Kansas Historical Quarterly

First Newspapers in Kansas Counties
Part 3 of 4
1871-1879

by G. Raymond Gaeddert

     THE first publication in Russell county was The Kansas Pioneer, a monthly real estate journal. It was published at Bunker Hill by Harbaugh, Corbett & Co., but printed at Abilene. Andreas wrote "it was an advertising sheet exclusively" and not entitled to any place in the history of the press. [1] The Russell Record, July 13, 1876, however, called it a newspaper. The Abilene Chronicle announced the first issue November 30, 1871: "The Kansas Pioneer.The above is the title of a spicy Real Estate paper just issued by Harbaugh, Corbett & Co., of Bunker Hill, Russell County. . . ." It quoted the Pioneer in a burst of propaganda as follows:

     Rev. W. B. Christopher, President of Illinois Colony [which was to settle near Bunker Hill], says: "I am astonished at the depth and fertility of the soil of this portion of Kansas, and the salubrity of the climate. On the sod we have raised good corn, finest vegetables of all kinds, including common and sweet potatoes, and have now a beautiful growth of winter wheat. More rain has fallen during the summer than I have ever known, except in rainy seasons. -Myself suffering from a bronchial affection, have been wholly relieved. Although sleeping in the open air, and often wet with the penetrating rains, I have hardly coughed or sneezed since I came. Existence is no longer a load but a perpetual thrill of vitality." The air of Western Kansas is the true "Catarrh remedy," and "Consumptive's cure."-Kansas Pioneer.

     Secondary authorities say the Pioneer was published only a few months. [2] The Society has no copy in its files.

     The first weekly newspaper in the county, The Western Kansas Plainsman, was started by A. B. Cornell at Russell in April, 1872. It was Republican in politics. The Kansas Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, announced the first issue April 30, 1872:

     We have received the first number of the Plainsman, a very creditable sixcolumn paper, hailing from Russell, Kansas, and bearing the name of A. B. Cornell at the mast-head. The editor closes his salutatory thus: "Personally

we are somewhat of an oddity, for a printer-for we neither smoke, chew or drink tanglefoot-but at c ss-ing we are equal to the emergency, so don't tread on our corns. Our motto is-equal rights to all, tame submission to none."

     The Ellsworth Reporter, May 2, 1872, in announcing the paper, stated: "Mr. Cornell, its publisher, has a deep pocket and considerable personal pride, which is a security that the Plainsman will live." According to Andreas and the First Biennial Report, the first number of the Plainsman appeared April 25, 1872. [3] In October, 1876, it was sold to one Robinson, who removed it to Kirwin, Phillips county. The Society has two issues of the Plainsman, dated September 4 and 11, 1875, listed as Vol. IV, Nos. 17 and 18.

     A close rival of the Plainsman was The New Republic, published at Bunker Hill by John R. Rankin. On July 13, 1876, the Russell Record, successor to The New Republic, made the following statement about the two rival papers

     About the first of April, 1872, John R. Rankin landed at Bunker Hill, with a printing press and some material; and the first type setting in the county was done in the "Office" of the Buckeye House. Soon after, A. B. Cornell brought a printing office to Russell, and on the 25th of April, 1872, issued No. 1, Vol. 1, of the Western Kansas Plainsman. Mr. Rankin was delayed somewhat in receiving sufficient amount of material, so that the first number of his paper, the New Republic, did not appear until the 9th of May, 1872. These two papers entered fully into the spirit of rivalry between the two towns [Russell and Bunker Hill] during the county seat contest of that year.

     On May 16, 1872, the Ellsworth Reporter announced The New Republic as a new paper hailing from Bunker Hill. In the Society's collection is a good file of the Russell Record, commencing with the issue of July 13, 1876; but no copy of The New Republic.

     The authorities are mostly silent or in disagreement as to the first paper in this county. On June 1, 1883, Judge R. W. P. Muse wrote in the Arkansas Valley Democrat, Newton:

     The first paper published in the county was the Sedgwick Gazette, which was started in Sedgwick City, January 19th, 1871, by P. T. Weeks, and after a few numbers had been issued, was purchased by Dr. T. S. Floyd, who continued its publication, until it reached its 23d number when he sold his press and material to parties in Wichita, and discontinued its publication.

