John Andrew Rea

Who was John Andrew Rea?

John Andrew Rea was an American journalist and politician. A native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, he was one of the eight members of Cornell University's first graduating class. As a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the New York Herald, he covered the 1877 flight of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce to Montana and their final battle with the US Army. While living in North Dakota, he covered the Battle of the Little Bighorn and drafted the constitution adopted by North Dakota when it became a state in 1889. From 1889 until his death, Rea lived in Washington State where he was the editor-in-chief of The Olympian and later President of the University of Washington Board of Regents and the first Executive Director of the Port of Tacoma.