, as well as livestock raising. A few national and local news items, exchanges with other newspapers, household hints, cures, and philosophy were included, but the paper catered to those who made their living on the ( more) land. Johnson's editorials were flowery, enthusiastic, stimulating, pointed, and indicative of his flamboyant personality and a determination to have his paper succeed. But most farmers could not afford a subscription, and the Farmer's Oracle had a tough time staying in print. He would extend credit until harvest time but often did not receive payment. He begged people to keep their accounts current, but few could or did. In September 1864, after a year and a half of bare survival, Johnson gave " Old Guardy " another rest. He hoped to resurrect the paper if enough subscribers would pay cash in advance. Fortunately for Johnson's family, their farm was doing well and lack of support for the newspaper did not bring them destitution. Not one to stagnate, Johnson became interested in the semitropical plants that could be grown in southern Utah. Moreover, warm winters appealed to him with his pulmonary and bronchial problems. In 1865 he moved to St. George, taking " Old Guardy" with him, of course. By 1868 he had concluded that Dixie could use a newspaper, especially one with a horticultural emphasis. Again Johnson combined his two loves and dove into journalism. With Our Dixie Zlmes he once again had the distinction of printing the only Utah newspaper outside of Salt Lake City. The first 4- page issue appeared in January 1868 on homemade paper. Each issue was 25 cents; subscriptions were five dollars a year. Besides horticultural items, the paper contained a great deal of advertising, particularly of Johnson's various services. He fully realized he was going into a risky business and almost immediately felt the scarcity of paper. Problems with ink also plagued him, and the paper was issued irregularly. Then his expert assistant S. A. Kenner left him to make a living in the north. He tri'ed to continue the newspaper with the help of three of his children. By May, Johnson had changed the name to the Rio Virgin Times, then again to Rio Virgen 7Tmes. The populace, struggling for survival, seemed indifferent. Troubles with the type and printing machinery made some issues difficult to read. The paper languished and died. Nine months elapsed before Johnson tried another newspaper- the Utah Pomologist, first issued in April 1870. He wrote primarily about fruits and flowers. By January 1872 the publication had increased in size and scope, and he renamed it the Utah Pornlogist and Gardener. When Silver Reef began to boom as a mining town, Johnson was able to pick up additional advertising there. To accommodate this town, he changed the title to the Utah Pomologist and Silver Reef Echo in 1877. Two- thirds of the paper was filled with advertisements, most for Silver Reef businesses. The paper lost its appeal to St. George residents, and Johnson renamed it the Silver Reef Echo. He soon sold the paper and finally abandoned journalism. In 1882 Johnson died on his way to Mexico where he had planned to make his new home. Though not Utah's most famous or prosperous journalist, he was certainly one of the most colorful, prolific, and persistent. Sources: Rufus David Johason, J U nail to Sundown; Joseph Ellis Johnson, Pioneer ( n. p., 1961); J. Cecil Alter, Early Utah Journalism ( Salt Lake City, 1938); Andrew Karl Larson, I Was Called to Dtrie ( St. George, 1961); Chad Flake, ' History of Newspaper Publishing in Utah" in Utah's Newspapers- Traces of Her Part, ed. Robert P. Holley ( Salt Lake City: University of Utah, Marriott Library, 1984). THEH ISTORYB LAZER is produced by the Utah State Histondl Society and funded in part by a grant from the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone [phone] ( LC)