In the article on Harvey county, Andreas confirmed Muse's statement except to state that Floyd published thirty-two instead of twenty-three numbers. However, in the article on Sedgwick county, Andreas wrote

     The Gazette, independent in politics, was published through a portion of the year 1871, by Yale Brothers. The material was then moved to Sedgwick City (then in Sedgwick county), where the Sedgwick City Gazette was published a short time. [4]

     The statement in the First Biennial Report reads:

     The Newton Kansan was the first newspaper published in Harvey county. Its publication was commenced at Newton, August 22, 1872, by H. C. Ashbaugh. . . . It has always been strongly Republican. [5]

     The same authority, reporting for Sedgwick county, stated:

     The Gazette, (formerly Cottonwood Falls Independent,) was the next paper published at Wichita, but it was soon removed to Sedgwick City. It was subsequently purchased by D. G. Millison, and returned to Wichita. Its name was changed to the Beacon, and it is still published as a Democratic paper; Capt. White, editor. [6]

     Since the Society has no copy of the Gazette it was difficult to determine the facts. Secondary authorities agreed that early in its history Sedgwick City had a newspaper called the Gazette. As to the time when it appeared they were either silent or gave January 19, 1871, as the date. A search in the newspapers unearthed a clue in the Chase County Leader of Cottonwood Falls, December 22, 1871, which reads: "The Wichita Tribune, after missing three issues, comes again. It is now owned by Weeks & Follett, A. W. Yale having withdrawn." The personnel of the papers helped to connect the Tribune with the Gazette. An examination of the files of the Wichita Tribune disclosed that the secondary authorities were mistaken in the date of the first issue. It also showed that the Gazette was first published in Cottonwood Falls as the Central Kansas Index, then in Wichita as the Tribune and finally in Sedgwick City as the Sedgwick Gazette. On January 12, 1872, the Chase County Leader stated: "Again on the Wing.-The Wichita Tribune has moved to Sedgwick City." The Emporia News of the same date gave additional information: "The Sedgwick Gazette is the name of a new seven-column weekly to be published in Sedgwick." On January 19 the News reported again: "The Wichita Tribune has moved to Sedgwick City. We hope the change will improve it." The next

week, January 26, the News supplied this missing information: "The Sedgwick Gazette, No. 1, has arrived. Mr. Weeks makes a good deal better paper than he did at Wichita, and one of the best in the Southwest."

     In following up the history of the paper a number of subsequent changes was discovered. In the Emporia News of May 10, 1872, occurred the following statement: "The Sedgwick Gazette has been moved to Newton, and is now the Harvey County Gazette." This statement was confirmed in the Neodesha Citizen of May 24. On July 12, 1872, the News again reported on the Gazette: "The Harvey County Gazette has moved back to Sedgwick City, and is again the Sedgwick Gazette." It gave as a reason for this move that "Newton is `dead, financially."' The following week, July 19, the Chase County Leader summed up the history of the Gazette in these words: "The Central Kansas Index, (formerly published at this place,) alias Wichita Tribune, alias Sedgwick City Gazette, alias Newton Gazette, has moved back to Sedgwick City and is again the Sedgwick City Gazette." The Wichita Eagle of May 6, 1875, and the Newton Kansan of January 4, 1877, both reported that T. S. Floyd in October, 1872, sold the Sedgwick City Gazette to D. G. Millison of Topeka and Fred A. Sowers of Wichita who removed it to Wichita and changed its name to the Wichita Beacon. The Gazette was a typical frontier paper in that it changed places with the changes in financial and political prospects of the frontier towns.

