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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Wenatchee Daily World (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971

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About The Wenatchee Daily World (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971

The Wenatchee Daily World was founded in 1905 by C.A. Briggs and Nat Ament, as a Republican paper. The paper was the town’s first daily newspaper and initially consisted of four pages.

In 1907, Briggs and Ament sold the ailing paper after threats were made on their lives over their anti-saloon stances. Rufus Woods, who had previously published the Wenatchee Advance and had written for the Republic, purchased the Daily World with his twin brother Ralph as a silent partner. Woods struggled in the early years because he decided to support the Progressive or “Bull Moose” branch of the Republican Party, and many of his advertisers deserted the paper. Woods relied on creativity and publicity stunts to boost business and canvassed around the state for subscriptions. By 1910, circulation reached 2,700, a six-fold increase since 1907.

The Wenatchee Daily World’s main competitor in its early days was the Republic, especially after the latter became a daily in 1912. On April 30, 1913, the Republic ran an article titled “The Sordid Motives of Our Strumpet Contemporary” in which Woods was described as a “crook, briber, cunning knave, brazen blackmailer, shrewd scoundrel, [and] grinning clown” and which hinted at unsavory rumors about Woods’ financial dealings. The Republic eventually folded in 1914, and Woods and the Daily World prospered. Woods used the paper as a platform to advocate for better roads, mining development, conservation, hydroelectric power, reclamation, local manufacturing, and good government for central Washington. The Wenatchee Daily World is best known for Rufus Woods’ July 18, 1918, editorial arguing that diverting the Columbia River would allow for the irrigation of arid central Washington farmlands, introducing the public to the Grand Coulee dam proposal. Woods and the Wenatchee Daily World were central figures in the 23-year fight to complete the dam. Woods published the paper until his death in 1950, when his son, Wilfred Woods, took over the reins. Wilfred Woods served as publisher until his retirement in 1997, when his son, Rufus G. Woods assumed control of the paper. In 1971, the title was changed to the Wenatchee World which is still published today.

Provided By: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Wenatchee Daily World (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971

Dates of Publication

  • 1905-1971

Created / Published

  • Wenatchee, Wash. : World Pub. Co., 1905-1971.

Headings

  • -  Wenatchee (Wash.)--Newspapers
  • -  Washington (State)--Wenatchee
  • -  United States--Washington--Chelan--Wenatchee

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Sunday)
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (July 3, 1905)-65th yr., no. 281 (May 27, 1971).
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from Bell & Howell, Micro Photo Div.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Wenatchee world (DLC)sn 86072042 (OCoLC)14402267

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn86072041

OCLC Number

  • 14402228

ISSN Number

  • 2328-3882

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Wenatchee Daily World Wenatchee, Wash. -1971. (Wenatchee, WA), Jan. 1 1905. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86072041/.

APA citation style:

(1905, January 1) The Wenatchee Daily World Wenatchee, Wash. -1971. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86072041/.

MLA citation style:

The Wenatchee Daily World Wenatchee, Wash. -1971. (Wenatchee, WA) 1 Jan. 1905. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86072041/.