Greeley

In October 1869, Nathan Meeker, the New York Tribune’s agricultural editor, visited the Colorado Territory. Impressed with the scenery, people, climate, and resources, he wrote an article, “A Western Colony,” for the Tribune, inviting principled people with money to invest in a temperance and agricultural colony. Over 3,000 prospective colonists wrote to Meeker. On December 23, Meeker founded the Union Colony, a joint-stock colonization company, and chose 737 of the best applicants as members. In April 1870, the company established the town of Greeley, named for Tribune editor Horace Greeley. Founded on the principles of temperance, religion, education, agriculture, irrigation, cooperation, and family values, Greeley became the Weld County seat in 1877. Agriculture and water development ensured Greeley’s reputation as the “Garden Spot of the State.” Potatoes became its first commercially viable crop. From 1900 to 1950, agricultural expansion ushered in a succession of immigrants, including Germans from Russia, Japanese, Hispanics, and Mexican nationals, looking for work and new opportunities. Greeley’s economy, growth, and diversity remain rooted in the land and its people.

Describes the life and career of the nineteenth-century journalist, reformer, and presidential candidate.

Tracing Greeley's twists and turns, this book tells a larger story about print, politics, and the failures of American nationalism in the nineteenth century.

"On the American stages of politics and journalism in the mid-nineteenth century, few men were more influential than Abraham Lincoln and his sometime adversary, sometime ally, New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley. In this compelling new volume, author Gregory A. Borchard explores the intricate relationship between these two vibrant figures, both titans of the press during one of the most tumultuous political eras in American history. Packed with insightful analysis and painstaking research, Abraham Lincoln and Horace Greeley offers a fresh perspective on these luminaries and their legacies. ... Abraham Lincoln and Horace Greeley goes beyond tracing each man's personal and political evolution to offer a new perspective on the history-changing events of the times, including the decline of the Whig Party and the rise of the Republicans, the drive to extend American borders into the West; and the bloody years of the Civil War. Borchard finishes with reflections on the deaths of Lincoln and Greeley and how the two men have been remembered by subsequent generations. Sure to become an essential volume in the annals of political history and journalism, Abraham Lincoln and Horace Greeley is a compelling testament to the indelible mark these men left on both their contemporaries and the face of America"s future."--Publisher description.

Snay's new biography places Horace Greeley (1811-1872) in his historical context. As a newspaper editor, politician, and reformer, Greeley was involved with the major events and trends of the era. He was the influential editor of the New York Tribune from 1841 until his death and was instrumental in the rise of the Whig and Republican parties.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.