     Z. T. Walrond, author of "Annals of Osborne County," published in the Osborne County Farmer, of Osborne, wrote that the first number of the Osborne City Times was issued March 11, 1872, and that the Osborne County Express first saw daylight March 16, 1872. These papers were established during the county-seat fight in the interest of the two leading towns, Osborne and Arlington. The Times, Walrond wrote, was printed at the office of the Topeka Commonwealth by an editorial committee consisting of J. A. Boring, H. D. Markley and A. N. Fritchey. He listed a number of business firms advertising in the Times, thereby indicating that he had before him copies of the paper. Of the Express, he said it was printed at Concordia, in the interest of Arlington. It was edited by Mark J.

Kelley and contained advertisements of business men at Concordia, Beloit and Waconda. [7] The Osborne County Farmer, March 13, 1879, published the second installment of an article by A. Saxey, entitled: "A Sketch of Osborne County From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Day." Referring to the county-seat election, Saxey wrote:

     Both these towns issued a paper advocating their claims for the honor. Osborne City had her paper, the Osborne City Times, printed at Topeka, while Arlington had her printing office in the town of Concordia.

     Andreas and the First Biennial Report did not mention the papers established in 1872. The first listed was the Osborne Weekly Times, started in January, 1873. [8] That there was a paper established that year called the Osborne Weekly Times was announced in the Beloit Gazette, February 13, 1873:

     The first issue of the Osborne Weekly Times, published at Osborne City, thirty-two miles west of us, made its appearance on last Saturday [February 8]. The new paper is edited and published by F. E. Jerome & Co. In appearance it is excellent; in size with the largest west of us; in taste in selected and editorial matter it ranks with the best of country papers, and in general "make up" it does honor to the live people of Osborne city and the county.
It is the frontier paper of the Northwest.

     This no doubt was the second attempt to start the Times at Osborne. A contemporaneous newspaper report substantiates, in the main, the claims of Walrond and Saxey for the Osborne County Express. On February 3, 1872, the Republican Valley Empire, Concordia, reported Mark J. Kelley, Esq. of the late Clyde Watchman, passed through town on Tuesday last, on his way to Osborne City, where he will hereafter reside, and issue the Osborne City Herald, from new material.

     Apparently this failed to materialize, for on March 9, 1872, the same paper announced the appearance of the first issue of the Osborne County Express:

     We have received the first number of the Osborne County Express, published at Arlington, by M. J. Kelley. It is a neat six-column sheet, and well filled with matter pertaining to the interest of that county. Mark knows how to get up a live paper, and from what we know of the people of Arlington, we are confident the Express will be liberally sustained; it certainly ought to be. We wish the frontier paper abundant success.

     This places the first number of the Express during the last week of February or the first week in March, 1872. No contemporaneous

information has been found, however, about the Osborne City Times of 1872. Until the claims of Walrond and Saxey in behalf of the Times can either be successfully challenged or else substantiated, it is impossible to say which paper was first in the county. The Society has no copies of these papers.

     The Clarion has no rival for priority in the county. The First Biennial Report gave the date of the first number as March 24, 1872; Andreas merely gave March, 1872. [9] The Society has one copy dated August 30, 1872, listed as Vol. 1, No. 23. If regularly issued the Clarion should have appeared March 29. The Junction City Union announced it April 13, 1872:

     We have received the first number of The Jewell City Weekly Clarion, published in Jewell City, Kansas. We have filed it away in our cabinet of typographical curiosities.

     The Kansas Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, did not publish the notice until April 21. The Clarion probably appeared during the last week of March or the first two weeks in April, 1872. W. P. Day was the editor and proprietor, assisted by W. D. Jenkins. It was Republican in politics.

     The Clarion was a small four-column folio. It was published for a year, then changed to the Jewell County Diamond, and later to the Monitor.

     The first issue of the News was a souvenir edition "designed to attract settlers rather than to relate the happenings of the day for the local citizens who knew them by heart anyway," according to the Hutchinson News-Herald, commemorating the seventieth birthday of Hutchinson. The first issue came out July 4, 1872, a four-page edition, numbering 5,000 copies. L. J. Perry was the publisher and Houston Whiteside the editor. Whiteside was too modest to let his name appear on the masthead, remaining incognito as "& CO." Perry also published the Western Spirit at Paola. It has been said that he cared so little about Hutchinson, the "Queen City of the Prairie," that he visited it but three times, "the first to find a partner to run the newspaper, the second to help print the first

issue and the third to hunt buffalo." [10] The paper was Republican in politics, supporting Grant.

