The Log Cabin Living: Artifacts from 19th Century Life exhibit at Job Carr Cabin Museum encourages visitors to take a closer look at more than 20 objects in the museum's collection.
On August 9, 1873, Thomas Prosch published Tacoma's first newspaper. Thomas was born on June 2, 1850, in Brooklyn, New York. A few years later his family moved west to California where his father Charles worked for a San Francisco newspaper. In 1858, Charles Prosch moved the family north and founded the Puget Sound Herald in Steilacoom, Washington. As a child, Thomas helped his father set type for the newspaper. Setting type was a challenging task as the printed newspaper came out in mirror image. In 1864, the Puget Sound Herald printed its last edition and the Prosch family moved to Olympia.
In 1868, Charles purchased the Pacific Tribune in Olympia. Thomas and his brother Fred helped to write and print the paper, but it struggled. In 1872, Thomas saved enough money to buy the business from his father. In July of the following year, the Northern Pacific Railroad announced that it had selected Tacoma as the western terminus for its transcontinental line. Thomas decided to follow the trend and just 3 weeks later, he had moved his paper north to Tacoma. Captain Parker of the SS Alida transported all of the office equipment aboard his Mosquito Fleet steamer at no charge.
Subscription and advertising rates for the Daily Pacific Tribune. Published every Evening by Thomas W. Prosch, Publisher and Proprietor, Aug 9, 1873.
The Daily Pacific Tribune was published in Tacoma six evenings per week in a building located near the corner of what is now N 30th and Carr Streets. A prepaid annual subscription was $8.00 or single copies were available for 12 cents each. Prosch also offered the Weekly Pacific Tribune beginning on Aug. 16, 1873 with highlights of each week's news. The motto of the newspaper was "Here Shall the Press the People’s Rights Proclaim, Unawed by Influence and Unbribed by Gain.” Within the four pages, the articles glowed with praises for Tacoma.
"We are fully confident that a splendid destiny awaits Tacoma, and have come to the place to stay and make it our home."
~ Daily Pacific Tribune, Aug. 9, 1873
The first edition included several articles about the move from Olympia to Tacoma, as well as the positive reception he received from local residents. An article titled "Angels' Visits." describes how several women stopped by the office to welcome him to town. We cannot be certain, but this may have included his future wife, Virginia McCarver, who worked as a Tacoma school teacher in the early 1870s.
Angels' Visits, Daily Pacific Tribune, Aug. 9, 1873
The paper also included an advertisement from the Northern Pacific Railroad. It described local transportation options while the train tracks were still under construction to Tacoma. The NPRR was partnering with a stage coach company in Olympia and two steamboat companies to provide service across the Columbia River and connections on Puget Sound. Traveling from Olympia to Portland under these conditions was a 12 hour journey with all the required transfers.
Advertisement for the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, Pacific Division, Aug. 9, 1873.
Other articles discussed Tacoma businesses, crime, and social events, as well as the high cost of living, relief for the people in the Portland Fire, and Col. C.A. Reed's panorama of Oregon and Washington, which was a touring exhibit of large water color landscape paintings. Advertisements featured local grocery stores, saloons, and hotels in Tacoma, Olympia, and Victoria, British Columbia.
"Henceforth Tacoma looms above the horizon of the Sound, as the peak which gives it a name ranks the mountains around it."
~ Daily Pacific Tribune, Aug. 9, 1873
A little over a month after the Daily Pacific Tribune began operations in Tacoma, the country experienced a major financial collapse. In mid-September 1873, a large number of banks and railroads declared bankruptcy, initiated by the failure of Jay Cooke's investment firm. Workers across the nation participated in strikes protesting wage cuts and poor working conditions. Although the railroad tracks would soon reach Tacoma, prosperity was not guaranteed.
Advertisement for Cooke Brothers, Bankers, Tacoma, W.T., Aug. 9, 1873. This is considered Tacoma's first bank and was operated by two nephews of financier Jay Cooke. It was one of many banks to collapse in September 1873 with a nationwide financial panic.
The Daily Pacific Tribune printed its last issue in Tacoma on June 11, 1875. Thomas Prosch decided to follow the trends once more and move his operation to Seattle where he changed the name to the Seattle Pacific Tribune. He later became publisher of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He and his wife Virginia were married in 1877 and raised six children. Together, they collected Washington historical information, published several local history books, and became very involved in the Washington Historical Society until their deaths in an automobile crash in 1915.
Take a closer look at the newspaper in the Museum's collection in this short video:
Sources
"About Puget Sound herald: Steilacoom, W.T. [Wash.] (1858-1864)." Chronicling America, Washington State Library: Olympia, WA, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085145/.
Becker, Paula. “Prosch, Thomas (1850-1915).” HistoryLink.Org, HistoryLink, 28 Jan. 2004, www.historylink.org/file/5575.
Holter, Russell. "Prairie Line to Tacoma is rushed to completion on December 16, 1873." HistoryLink.Org, HistoryLink, 8 May 2024, https://www.historylink.org/File/22934.
Long, Priscilla. “Thomas Prosch Publishes Tacoma’s First Newspaper, the Pacific Tribune, Beginning on August 9, 1873.” HistoryLink.Org, HistoryLink, 1 Nov. 2003, www.historylink.org/File/5046.
"The Panic of 1873." American Experience, PBS, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/grant-panic/.
"Prosch Albums, approximately 1851-1906." University Libraries, University of Washington, https://content.lib.washington.edu/prosch_washingtonweb/index.html.
“Setting Type.” Encyclopedia Virginia, Virginia Humanities, 11 Feb. 2021, encyclopediavirginia.org/2538hpr-1e489ffd3bd4d02/.
Stewart, Holly. “Grocery Stores in Old Town Tacoma.” Job Carr Cabin Museum, Job Carr Cabin Museum , 2019, www.jobcarrmuseum.org/blog/grocery-stores-in-old-town-tacoma.
"Thomas Wickham Prosch papers, 1775-1915." Archives West, Orbic Cascade Allliance, https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv14669.
About the Author
Madeline Teddy completed an internship with Job Carr Cabin Museum in Fall 2023. She was a graduate of University of British Columbia majoring in history and classical Near Eastern religious studies. She hoped to take her studies further and become a museum curator.