William N. Byers (1831-1903)
by Kim, age 9 and Rebecca, age 10

William N. Byers published the first newspaper in Denver in 1859. He called it the Rocky Mountain News.

Byers was born in 1831 on a farm in Ohio. His grandpa and great grandpa were veterans of the Revolutionary War. His father was one of the first settlers of Ohio.

Mr. Byers helped lay out Omaha, Neberaska. The gold rush was starting. When he heard about gold in Colorado he packed up his stuff and left for Denver. He took his 1000 pound printing press with him.

The first issue of the Rocky Mountain News came out on April 23, 1859. The Rocky Mountain News building was near Cherry Creek. In 1864 there was a flood and it washed away the building and all his printing stuff. In his newspaper he started telling everyone about how great Denver was. He always printed the story the way he wanted instead of what other people wanted.

He did a lot to make the city of Denver. He helped bring telegraph lines, railroads, water, street cars and mail delivery to Denver. He helped organize the University of Denver, the Colorado Historical Society, the Natural History Museum and the first library.

William Byers died in 1903 at the age 72.
 

We got our information from:
Colorado Chronicles Volume 1: Famous Colorado Men
and the Rocky Mountain News.com web site