     The printing machine, a Washington hand press, "arrived June 27th on the first train to pull into town and was greeted by everyone of the 150 potential subscribers." [11]

     The first issue was largely devoted to a description of the great Arkansas Valley, Reno county (its soil, climate and general possibilities), and Hutchinson. This town boasted "two baseball clubs, a dozen croquet clubs, a glee club and not a single whiskey shop." The editor thought it was better to start a town with a church and a school house than with a whisky saloon. The Kansas Weekly Tribune, Lawrence, July 18, 1872, described the first issue of the News in these words

     Number one of volume one of the Hutchinson News, is upon our table. It is a neat and sprightly paper, and finds its local items in Reno county, instead of foreign papers. It is for Grant and Wilson, and is brimful of life and spirit. The citizens of Reno county will help themselves by giving it a liberal support. The Society has a facsimile of the first issue of the News reproduced July 2, 1932. Its regular file does not start until February 17, 1876, although it has the issue of July 15, 1875.

     Most authorities agree that the Arkansas Valley is the name of the first newspaper published in Barton county. [12] However, an article written by a correspondent of the Topeka Commonwealth from Great Bend, published December 17, 1872, raises a question as to the name of the paper. The statement reads: "Our long-promised local paper, the Arkansas Valley Echo, is about to appear again. A press has been secured, set up, and ready for orders, and I think that the present week will find us with Echo No. 2." Apparently the statement refers to the same paper, the Arkansas Valley of Great Bend. On November 22, 1872, the Neodesha Weekly Citizen issued the following statement: "The material on which the Tioga Herald was printed is to be removed to Great Bend, Barton county, and a new paper started." Nothing more was found in the contemporaneous newspapers relating to the above statements.

     In 1912 the Great Bend Tribune published a Biographical History of Barton County which contained an article on the county's newspapers. The section relating to the Arkansas Valley reads:

     The first newspaper published in the county was The Arkansas Valley, edited by S. J. McFarren. There were but a few issues of this paper, the first edition being published in July, 1872. It was a seven-column paper. . . . It was printed at the office of the Tribune in Lawrence, Kan., and was owned by T. L. Morris and others. The salutatory editorial in the paper consisted chiefly of an apology for publishing a newspaper in the heart of the Great American Desert. . . . The second number was issued in 1873. The outside was printed by A. N. Kellogg of St. Louis and was dated January 14, 1873, the inside-printed later-was dated January 27, 1873, and the advertisements were nearly all dated in April, 1873.
     The price of the paper was $2.00 per year and since it was published only twice a year, the paper cost the subscribers $1.00 a copy. . . [13]

     The detailed description of the two issues make it appear that the author had copies of the newspaper before him when he wrote the article. If this could be established as a fact, most of the questions regarding the paper could be answered.

     In 1873 the name of this paper was changed to the Barton County Progress. The Society has no copies of the Arkansas Valley or the Progress.

     Andreas gave the date of the first issue of the Messenger as November, 1872. First Biennial Report had it December 19, 1872. [14] The date on the first issue is December 19, 1872, but in it was the following statement:

     We date this issue for the week after it is issued in order to give us time to canvass some for advertisements and subscriptions. We do this in order to have as many of our subscribers commence with the first number as possible. We hope all who are interested in having a paper in McPherson county-and every person in the county should be-will come and subscribe, or send in their subscription at once.

     The first issue, therefore, was published December 12, 1872, a week earlier than the listed date.

     The editors and proprietors of this paper were A. W. and L. B. Yale. In politics they were Republican, although they considered themselves "more liberal in . . . [their] Views than some," saying: "We will always support man in preference to measures, and

will denounce corruption in any party wherever we see it." It was their aim "to make a good live local paper that . . . [would] exercise an influence in bringing settlers to this county," to help develop its resources.

