Idaho Semi-Weekly World Archive

In 1864, Isaac Bowman and Henry Street of Idaho City leased the equipment of the Boise News after hours to print a short-run Democratic campaign paper, entitled the Idaho Crisis. Encouraged by the reception of the Crisis and with the election season drawing near its close, Bowman and Street elected to purchase the equipment of the Boise News outright. On October 29, 1864, they began publication of their own weekly newspaper, the Idaho World. Like the Crisis, the World was Democratic in outlook.

The World ran as a four page, five-column weekly on Saturdays. From May 1867 to November 1868, it temporarily changed its title to the Idaho Semi-Weekly World, published on Wednesdays and Saturdays. At this time, the printing equipment consisted of "two superior and large Washington presses, a large and small Gordon's machine press," and "above thirty fonts." The paper resumed once-a-week publication as the Idaho World until March 1875, when it started to run the Idaho Tri-Weekly World on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, in addition to a larger weekly edition on Fridays. This aggressive printing schedule only lasted a few months. From July 1875 to June 1908, the paper, renamed the Idaho Semi-Weekly World­, was published on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The Idaho World, being a Democratic paper during the Civil War, included blatantly racist content, as well as vehement attacks on Republicans or anyone with Unionist sentiments. Editor Henry Street engaged in a fiery feud with the Unionist Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman, published in Boise City. After President Lincoln's assassination, Street wrote, "his extraordinary death at this precarious juncture will do more to embalm his memory than any act of his life." The Statesman responded by comparing Henry Street to Judas and proclaimed, "modern traitors. . . shall meet the reward they merit. We expect to see the World writhe under the lashings of public scorn." Street resigned from the Idaho World in September 1866 to serve in Idaho's territorial legislature. He passed the editorial torch, as well as the rivalry with the Statesman, to his successor James O'Meara. O'Meara remained dedicated to the Democratic cause until he left the paper in September 1869 due to ill-health. Under the next editor, George Ainslee, the rivalry with the Statesman dissipated, and Ainslee asserted that the Idaho World would confine itself to using to decent language.

Idaho City remained a prosperous mining town for many decades, and the World noted "it is our purpose to devote particular care and attention to the mining interests of this section." Every issue included coverage of mining discoveries, claims, or sales. The region boasted numerous quartz mines. News of the Boise Basin and of smaller nearby mining towns, such as Placerville, Rocky Bar, Centerville, Banner, and Garden Valley, held a special place in the pages of the World. In 1883, the World moved its operation from the Masonic Hall in Idaho City to a stand-alone brick building, which is still in place today and holds a public display of old printing equipment.