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Rare newspaper printed on board a transcontinental train...



Item # 676993

July 04, 1870

TRANS-CONTINENTAL, Boston, June 20, 1870  This is a very fascinating newspaper, borne in the ingenious mind of a publisher who decided to take a small printing press on board the first transcontinental railroad excursion and publish 6 issues westbound and 6 issues eastbound.  Printed on a Gordon press in the baggage car, it is considered the very first newspaper composed, printed, & published on a train.
This is issue number 10, published at Grand Island, Nebraska. Each issue recorded the process of the journey with the sights and events along the way. Each issue carries the dateline of a different city: Niagara Falls, Omaha, Cheyenne, Ogden, Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah; Summit Sierra Nevadas, San Francisco, Promontory Point, Utah; Laramie, Wyoming; Grand Island Nebraska; Burlington, Iowa; and Boston.
The front page has: "Notes from our Log Book" and "Our Train", the latter which includes in part: "At Cheyenne, those of our party who had preceded us again joined our train, and the Pullman drawing room and sleeping car 'Northwest' was coupled in, making one more house in our rolling village...", with more.  Page 2 and 3 have, "Lo! The Poor Indian", and an article which begins, "Buck-skin Joe, well known as a hunter, trapper, and Indian scout during the past fifteen years, was at Cheyenne, awaiting the regular eastward-bound passenger train... to proceed on to the place of his birth in New York state, which he had not visited since boyhood", and more.
A fine opportunity for a very rare title. Four pages, 7 by 9 3/4 inches, great condition. Included with this issue is a reprint set of all 12 issues published. See our item 662918 for details.

Category: Post-Civil War