The Weekly Arizonian appeared in Tucson after beginning publication five months earlier at Tubac. The relocation marked a decisive stage in the development of journalism, printing, and political communication in the region that later became Arizona. At the time, Tucson and Tubac remained within New Mexico Territory. The United States had acquired the land south of the Gila River through the Gadsden Purchase, completed in 1854, but federal administration remained centered far to the east at Santa Fe. Southern residents faced geographic isolation, limited transportation, recurring conflict, and weak access to territorial institutions. A locally printed newspaper therefore served functions that extended beyond ordinary reporting.
The paper began at Tubac on March 3, 1859, as the first newspaper printed within the boundaries of present-day Arizona. It was owned by the Santa Rita Silver Mining Company, published under the direction of William Wrightson, and edited by Edward Ephraim Cross. Its Washington hand press had been transported across an exceptional distance to the mining settlement. The newspaper promoted regional mineral resources, encouraged migration and investment, reported local affairs, and supported the campaign for a separate Arizona territorial government. Its founding connected printing directly with the economic and political ambitions of American settlers and mining interests in the recently acquired borderlands.
Cross gave the paper a Republican orientation, but his editorial independence produced conflict with Sylvester Mowry, a former United States Army officer, mining entrepreneur, and leading advocate for Arizona’s territorial separation. Their dispute culminated in a bloodless duel. Cross subsequently resigned, and Mowry acquired control of the newspaper. The press and publication operation moved north from Tubac to Tucson, where the paper resumed under editor J. Howard Wells. The August 4 issue established The Weekly Arizonian as Tucson’s first newspaper and changed its political alignment. Under Wells, it appeared as a Democratic publication that supported Mowry’s territorial program and political interests.
The transfer was significant because Tucson was the principal population and commercial center of southern New Mexico Territory. The town had developed around the Spanish Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón and retained a predominantly Mexican population when sovereignty passed to the United States. Its location near established routes linking Sonora, California, the Rio Grande settlements, and regional mining districts made it a logical center for political organization and public communication. By moving the press to Tucson, the newspaper placed printed debate within the community most capable of sustaining regional campaigns for government, military protection, transportation, mail service, and economic development.
The newspaper’s political role reflected the character of nineteenth-century American journalism. Editors frequently represented parties, candidates, businesses, and settlement movements rather than claiming political neutrality. The Weekly Arizonian published arguments for territorial division and helped define “Arizona” as a distinct political region before Congress created Arizona Territory in 1863. Its pages supplied residents with notices, advertisements, correspondence, government information, and accounts of events in isolated settlements. They also transmitted descriptions of southern Arizona to readers and officials elsewhere in the United States. In a region without telegraph service and with irregular mail connections, the press gave local interests a durable public record.
The Tucson publication also expanded the history of printing in Arizona. Later in 1859, the operation obtained job-printing equipment from San Francisco. In 1860, the office printed the constitution and proceedings associated with the provisional government movement organized at Tucson. That work became an early landmark of Arizona printing and demonstrated how a newspaper office could function as a broader civic press. Although The Weekly Arizonian experienced repeated suspensions and editorial changes before finally ending in 1871, its equipment continued to influence Arizona journalism. The original press was later associated with newspapers in Tucson and Tombstone and eventually entered historical preservation.
The August 4, 1859, resumption thus represented more than a change of address. It established newspaper publishing in Tucson, shifted control of Arizona’s earliest press into the region’s leading town, and strengthened an organized campaign for separate territorial government. The event joined commerce, politics, technology, and civic identity at a formative moment in Arizona history. Through its reporting and advocacy, The Weekly Arizonian helped preserve the concerns of a remote border population and made Tucson an early center of public discourse in the American Southwest.
References / More Knowledge:
Alisky, Marvin. “Arizona’s First Newspaper, The Weekly Arizonian, 1859.” New Mexico Historical Review, Vol. 34, No. 2, 1959.
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1892&context=nmhr
Arizona Historical Society. “Ayres Newspaper Index.”
https://arizonahistoricalsociety.org/research/library-archives/ayres-newspaper-index/
Arizona Memory Project. “The Weekly Arizonian, 1859.” Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records.
https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/446
Arizona Memory Project. “The Weekly Arizonian, 1859-08-04.” Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records.
https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/146278
Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records. “Arizona Newspaper Project.”
https://apps.azlibrary.gov/anp/newspaper_project.aspx
Library of Congress. “The Weekly Arizonian (Tubac, Arizona), 1859.” Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82014067/