     The paper changed hands several times during the course of its existence. In August, 1873, A. W. Yale went into other business. This left L. B. Yale sole editor and proprietor. On August 21, 1873, the Messenger was closed out for debt and bought by the McPherson Publishing Company. On December 13, 1873, it came under the control of I. F. Clark and George W. McClintic, operating under the firm name of Clark and McClintic. Clark was chief editor. [15] Just when the Messenger folded up is not known.

     The Society has a broken file from December 19, 1872, listed as Vol. 1, No. 1, to December 27, 1873. The issues that should contain the information of the foreclosure are missing from the file.

     The exact date of the first number of the Pioneer is uncertain. Andreas and the First Biennial Report said it started in November, 1872. Apparently this is not true. On January 4, 1873, the Junction City Union announced the first issue:

     We have received a copy of No. 1 of the Smith County Pioneer. We have heard of Smith county, but it is further out than we are acquainted. The Pioneer appreciates its calling, and goes in for local matters. Typographically it will barely pass, but then it is an awful ways out. May it grow with the country. It claims that Smith county has 2,500 of a population, and growls because they have but one mail a week.

     On January 9, 1873, the Beloit Gazette announced that it had received "the first and second numbers of the Smith County Pioneer, published at Cedarville. The paper improves as it grows older." On July 4, 1876, the Rev. W. M. Wellman, speaking on the "History of Smith County," said the Pioneer made its appearance in December, 1872. [18]

     The question of priority also requires mention. On November 28, 1872, the Beloit Gazette stated: "We are informed that a paper is about to be started at Smith Center, Smith county. We wish the enterprise success." No information has been found to show that the paper ever was established. On the contrary, in 1935, L. T. Reese, reporting on "Incidents of Early Days in Kansas," wrote that Levi

Morrill from Hiawatha "was the first advocate of a newspaper in Smith Center. He set up a little hand press, talked newspaper, had no name for one and never made an issue." [17] This may explain the report in the Gazette.

     Andreas, the First Biennial Report, and the Pioneer of July 27, 1876, stated that W. D. Jenkins started the Pioneer, that it was edited successively by Jenkins, Lew Plummer and Mark J. Kelley and that the office was sold to Levi Morrill in 1873, who removed it to Smith Center. [18] L. T. Reese, writing for the Smith Center Review, November 28, 1935, had a different story:

     One Sandy Barron [the father of James Barron, prominent lawyer of Colorado Springs] . . . operated a print shop in a dugout near a break on the bank of the river or creek near Cedar where he had taken a homestead some two or three miles south of the Solomon river at the foot of the bluffs.
     He published the first newspaper in Smith County. It was printed on a little disk hand press run by a crank like a corn sheller. This press was bought by one, Dr. D. Jenkins, a druggist of Kirwin and was transferred later to Will D. Jenkins who brought it to Smith Center and it has been known ever since as the Smith County Pioneer.

     The contemporaneous newspapers quoted above failed to give the names of the editors and publishers.

     On September 1, 1932, the Pioneer gave an interesting description of its inception:

     It was in a partially completed log shanty in the shade of a cottonwood tree on the banks of the Solomon river that the first issue of The Smith County Pioneer-then known as the Kansas Pioneer-was printed at the government designated county seat of Cedarville in 1872. The material and equipment, extremely crude as compared to a modern printing office, was carted in by ox team from the nearest railroad point some two hundred miles distant. The sponsors for the publication were members of the Cedarville Townsite company, hardy pioneers to whom visions of future greatness for the embryo city took the form of reality. John Johnson, Nod Morrison, Vol Bottomly and Jim Johnson were some of the men who entertained those visions. . . .

     The reader will observe further contradictions in these quotations. The contemporaneous papers quoted above called the first issue Smith County Pioneer and not Kansas Pioneer. Contradictions as to type of building here are of minor consequence.

     From the start the Pioneer was a Republican newspaper, fighting its battles vigorously and persistently. It is one of the few original county papers which still carries on. The Society has a good file of it commencing with the issue of January 7, 1876.

