Daily Morning Oasis

With abundant walnut groves, silver mines, and railways ultimately “linking Mexico and the United States for the first time” in 1882, Nogales, Arizona, was closely connected to its “sister town,” Nogales, Sonora (Alma Ready, Nogales Arizona 1880-1980). Ready described early newspapers in the Arizona-Mexico border town: “…one Sunday paper, six weeklies and four daily newspapers were established in Nogales between 1885 and 1905…” While most were short-lived, other titles like the Spanish-language paper El Monitor Fronterizo [LCCN: sn 93061629], The Border Vidette [LCCN: sn 96060796], and The Oasis [LCCN: sn 85032933] had longer runs. These papers regularly included news from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The Daily Morning Oasis, established in Nogales, Arizona, in December 1917 by Oasis owner and editor Allen T. Bird, adopted the slogan: "A Newspaper of the International Border. Devoted to the interests of Southern Arizona and the West Coast of Mexico.”

In the first issue, Bird described the purpose and need for the daily paper, separate from the weekly: “The aim and object of the management is to make the Daily Morning Oasis as truly representative of the town and its best interests as has been The Oasis. The outside circulation of the weekly edition is too large and valuable to be abandoned, and it will continue to go to a large clientele who desire the news of the international line, yet care not to have it daily.” Recurring columns included “Mexican News” and “Rippling Rhymes,” from poet and humorist Walt Mason. The Nogales Theatre and other local businesses regularly advertised in the paper. Potential advertisers were enticed to “reach big business in Mexico” – the paper “has a fast growing circulation in the West Coast region of Mexico.” An occasional special section, “Home Circle Magazine,” featured chapter-length and short fiction. The paper printed local, national, and international news, from happenings in Nogales and the rest of Arizona, to the women’s suffrage movement and the last days of World War I.

Bird was a Civil War veteran, railroader, miner, and journalist (Jane Eppinga, Nogales: Life and Times on the Frontier). Some contemporary newspapers reported tensions with Bird, such as the Arizona Daily Star’s [LCCN: sn 84020668] commentary in November 1918 on “reciprocal editorial bombardments” between Bird’s Daily Morning Oasis and the Nogales Herald, the resulting physical scuffles, and denouncements of Bird’s editorials by the community. But others, like the Miami Daily Silver Belt [LCCN: sn 87082864], called him “one of the best known mining writers in the southwest.” In October 1920, the newspaper included a statement of ownership listing J. E. Wise as the president of the Oasis Printing House with Allen T. Bird as editor. Wise was described by the Tombstone Epitaph [LCCN: sn 95060905] as a “wealthy Nogales business man.” The Border Vidette reported in February 1921 that the Daily Oasis had suspended publication because of financial conditions, but that the weekly Oasis would continue.

Essay provided by University of Arizona Libraries.