The first issue of the "Deseret News" was published June 15, 1850, and was 8 pages long. This first issue included the paper's prospectus, written by the editor Willard Richards, along with news from the United States Congress, and a report on the San Francisco 1849 Christmas Eve fire; an event which had occurred six months prior. Because it was meant to be the voice of the State of Deseret, it was called the "Deseret News," and its motto was "Truth and Liberty." It was at first a weekly Saturday publication, and published in "pamphlet form" in hopes that readers would have the papers bound into volumes. Subscription rate was $2.50 for six months.