Original subtitles

♪♪ [Trumpet]

Our story didn't begin when I stopped

by the news stand.

But as I picked these up, I couldn't help but remember

that history begins in newspapers like these.

Today's news is tomorrow's past.

And there's history behind

the great American newspapers, too.

For instance, there's the story of a man

who wanted to put out the first newspaper in Denver, Colorado,

way back in 1859.

Actually, it's the fascinating true story

of a woman history has forgotten,

a woman who helped her husband win the race at cherry creek.

[Chattering]

♪♪ [Saloon piano]

What's it going to be for you, young fella?

I'm looking for Uncle Dick Wootton.

You just found him.

They tell me you're the man I ought to talk to

about renting some office space.

Office space?

About all you prospectors need is a room for sleeping

or a tent for bunking in.

I'm not looking for gold.

At least, I'm not planning to dig it out of cherry creek.

You mean, you didn't come to Denver city to join

the idiots who think they're going to wash a fortune

out of a sluice box?

Nope.

In that case, the drinks are on the house.

I save this for my special customers.

And if you ain't digging for gold, brother,

that makes you a special man in this kind of a town.

Here you are. Tossed lightning.

I bring it in from the Mexico.

Guaranteed to curl your hair,

cross your eyes, and drown your miseries.

If you don't mind, I'll just take a small Brandy.

Brandy?

Brandy.

It's for old ladies...

And city dudes.

What's your name?

Byers, William Byers.

Glad to know you, Mr. Byers.

Now, tell me. Now, just why would you need some office space?

Well, I plan on starting a newspaper,

first in Colorado.

Hm. That's the second time this week somebody said that.

Second time?

Yeah.

Three or four days ago, fella named Merrick

came into town looking for a building to rent.

He said he was going to be the first one

to put out a paper in Colorado.

Yeah.

'Course he hasn't got his printing press in order yet.

Tell you what, Mr. Byers,

I got a couple rooms upstairs.

Now, they're not exactly what you'd call an office,

but it's the best you're going to get in Denver city.

Now, I can't go too high on that rent.

Oh, kind of short on the wherewithal, huh?

Well, I got my press and type back in Omaha

on a deal that left me kind of short on ready cash.

You look reliable to me.

Here you are. The entrance is on the outside.

You won't lose by this, Mr. Wootton.

Oh, I'll try not to.

Now, finish your Brandy...

Unless you've changed your mind.

[Dog barking]

Andy, where you've been all day?

You should have gotten here this morning.

Elizabeth. What on earth?

"Earth" is right.

It's just mixed with a little water.

Yeah, you remember yesterday when we camped

on the other side of that crick?

Yeah. Well, it rained last night.

Flooded this morning.

Didn't look too deep 'til we started to cross.

If Ms. Byers here hadn't been along with us,

we'd have probably still been there.

Well, as long as you made it all right.

We got a lot of work ahead of us.

You better get that wagon unloaded.

William, you can't ask Andy to do any more work today.

Can't we wait and unload in the morning?

No, we can't.

What's the all fired rush all of a sudden?

A man by the name of Merrick got here ahead of us,

brought a press from Kansas,

calls his paper "The cherry creek pioneer."

Claims he'll have his first edition out

within the next three days.

Does that mean we won't be settling in Denver city?

Well, there's certainly no room here for two newspapers.

No, we better get that press moved in.

Yeah. Where we gonna put it?

Upstairs here.

You mean we gotta lift that thing up there two floors?

And everything else in the wagon.

William...

That's not where we're going to live?

We're lucky to get it.

I'm sorry, Elizabeth.

I still think you shouldn't have come out here with me.

I should have, and I'm glad I did.

Me? Wish I'd stayed in Omaha.

You better grab yourself some sleep.

You can clean her up in the morning.

Yeah.

Well, I still say I wish I'd stayed in Omaha.

Say, you got this place real cozy like.

William?

We're not going to have to move on again, are we?

Not if I can help it.

It's so terribly important for both of us.

We could settle down here,

build a house,

and raise a family.

And be somebody.

Honey.

You sure do expect a lot from a man

that never even put out a newspaper before.

But you can do it if you'll just stick with it

and not decide you want to try something else again.

You are a wonder, Elizabeth,

keeping all these things...

Saving them all this time.

For our home.

When we have one.

That may be a long time yet.

I'll wait.

I'll tell you this, Elizabeth--

as long as you believe in me,

someday we'll have what means so much to you.

I promise you.

That mud and water sure didn't do the press much good.

Yeah.

I ought to take her apart

and grease every joint, bolt, and lever in it.

Otherwise she may rust up on us.

We'll risk that till after we get the paper out.

Out first.

If Merrick beats us, we won't have much use for the press anyhow.

I don't get the reason for all the rush.

We can put out a better paper.

Oh, now, I know you ain't had no newspaper experience,

but, with me handling the printing,

and you going out getting the news and the advertising...

Denver's only big enough for one newspaper.

May never be much bigger.

Anyhow,

people don't want second best.

It's human nature, Andrew.

