The first issue of the Minneapolis Daily Tribune was published 150 years ago today. To modern eyes, the front page is an eclectic mix: wire reports from around the nation and the world, a few local shorts, a bit of shipping news, monetary and commodities reports and ads, ads, ads: “DRY GOODS, CLOTHING, HATS & CARPETS”; “Woolen Goods / North Star Mill”; and services such as surgery and well-digging. One gentleman offered his house for sale, “at a bargain,” on Utah street between Third and Fourth streets, a “three-minute walk from the post office.” The deal included the lot, a woodshed and a stable with room for four horses. No price was given. This story from the Chicago Tribune appeared at top center of the front page, in a one-column hole:
 

THE BURNING OF THE MERCHANTS’ HOTEL.

 
A Young Lady Believed to Have Perished in the Flames.
 
The Second Victim of the Conflagration.
 
Most of our readers in whose memory is still fresh the fact of the destruction by fire of the Merchants’ Hotel, on the corner of State and Washington streets, on the morning of the 4th of the present month, will readily recall the particulars concerning the sad fate of the late Mr. R.A. Cook, of Joliet, who perished in the flames during that memorable conflagration.
 
When the facts connected with the lamentable occurrence were made known through these columns and all suspense was ended by the discovery of the bruised and blackened remains, where the deceased had been a victim to the devouring elements, all breathed freer and thanked a kind Providence that it had been no worse, that no more lives had been sacrificed.
 
And yet this was not all. It was yesterday ascertained that there was a second victim, and as if to make the case still more painful, that this victim was a young, fair and accomplished woman.
 
Almost two weeks before the burning of the hotel, Miss Annie Dean, a young lady residing in Hamilton, Canada West, left her home for the purpose of coming to this city. On her way hither she stopped a few days in Detroit, and then came on, arriving in this city but two days before the fired occurred. It was known that she was in the hotel, occupying her room, on the night before the breaking out of the conflagration. Since then nothing whatever has been seen or heard of her.
 
On Tuesday a young lady came to this city for the purpose of making inquiries relative to the whereabouts of Miss Dean. The young lady stopped at the St. Cloud Hotel, and at once began her investigation. All her efforts to learn anything of her missing friend since the night preceding the fire have been fruitless and all hope has been abandoned, no doubt being entertained that the ashes of the missing young lady are mingled with the ruins of the hotel.
 
Miss Dean was a young lady of about twenty-three years of age. She was the only daughter of a widowed mother, and her sole support. She came to this city with the object of obtaining a situation as a teacher. She is described as having been a young lady of rare accomplishment and unusual attractiveness.
 
STATE NEWS
 
POTATOES are retailing at two dollars a bushel. The all-absorbing question will soon be, “Have we a potato among us?” – Faribault Republican.