| Owner | Territorial Enterprise Historical and Educational Foundation, a Nonprofit Corporation |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Thomas Muzzio |
| Editor | Thomas Muzzio |
| Founded | 1858 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Virginia City, Nevada |
| Official website | www.territorial- enterprise.com |
The Territorial Enterprise, founded by William Jernegan and Alfred James on December 18, 1858, was a newspaper published in Virginia City, Nevada. The paper was published for its first two years in Genoa and moved to Virginia City in 1860.[1]
Noted author Mark Twain worked for the paper during the 1860s under Dan DeQuille. The paper went out of publication for a while and was revived by Helen Crawford Dorst in 1946 and was later purchased and revived by author, journalist, and railroad historian Lucius Beebe and his long-time companion and co-author Charles Clegg on May 2, 1952. Clegg and Beebe sold the Territorial Enterprise in 1961.[2]
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Joseph T. Goodman was owner and editor of the Territorial Enterprise in the 1860s. He was succeeded by William Sharon who hired Rollin Daggett as managing editor in 1874.[3]
In the fall of 1959, the NBC western television series, Bonanza, set in Nevada, aired its fifth episode "Enter Mark Twain", with Howard Duff in the role of the young author who comes to work at the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise.[4]
Thomas Muzzio is president of the Territorial Enterprise Historical and Educational Foundation, which maintains a Web site dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Territorial Enterprise and the history of journalism in the West.[5]
The Mark Twain Museum at the Territorial Enterprise, a separate entity from the above, operates a museum in the original Territorial Enterprise building in Virginia City, NV. The museum has the original desk used by Mark Twain when he was editor of the paper. Other exhibits include antique printing presses, an early Linotype machine, a proof press, stone composing tables (one of which Mark Twain and other employees of the paper used to sleep on), and various other antiques.[6][7]