     The Society has the first issue of this paper. It bears date of March 5, 1873, and not 1872, as listed in the First Biennial Report. Andreas had the year correct but the day of the month as March 3. [19] F. H. Barnhart was editor and publisher of the News. William C. Buzick joined him on the sixth number, operating under the firm name of Buzick & Barnhart. After an existence of a year and a half, the News was leased to P. Barker, who changed the name to Lincoln County Patriot.

     In the first issue of the News the editor wrote that it would be a "home paper, devoted to the interests of Lincoln county and the Saline Valley." In politics it would support "the principles of the Republican party, endeavoring to treat all questions with candor, and its opponents with justice." It would not be an organ of "cliques or rings," but it would strive to "maintain an honorable and manly independence, exposing and condemning wrong, whether found in the camp of the enemy or the house of its friends."

     Lincoln Center, later changed to Lincoln, had been made the county seat in the fall of 1872, about six months before the county had a newspaper. When the first issue of the News appeared the county had a population of about 500 voters and every voter occupied 160 acres of the domain.

     The Society has the first thirty-eight numbers of the News, probably the only copies in existence, and one copy of the Lincoln County Patriot, dated July 15, 1875.

     The exact date of the first issue of this paper is unknown. Andreas wrote:

     The Rice County Herald was started at Atlanta April 19, 1872, by a Mr. Frazier, and soon after it was sold to the Shinn Brothers. They sold it to Smith & Wallace, who soon after moved it to Peace, now Sterling. In 1875 it was moved to Hutchinson, Reno county. [20]

     The First Biennial Report had practically the same information except that it gave only the year, 1872, as the beginning date. [21] Charles R. Tuttle, in Centennial History of Kansas, published in

1876, wrote that The Rice County Herald published at Peace was the only newspaper in the county. [22] Only one contemporaneous newspaper account referring to the first issue of the Herald has been found. The Ellsworth Reporter, May 8, 1873, made this statement:

     Rice county has a new paper, the Herald, which we hope will make a living. Rice needs the paper and the Herald is full of good tidings to its readers.

     The Reporter failed to mention the place of publication, nor did it give the name of the editor and publisher. If the announcement has reference to the first appearance of The Rice County Herald in the county, which no doubt it does, then the secondary authorities are in error. The Society has no copy of this paper.

     This paper has been listed as first in the county. Andreas and the First Biennial Report stated that the Press was established by W. C. Tompkins in 1873, and was Republican in politics. [23] A more detailed and descriptive statement of the first issue Was Written by Mrs. Isabell Worrell Ball, published November 17, 1899. It reads:

     June 10th, 1873, Wm. C. Tompkins published the first issue of the Larned Press. It was a three-column folio, the size of its pages was seven by nine inches, republican in politics, and had for its 'motto: "Westward the Star of Empire takes its way." In his salutation the editor says: "It is the most westerly paper printed in the state, and is probably the most petite. But small as it is, it is larger than its income." Its subscribers numbered 00,000-all dead heads. It was printed on a Washington hand press, and the type-setting was done mostly by the editor's two sons, Fred. M. and Willie F. Tompkins, aged eleven and twelve respectively. [24]

     No newspaper announcement of the first number has been found. However, since Mrs. Ball quoted from the salutation, the date she gave, June 10, 1873, should be correct. The Society's file of this paper commences with the issue of October 20, 1876, listed as Vol. IV, No. 13.

     Chautauqua county Was not organized until 1875. The territory now included in Elk and Chautauqua counties Was Howard county in 1874. Sedan, Boston and Peru, the three towns concerned in the following discussion, are reported having started newspapers before the change in organization.

