CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Journal of the San Juan Islands

newspaper published in Friday Harbor

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ23091340 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Journal of the San Juan Islands is a newspaper based in Friday Harbor, Washington. The Journal publishes on Wednesdays. It also publishes SanJuanJournal.com; Springtide, an annual magazine for visitors; The Book of the San Juan Islands, an annual almanac; and special sections related to aspects of island life.

As of 2013, the economy of the San Juans is almost entirely driven by tourism, which has been described as a "thin base for newspaper endeavors."

History

The first edition of the Friday Harbor Journal was published on Sept. 13, 1906. The paper's first editorial read: "Not unmindful of the cares and responsibilities of newspaper life, the JOURNAL makes its bow to the public today, inspired with hope that it may be useful in the development of this beautiful island county."

The paper was co-founded by Oscar Garrett Wall, an American Civil War veteran who had served in the 5th Minnesota Infantry Regiment. He fought in the Battle of Fort Ridgely and wrote a book titled "History of the Sioux Massacre." The paper's other co-founder was Gus A. Ludwig, a journeyman printer from Minneapolis. Its motto in the early days was "A Square Deal for Everybody."

Wall, age 62, moved to the San Juan Islands because his health was failing. After eight months, he sold his interest in the Journal on June 3, 1907 to 24-year-old Virgil Frits. Frits was a cigar-smoking Republican who got his start in the news business at The Reveille in Bellingham.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Journal of the San Juan Islands” as newspaper published in Friday Harbor. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Journal, Juan and Islands.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2013, 1906, 1907—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1906. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Journal, Juan and Islands providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Journal of the San Juan Islands”, the useful work is to connect “newspaper published in Friday Harbor” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q23091340. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2013, 1906 and 1907.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Journal of the San Juan Islands”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Journal of the San Juan Islands primary sources, Journal of the San Juan Islands archive and Journal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Journal of the San Juan Islands”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Journal of the San Juan Islands” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.