First Colorado Newspaper Publisher and Editor. Byers was a big Denver booster. From Ohio he started west going first to Iowa and then to Omaha, the great jumping-off place and home base for the Union Pacific Railroad. Byers helped lay out Omaha, the largest town between St. Louis and San Francisco. Then gold fever struck him, he left Omaha in 1859 for the Cherry Creek gold rush towns. He authored one of the 17 guidebooks to the new promised land printed in 1859, and convinced himself and thousands of others about the golden gamble called Denver City. In the summer of 1859, having secured a printing press, a wagon and teams, Byers left Omaha for Denver. On the side of his wagon he had painted the name of his contemplated newspaper, "The Rocky Mountain News." On April 23, 1859, Byers published Denver’s first newspaper, The Rocky Mountain News. The News proclaimed Denver as the pre-ordained metropolis of the Rockies. He also used the News to promote agriculture as well as offering free seeds to anyone stopping by his office, and he publicized agricultural experiments. The irrepressibe promoter championed irrigated farming as the way to make the high desert of Denver bloom. Newspapers brought newcomers and capital to startup towns like Denver. Byers became the spokesman for Denver and outlasted dozens of competitors. He helped to organize a Chamber of Commerce and tirelessly promoted Denver as the queen city of the Rockies, a title that it still enjoys, as well as his newspaper still appearing daily.
First Colorado Newspaper Publisher and Editor. Byers was a big Denver booster. From Ohio he started west going first to Iowa and then to Omaha, the great jumping-off place and home base for the Union Pacific Railroad. Byers helped lay out Omaha, the largest town between St. Louis and San Francisco. Then gold fever struck him, he left Omaha in 1859 for the Cherry Creek gold rush towns. He authored one of the 17 guidebooks to the new promised land printed in 1859, and convinced himself and thousands of others about the golden gamble called Denver City. In the summer of 1859, having secured a printing press, a wagon and teams, Byers left Omaha for Denver. On the side of his wagon he had painted the name of his contemplated newspaper, "The Rocky Mountain News." On April 23, 1859, Byers published Denver’s first newspaper, The Rocky Mountain News. The News proclaimed Denver as the pre-ordained metropolis of the Rockies. He also used the News to promote agriculture as well as offering free seeds to anyone stopping by his office, and he publicized agricultural experiments. The irrepressibe promoter championed irrigated farming as the way to make the high desert of Denver bloom. Newspapers brought newcomers and capital to startup towns like Denver. Byers became the spokesman for Denver and outlasted dozens of competitors. He helped to organize a Chamber of Commerce and tirelessly promoted Denver as the queen city of the Rockies, a title that it still enjoys, as well as his newspaper still appearing daily.
Bio by: Fred Beisser
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