     The Howard County Messenger of Boston no doubt was the first newspaper published in territory now included in Chautauqua county. It Was published for some time at Howard before its removal to Boston. In a story Early Days in "Old Boston," Thos. E. Thompson referred to the removal of the Messenger from Howard to Boston as having occurred in August, 1873. The paper had been taken over by A. B. Hicks and moved to Boston in consideration of a small bonus paid by the Boston people. [25] On July 16, 1873, the Neosho County Journal, Osage Mission, reported the removal: "Boston, Howard county, is going to have a paper. The Howard City Messenger has been removed there." When the first issue Was published in Boston is not known. However, on September 9, 1873, the Topeka Daily Blade quoted the Messenger.

     Wide Awake was a second contender for priority in this county. Andreas and the First Biennial Report stated that the first issue Was published at Sedan "in June, 1874, by Joseph Mount, a mute." It was short-lived, having run only a little over a year when it expired in September, 1875. [26] Winnie Looby-Severns, in an address delivered at Sedan January 30, 1928, said:

     The first newspaper in Peru was established by its owner, a deaf and dumb man by the name of Mounts. He came with his little "hand organ" late in 1872. He called his paper The Wide Awake. His office was in his home, a small building or cabin. This structure was badly damaged by a storm, but he built over again. When the county seat was lost by Peru, he moved to Sedan. About this time Judge Moore and sons Elliott and Fletcher came to Peru. . . . [Mount finally sold to Moore.] [27]

     The Society has one issue of this paper, dated July 10, 1875, and listed as Vol. I, No. 49. It is dated at Sedan, with Joseph Mount & Co. as publishers. If published regularly the first number should have appeared August 7, 1874. If allowance is made for removing the plant from Peru to Sedan, the first number probably was issued

in June or July, 1874, which would still disqualify it for first place in the county.

     The Chautauqua Journal is a third contender for priority. D. W. Wilder's Annals of Kansas under date of December, 1873, reads: "Kelly and Turner issued the Chautauqua Journal in Sedan." This paper was first published at Elk Falls as the Elk Falls Journal and the removal to Sedan did not take place until 1875 or 1876. February 12, 1875, the Wilson County Citizen still quoted the Elk Falls Journal. On this subject Andreas wrote:

     The Chautauqua Journal was brought here from Elk Falls, where it had been established in 1873 by Ward & Pyle, who sold out in December of that year, to Kelly and Turner. After nearly three years, the removal to Sedan was made, where the firm continued the publication of the paper until January, 1879. [In another place Andreas wrote that the Elk Falls Journal was removed to Sedan in 1875.] [28]

     The Society does not have the first numbers of these three papers, and a search through contemporaneous newspapers has failed to reveal announcements of their first publications. The information available, however, points to the conclusion that the Howard County Messenger of Boston was the first newspaper published in Chautauqua county.

     The Chief is the name of a creditable newspaper venture at Kirwin, Phillips county. W. D. Jenkins is the editor.

     The Phillips County Post, of Phillipsburg, published a souvenir edition July 12, 1906, from which we quote the early history of the paper.

     The Kirwin Chief (the first paper in the county), was established in August, 1873, by W. D. Jenkins. He sold the paper to Capt. A. A. Thomas in the winter of 1874. In the fall of 1876, it was purchased by A. G. McBride and removed to Phillipsburg; after six months it was again moved to Kirwin, and July 13, 1881, was sold to the Kirwin Chief Steam Printing Co., with Rev. G. W. Wood, as editor. Tom G. Nicklin took charge Nov. 30, '81, A. L. Topliff January 5, 1882, and T. J. Pickett July 20, 1882.

     The Society's regular file of the Chief starts June 8, 1876.

     The First Biennial Report and Andreas agree that the Kinsley Reporter made its appearance September 16, 1873, that it started as a monthly publication, changed to a fortnightly or semiweekly, and in 1875, to a weekly publicatton. [30] The Topeka Daily Blade announced the first issue of the Reporter October 6, 1873, saying: "The first number of the Kinsley Reporter, published at Peter city, by Mrs. C. C. McGinnis, has made its appearance." It failed to comment on the nature of the publication. In the issues of March 14 and 28, 1878, the Edwards County Leader, of Kinsley, published a history of the county in which the author, J. A. Walker, listed Mrs. A. L. McGinnis publisher of the Reporter. In part it reads:

     In September, 1873, Mrs. A. L. McGinnis, sister to Mrs. W. F. Blanchard and F. C. Blanchard, issued the first number of the Kinsley Reporter, a spicey little newspaper which she continued to publish until it was merged into the Edwards County Leader, W. T. Bruer purchasing her press and type in January, 1877.

