The Press' History
The Zamorano Printing Press arrived in Monterey, Alta California, in 1834. It was first used during the time that Jose Figueroa was governor of the area and was used under Augustin V. Zamorano’s [Figueroa’s secretary] supervision. Zamorano was the first printer in California and thus, from his name the name of the press was derived. Augustin Zamorano controlled the press from June 1834 to November 6th, 1836. Under Figueroa and Zamorano, the press was mainly used by the Mexican government to issue print proclamations, announcements, etc. One of the longest things printed during this time from the press was Jose Figueroa’s Manifestó a la República Mejicana Que hace el general de Brigada. This manifesto is a 184 page “lengthy defense by an early provincial governor of Alta California of his actions in response to the sudden arrival of a group of colonists sent by the central Mexican government to rein in some of the established Californians local practices'' (Bibliographical Society of America). It was also written completely in Spanish. In addition, while under Zamorano, the press was also used to print various different genres of texts such as Tablas Para Los Niños which was a text printed by Zamorano in 1836 that helped teach children arithmetic. (Bibliographical Society of America).
After 1836, the press was moved to Sonoma California where, for the most part, it is unknown what was regularly printed on the press. One text that we do know was printed on the Zamorano in 1838, was California’s first medical book Botica General de los remedios. Then at some point in 1842, the press was moved back to Monterey, “where it remained idle, gathering dust in an abandoned convent, until the American invasion in 1846 during the war with Mexico” (Hall pg. 625).
It is in 1846, where we know Walter Colton and Robert Semple together established California’s first newspaper, the Californian. The issue was produced and sent out on Saturday August 15th, 1846. The paper used on the Californian was “coarse Spanish paper normally used for wrapping cigars,” (Hall pg. 626). The newspaper gained some sort of popularity in Monterey, but the last Californian newspaper to be printed in Monterey was on May 6th, 1847. With hardly no notice, Semple moved the press and the newspaper to San Francisco in hopes of having better luck. On May 22nd, 1847, the first issue of the Californian was printed in San Francisco. Soon after though, the newspaper was sold to B.R. Buckelew.
At the time, San Francisco already had its own newspaper, the California Star with Sam Brannan as the editor. Not long after the Californian moved to San Francisco, the first, albeit small, newspaper war started in California: the Star and the Californian. [For more detailed information go to the “Californian” Newspaper link in the menu]. Soon though, both the Star and the Californian temporarily closed while their editors took part in the recent gold rush in California. (Hall pg. 635)
It was during the years of the Gold rush that the press moved through several different places in a short amount of time.The first place it moved to after San Francisco was to Sacramento California where it started the Placer Times. Not long after it went to Stockton where it created the Stockton Times which was instrumental in spreading the word about the Americanization of California after the Mexican American war. One of the places that it had the most impact on during these gold rush years was in Sonora. Here, the Zamorano created the town's first newspaper, Herald, with its first issue coming out on the national day of independence: the fourth of July, 1850.
The last town in which the press was used was in a town called Columbia, in Tuolumne county. On October 25th, 1851, the press started and printed the town’s first newspaper, the Columbia Star. As mentioned before, the Old Monterey War press was sold to G.W. Gore of Columbia, who wanted to start the town’s first paper. Although, within that same year, Gore had not paid the previous owner, Dr. Gunn from the Sonora Herald the rest of the balance for the printing press. Thus, Gunn essentially got it back from Gore. But, as Kremble put it, “the press was left standing upon the sidewalk..” (Kremble pg 183) because it was hard to find a cart in order to take the press back to Sonora. Sadly, that night the press was moved into the middle of the street where some people, who are thought to have sided with Gore, lit the press on fire where it was deeply damaged and practically destroyed. This destruction took place on November 12th, 1851 (Kremble 184). However, what was left of the press was moved back to the city of Sonora where it was proclaimed to be put into a museum. Once again though, misfortune struck and the rest of the Zamorano Printing Press was completely destroyed in another fire shortly after. (Kremble, 182-184).