The Newspaper Owner Who Was Supposed to Run Seattle
A New York interview made real-estate investor Hunt sound like a political kingmaker; Olympia's Tribune said the boast was mostly hot air.
A New York Press reporter, in an interview with Mr. Hunt of Seattle some time ago, says the latter went to Seattle with a small capital six or seven years ago, began to buy real estate, is now worth from three to five millions, is a financial and political power, and: “He owns the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and when he says he wants any man elected to office his choice is sure to be followed. He was the principal leader in the movement that made Watson C. Squire a United States senator.”
Mr. Hunt has been in the state less than five years, made a lucky investment in a newspaper just before the boom struck the Puget Sound country, made other fortunate investments, has no political power, nor has his newspaper, is not worth a million dollars, and is a pretty well laughed at man just at the present time. Mr. Hunt appears to be a very smooth individual and sometimes talks too much.
“Mr. Hunt has been in the state less than five years, made a lucky investment in a newspaper just before the boom struck the Puget Sound country, made other fortunate investments, has no political power, nor has his newspaper, is not worth a million dollars, and is a pretty well laughed at man just at the present time.”
The 1891 exchange shows how quickly a real-estate fortune and a newspaper purchase could be spun into a myth of political dominance—and how eagerly a rival paper would knock it down. It is an early Puget Sound lesson in booster hype, media ownership and the question of who really shapes local politics.
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