Somehow people feel that if you're the first,

you're the best.

Paper that comes out first,

that's the one the town will support.

Well, here I go.

You be ready to start setting type when I get back.

Wish me luck.

Not a chance in the world.

I'm gonna help you.

How's your luck, boys?

I never did see this town so upset.

There's more noise than when they discovered gold in Cherry Creek,

and all about nothing but you and your newspaper

and Merrick and his,

which is going to come out first.

We'll be out first.

Get yourself a lot of bets on that.

Bet I know who's handling the bets.

Well, somebody had to.

I got $20 in dust says Merrick will win.

Uh...what kind of odds am I getting?

Eight none. Even money all around, Hank.

Okay, I still say Merrick will beat that Nebraska fella.

That's encouraging.

That could be.

You got just about as many on your side

as Merrick has on his so far.

Wait a minute.

Kinda been running his way the last few hours, but here--

you got about two thousand for you,

and he's got just around three thousand for him.

That doesn't include the pool.

What pool?

I thought you newspaper men

wasn't supposed to miss anything that went on.

Take a look over there.

How does that work?

Figures out to a thousand dollars for the winner.

A thousand dollars?

Yep. You put up ten dollars to say the day and the hour

that the first newspaper will come out,

and winner takes all,

except for a small percentage for me.

Naturally.

Well, just about pay me for my time,

putting the board up, taking care of the money.

Looks like most people seem to think

Merrick's a sure thing.

Only because he was here first,

but if I was a betting man,

I'd bet on you.

Where you going? Upstairs.

Work to do.

Well now, some of this tossed lightning

might speed you up a bit.

You sure are serious about your newspaper.

No, I just don't want to see you lose your bet on me. That's all.

That's about the best I can do, Andy.

"Man thrown from a horse and dragged half a mile."

"Minor robbery, $50."

"Two bit fire on the livery stable." Hm.

We ain't gonna sell many papers with that kind of news.

Get the stuff in type anyhow.

Maybe I can dig up something more exciting

by the time we're ready to go to press.

Maybe you want to go to bed.

You only had four hours sleep the last two days.

I'll do my sleeping

after we beat Merrick.

I wouldn't wake him if I was you.

Andy?

Help me move my desk.

How long's it been raining?

Just started.

Roof's leaking by the window, too.

Ain't bad yet. Probably get worse.

Do what you can to keep the drips

off the press and the type case.

Just gotta finish up this writing

I should have done last night.

Not before breakfast you don't.

Even newspaper men have to eat once in a while,

and that goes for printers, too.

Andrew, will you clean off this table, please?

And, William, get some chairs.

Those eggs sure do look good, ma'am.

I'm real hungry.

Now, sit down. They won't stay hot all day.

It's getting worse.

No sense in trying to cover up this press.

She'd get her wet no matter where we put her.

Get the lids on those ink kegs.

That stuff won't take much diluting.

William, can't you and Andy get up on the roof

and nail boards over the leaks?

We'd have to put on a whole new roof.

Well, there must be something we can do.

William,

if there was a tent over the press,

then you and Andy could work under it.

A tent? Indoors?

Well, why not if it'll keep the water off of the press?

Fine idea. That's a real fine idea.

Except we ain't got no tent,

and there's no tent for sale in Denver, not for love nor money.

We can take the canvas top off the wagon

and spread it on the roof. Yes.

You set one foot on that roof and you'll drop right through.

We'll rig the canvas inside here.

It won't work.

We're going to try it anyway. Come on.

In case I never told you before,

I don't know what I'd do without you.

And I sure hope I never have to find out.

Let's get that tarp off the wagon.

Oh.

Hell, that's not enough to cover the type cases.

I told you it wouldn't work.

Will these help?

Mrs. Byers, you're a life saver.

Get your hands off of that sheet.

Honey, you've saved those since our wedding day.

I'm not going to let you ruin them.

Every little bit helps.

Andy's right.

Here.

William, please.

Well, let's not all stand here and drown in the flood.

Well, ought to hold till we get the first edition off the press.

How much newsprint do we have left?

I'd say enough for about four or five hundred copies.

And ink?

One's half water.

The other one's all right, though, so far.

How about the type?

Well, it's going to take me a while to dry that off.

[Knocking]

Come in.

[Louder knocking]

Oh.

Come in.

I'd just thought I'd come up and see what was going on--

flapping catfish fins, what's this?

Haven't you ever seen a tent before?

Never seen anything like this. What's it for?

To keep a thousand pound printing plan

from floating right out of the sieve you rented to us.

Well, I never said satisfaction was guaranteed.

I suppose you came to see how far behind we are,

and now you'll probably go over to Mr. Merrick

and give him the good news.

Elizabeth.

Well you can tell Mr. Merrick

that nothing is going to stop my husband,

not rain, nor flood, nor fire.

My husband is a very stubborn man.

And when something like this happens,

it makes him all the more determined to succeed.

No, Mr. Wootton, we are not beaten.

And you can bet on that.

[Slams door]

Well, I'd say she seems a might upset.

