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Newspaper Owyhee Tidal Wave (Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1869-1870 Tidal wave

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About Owyhee Tidal Wave (Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1869-1870

Silver City was established in 1864 after silver deposits were discovered at nearby War Eagle Mountain. The settlement soon grew into one of Idaho Territory’s major cities. Silver City boasted the territory’s first daily newspaper and telegraph office, and was among the first cities in present-day Idaho to be electrified and have telephone service. At its peak in 1875, the city boasted a population of 6,000.

Brothers John S. Butler and Thomas J. Butler established the Boise News in Bannock City (renamed Idaho City), Idaho Territory, in 1863. After a year, the brothers ceased publication of the Boise News. In 1868, the Butlers bought the press and printing materials from the failed Argent newspaper in Winnemucca, Nevada and began publishing the Owyhee Semi-Weekly Tidal Wave. The Tidal Wave was established in December 1868 in Silver City, Idaho Territory. The Republican Tidal Wave competed with the county’s only other newspaper at the time, the Democratic Owyhee Avalanche. For a brief period in 1869, the Tidal Wave was the only Republican paper published in Idaho Territory.

The Semi-Weekly Tidal Wave published twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays with four pages and five columns. Suffering from lack of business and citing a decline in Owyhee County’s population, in September 1869 the Tidal Wave began publishing weekly on Thursdays. The paper ceased publication in February 1870 and was incorporated into the Owyhee Avalanche. The Butler brothers remained in the newspaper business in various towns throughout the West.

By the time Idaho was granted statehood in 1890, Silver stores in Owyhee County were depleted and the population of Silver City declined to 2000. Small-scale mining efforts continued sporadically in the area until the Second World War. The town continued its slow decline and is now considered a ghost town.

Provided By: Idaho State Historical Society

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Owyhee Tidal Wave (Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1869-1870

Other Title

  • Tidal wave

Dates of Publication

  • 1869-1870

Created / Published

  • Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory [Idaho] : T.J. & J.S. Butler, 1869-1870.

Headings

  • -  Silver City (Idaho)--Newspapers
  • -  Idaho--Silver City
  • -  United States--Idaho--Owyhee--Silver City

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 78 (Sept. 9, 1869)-v. 2, no. 9 (Feb. 10, 1870).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Owyhee avalanche (Ruby City, Idaho) (DLC)sn 82014692 (OCoLC)8807605

Medium

  • 2 volumes : illustrations ; 40 cm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper
  • AN

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84024253

OCLC Number

  • 10454096

ISSN Number

  • 2637-7268

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

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Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Owyhee Tidal Wave Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory Idaho -1870. (Silver City, ID), Jan. 1 1869. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84024253/.

APA citation style:

(1869, January 1) Owyhee Tidal Wave Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory Idaho -1870. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84024253/.

MLA citation style:

Owyhee Tidal Wave Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory Idaho -1870. (Silver City, ID) 1 Jan. 1869. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84024253/.