Sagebrusher scribe Sam Davis known for his Writin’ and Fightin' through the Comstock

Sam Davis was a Sagebrusher from the old school who backed up what he wrote. It was a tradition he learned on the Comstock. You could write what you wanted, but you had to back up what you wrote.

There were times when an individual exposed in a newspaper article for wrong doing might be more than indignant, he might arrive unexpectedly at the newspaper seeking satisfaction; sometimes carrying an implement to convince the writer of the offending story, that maybe a retraction was in order. This was called “Writin’ & Fightin” and it simply came with the territory. If you were a Sagebrusher worth your salt you faced you adversary and settled the dispute to the satisfaction of both parties.

Davis proved his salt on the morning of November 18, 1896, on the steps of the Carson City post office when he ran into U.S. District attorney Charles Jones. Davis had written an unflattering piece about the way Jones had handled a bribery case, and Jones had been waiting for his chance for some satisfaction; it came on that November morning when fists flew and Carsonites were treated to more action than they had ever seen in the columns of Davis’ Appeal.

In addition to his journalist output, Sam Davis carved out a successful political career in Carson City. He was elected to the office of state controller in 1898 and was reelected again in 1902. Today he is remembered as the publisher of the Nevada Appeal in the last two decades of the 19th century, but Davis was much more than that. He was a talented Sagebrusher who left behind a rich body of work.

Thankfully, some of his short stories and poetry have been reprinted and are a joy to read today, as they were when he wrote them over a century ago. Sam Davis died at age 67 on March 17, 1918 and was buried at the Lone Mountain Cemetery in Carson City.

When Sam Davis began writing for the Virginia Evening Chronicle in 1875, the paper was owned by Denis McCarthy who had once been the partner of Joseph Goodman, publisher of the Territorial Enterprise. A co-writer with Davis at the Chronicle was Arthur McEwen. McEwen would later gain fame at the Hearst owned San Francisco Examiner, where his blistering investigative articles had crooked politicians booking passage for parts unknown. McEwen had a short stay on the Comstock, but wielded a hot pen exposing corruption in Virginia City. His work was in demand and in 1876 he took employment at the Gold Hill Daily News for a time, before leaving for San Francisco.

In addition to his literary contributions, McEwen leaves behind an interesting piece of Comstock history. In 1883 McEwen married Bessie Michelson of the famed Michelson family in Virginia city. Bessie was the sister of Albert Michelson, the noted physicist who became the first American to win the Nobel Prize in physics in 1907. Michelson’s experiments in the measurement of the speed of light paved the way for Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity.

When McEwen went to work at the Gold Hill Daily News it was owned by Alfred Doten. Doten spent considerable time in California before arriving in Como, Nevada Territory in 1863. He wrote for the Como Sentinel for a year before coming to Virginia City where he was hired as local editor for the Virginia Daily Union.

In 1872, Doten bought the Gold Hill Daily News, with the financial aid of Comstock millionaire William Sharon. In 1879, Doten was in deep financial trouble and lost ownership of the paper, but stayed on as managing editor until 1881. In its prime the paper rivaled its Virginia City counterparts in revenue and subscription, but the financial decline of the Comstock mines was taking its toll, and the news finally suspended operations in April, 1882.

Doten’s next move was to Austin, Nevada where he became editor of the Reese River Reveille in 1882. Doten returned to Virginia City in 1885 to write for the Territorial Enterprise, and free lanced for a number of other publications to make a living.

Doten like DeQuille was an alcoholic, and living in a town like Virginia City claiming more than 100 saloons, both men were badly out numbered in the fight for sobriety. Drinking was a daily ritual on the Comstock, and on any given day more than a few Sagebrushers could be found at the nearest watering hole; knocking back some 90 proof stuff in preparation for the next deadline that was probably due in a few minutes.

Next Time: Part 3 of The Sagebrushers: Booze & News.

Go here for Part I of this series: Nevada's early 'Sagebrushers' brought literary journalism to the American West

— Chic DiFrancia is a long-time Virginia City resident, freelance writer, historian and letterpress printer. In his youth he once was a typesetter at the Territorial Enterprise in Virginia City.