She's got a right to be.

What's the latest on Merrick and his paper?

Oh, well, I'm uh, kind of hiding out

from people who want me to pay off their bets.

You haven't-- no I haven't,

and I ain't gonna.

Not before I see Merrick's Cherry Creek Pioneer

right in my hands before I see yours,

whatever you aim to call it,

but that better be pretty quick.

Merrick told me not more than ten minutes ago

that he'd finished setting type on nearly three pages.

Then he's only got one page to go.

Yeah.

All we got set don't add up to more than a page and a half.

What counts is, Merrick still has to build that other page.

That ought to give us till tomorrow anyhow.

We ain't gonna make it.

We just ain't gonna make it.

Here's a hundred on Merrick, 8:30 tonight.

Another hundred says Merrick will be out at 9:30.

Ain't nobody betting Byers?

Ha, this territory will be a state

before he gets ready to publish.

Sorry, Elizabeth.

I always leap before I look.

I just never seem to learn to be prepared

for what I didn't count on.

Wait a minute.

William, you are prepared.

Don't you remember?

Andy set two pages of type before we left Omaha.

What good is that in Denver?

It would fill the rest of the paper.

Two pages of it, two months old.

It's something to read,

and it would be new to people here.

William,

you're like a politician in a way.

No matter how much good a candidate wants to do,

he can't do anything unless he gets elected.

You can't do things for Denver and Colorado and the west

unless you get our paper out first.

Andy, do we still have that type?

Yeah, it's locked up in the forms out in the wagon.

Then get those forms up here.

We'll use the Nebraska stuff on three and four.

Put what local stories we got on page one.

Use page two for editorial statement of policy,

whatever else we got.

Come on, Andy. Get those forms up here. Hurry.

Well, that's it for one and four.

I'll take down your editorial as soon as you're ready.

Then we can throw in the forms for two and three.

You got what you want to say yet?

Wouldn't be enough room in three editions

to say everything I got in mind.

Well, then, why don't you just give the people a hint

of what they can expect next week, and the week after that?

Make them want to buy the paper for the next hundred years.

Elizabeth, you have too much faith in me.

I don't think so.

Well, I...

I'd like to tell them what I think

the future holds for this part of the country

and that this paper plans to help guide

that destiny whatever way it can.

William.

Why don't you tell it to Andy

and let him write it down?

I'm ready.

[Clears throat] Let's see.

With our hat in our hand

and our best bow,

we this week make our first appearance in the far west,

where the snowy mountains look down upon us--

let's see, look down upon us...

In the hottest summer days,

as well as in the winter's cold.

Not bad.

You got that, Andy?

..."winter's cold." Got it.

Here, where a few months ago the wild beasts

and Wilder Indians held undisturbed possession,

where now surges the advancing wave

of Anglo Saxon enterprise and civilization,

where soon, we fondly hope,

will be erected a great and powerful state,

another empire in a sisterhood of empires.

Our course is marked out.

We will follow it with steadfast and fixed determination.

To speak, write, and publish

the truth, and nothing but the truth.

Fondly looking forward to a long and pleasant acquaintance

with our readers,

hoping to act our part,

we send forth to the world

this first number of The Rocky Mountain News.

Put it in type, Andy.

[Knocking]

Oh, come in.

I, uh...

I just came up to tell you folks

that I'm going to have to pay off on Merrick.

I sure hate to do it, but, like the man says,

"you can't win 'em all."

You better speak to Mr. Byers.

Mr. Wootton is here about the bet.

Now you just remember this,

it ain't no disgrace to get beat

when you tried as hard as you did and then some.

Have you seen Merrick's paper?

Well no, but it ought to be out by now.

Then no one has officially recorded him as the winner?

Well, no.

Mrs. Byers, shall we honor Mr. Wootton

by allowing him to purchase the first copy

of The Rocky Mountain news?

In as much as he has never wavered

in his steadfast devotion to our cause,

I think it is a splendid idea.

Well, about the last I knew,

it looked to me like you--

Mr. Wootton, would you be good enough to attest to the time and date

of this first issue of a newspaper

in Denver city, territory of Colorado?

Huh?

Oh, yeah.

It's ten o'clock.

Ten o'clock, April 23rd, 1859.

Official?

Yes, sir. That's very official.

I knew we'd make it.

Good morning. Good morning.

Looks like I got here just in time.

I hope this is what you wanted.

It's the best their was in Colorado,

made in Mexico, came up through Santa Fe.

What is it?

Well, open it and find out.

Oh, William.

Oh, they're beautiful.

Oh, but you shouldn't have.

I should have, and that's just the start.

And now, shall we go find that house to put them in?

The Rocky Mountain News--

first newspaper in Denver,

and for more than a hundred years,

one of the great newspapers in the United States.

Here's a reproduction of that first edition

of The Rocky Mountain News.

And, here's how that same paper looks today.

And it all began with a woman who knew what she wanted,

what every woman wants, a home,

a home of her own.

Next week, another true drama from our American past.

See you then.