The Californian (1860s newspaper)
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''The Californian'' was a
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
literary
newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...
published weekly from May 28, 1864 until February 1, 1868.


History

''The Californian'' was started in May 1864 by publishers P.J. Thomas, A.A. Stickney and John Collner.Library of Congress. Chronicling America
About this Newspaper: The Californian''
Retrieved on July 28, 2009.
Charles Henry "Inigo" Webb was the first editor, and
Fitz Hugh Ludlow Fitz Hugh Ludlow, sometimes seen as Fitzhugh Ludlow (September 11, 1836 – September 12, 1870), was an American author, journalist, and explorer; best known for his autobiographical book '' The Hasheesh Eater'' (1857). Ludlow also wrote about h ...
was one of the first contributors.
Bret Harte Bret Harte (; born Francis Brett Hart; August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a caree ...
was an editor, and Mark Twain was hired at a salary of $50 per month. Harte contributed articles as well, and the periodical jumped to the fore among its competitors in the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
including ''
the Golden Era ''The Golden Era'' was a 19th-century San Francisco newspaper. The publication featured the writing of f.e.g. Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Charles Warren Stoddard (writing at first as "Pip Pepperpod"), Fitz Hugh Ludlow, Adah Isaacs Menken, Ada Clar ...
''. The paper was published in the "imperial size", an industry term. It measured 22 inches across and thirty inches high with easy to read pages that ran three columns across. According to Ben Tarnoff, "Readers expecting tales of honest miners, or lyrical tributes to California's landscape, would be disappointed. Like Harte himself, the Californian took pleasure in puncturing cliches. It could be populist or aristocratic, radical or conservative--but always contrarian." The publication featured poetry and condensed novels by Harte—these poked fun at the literary styling of authors such as
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
,
Mary Elizabeth Braddon Mary Elizabeth Braddon (4 October 1835 – 4 February 1915) was an English popular novelist of the Victorian era. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel ''Lady Audley's Secret'', which has also been dramatised and filmed several times. ...
and James Fenimore Cooper. Twain also contributed his condensed novels '' Whereas'' and ''Lucretia Smith's Soldier''. Several other San Franciscan poets contributed including Harte, Charles Warren Stoddard and
Ina Coolbrith Ina Donna Coolbrith (born Josephine Donna Smith; March 10, 1841 – February 29, 1928) was an American poet, writer, librarian, and a prominent figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary community. Called the "Sweet Singer of California", sh ...
. After a period of rest at Lake Tahoe, Webb resumed editing duties in November 1864. He continued in this role until April 1865. Twain submitted "
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is an 1865 short story by Mark Twain. It was his first great success as a writer and brought him national attention. The story has also been published as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (its orig ...
" which was published in December 1865 (it had been originally published in the Saturday Press). This story and others were later published in a book of the same title. Webb had become both owner and editor of ''The Californian''. By 1866, however, Webb disassociated from the publication and returned to the East Coast after his irreverent tone and burlesque style which frequently targeted California life and Californians did not endear him to his audience. Writer and poet James F. Bowman then served as ''de facto'' editor.
Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by ...
's first contribution to ''The Californian'' was in September 1867, a poem entitled "The Basilica". He followed with his first non-fiction essay, "Female Suffrage", in December.Swaim, Don
Bierce Chronology
/ref>
Charles Warren Stoddard Charles Warren Stoddard (August 7, 1843 April 23, 1909) was an American author and editor best known for his travel books about Polynesian life. Biography Charles Warren Stoddard was born in Rochester, New York on August 7, 1843. He was desce ...
was brought on board late in the life of ''The Californian''. Stoddard expected to write articles, but instead kept the books and mailed subscriptions. Stoddard and Bierce became good friends.Austen, Roger; John W. Crowley
''The Genteel Pagan: The Double Life of Charles Warren Stoddard''
University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts a ...
, 1995, pp. 54, 58.
In 1867, Stoddard wrote a book of poetry entitled ''Poems''. Bowman wrote a grandiose review of Stoddard's work in ''The Californian'', then turned around and savaged both Stoddard and his earlier review, writing anonymously in the de Young paper '' Dramatic Chronicle''. The paper was initially located at 728
Montgomery Street Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, in the United States. It runs about 16 blocks from the Telegraph Hill neighborhood south through downtown, terminating at Market Street. South of Columbus Avenue ...
in San Francisco but by April 1865 was moved to an alley off of Montgomery Street.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Californian (1860s newspaper), The Newspapers published in the San Francisco Bay Area Defunct newspapers published in California 1860s in California 19th century in San Francisco History of the American West History of California 1864 establishments in California 1868 disestablishments in California Weekly newspapers published in California