     Andreas and the First Biennial Report failed to mention the editor and publisher, however the state census records of Kinsley township, Edwards county for 1875, listed A. L. McGinnis, female, age 42, printer, but did not mention C. C. McGinnis. With A. L. was listed M. V. McGinnis, female, age 16. It is possible and probable that Mrs. C. C. and A. L. McGinnis refer to the same person, one referring to her initials, and the other, to her husband's.

     The Society has four issues of the Reporter, the first bears the date of September 21, 1876, listed as Vol. III, No. 45.

     The grasshopper scourge followed closely on the heels of the Messenger, and no doubt helped force its suspension in 1875. A. W. Moore was editor and publisher. In the salutatory he wrote:

     Here we are. How do you like us? We dislike a long salutatory with more words than sense-promising great things which cannot be fulfilled-(as is too often the case with editors in Kansas)-but we merely say that we are here, in Dodge City, Ford County, State of Kansas, for the purpose of publishing a newspaper, earning and receiving our "chuck," and doing what we can towards promoting the interests of said county. The Messenger is an Independent-or Neutral, paper-reserving the right, however, to criticise the actions of our public servants both in high and low places-to denounce public robbery and wholesale stealing-and speaking a good word for those who merit it. . . .

     In another place he told about the conditions in that western town:

     Dodge City, where we have cast anchor, contains a population of about three hundred souls. The city has gained an unenviable name, far and near-but now, instead of those terrible scenes that we read of, being re-enacted, quietude reigns supreme. The desperadoes have all taken their departure, leaving the peace-loving citizens in possession.
There are some sixteen business houses in the city-all of which are doing a very fair business, so far as we can learn. . . . The shops around are doing a good business-and the saloons are kept in good shape, and very orderly, by gentlemen who fully understand their business.

     Doubtless the editor regarded this issue as Vol. I, No. 1, even though he failed to label it. Moreover, he wrote that it was the "first assay at printing in Rush county." There is no information to show that it had a rival for priority. Apparently the paper was not published regularly, as the next issue in the Society's file is Vol. I, No. 26, dated December 13, 1876 -nearly two years after the first number was published. According to the First Biennial Report the Standard was removed to La Crosse in the spring of 1877, and then to Ellis, Ellis county. The Society also has two copies of the Standard published at Ellis.

     Tomlinson was a native of Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1857 he was sent to Kansas by the New York Tribune as its correspondent, and in 1859 wrote a book on the territorial troubles, entitled, Kansas in Eighteen Fifty-Eight. In the spring of 1871 he moved to Kansas, locating first at Council Grove, then at Rush Center. He was the first representative sent to the state legislature from Rush county. In later years he worked for the Topeka Commonwealth, was associated with Charles K. Holliday in the publication of the Kansas Democrat, and later published a paper known as the Democrat. He died at Topeka June 13, 1901 [32]

     A. W. Moore went to Dodge City from Holton, where in 1867 he had established the Jackson County News, a Republican seven-column paper. [31] He removed his material to Dodge City to establish the Messenger, a four-page, six-column paper.

     The Society has two issues, Vol. I, No. 1, dated February 26, 1874, and the issue of June 25, 1874.

     This was the first newspaper published and printed in Rush county. William P. Tomlinson, a Republican, was the editor and proprietor. The Society has two copies of The Walnut Valley Standard published in this decade. The first is dated December 24, 1874, but it carries no volume and number. It was printed on a single sheet with four columns to the page. The editor wrote:

     This first assay at printing in Rush county which we think will be appreciated by all interested in the welfare of the county, is purely an individual

enterprise involving not a cent of expense to the county. A large edition has been worked off which we present to all with the compliments of the season.

     The News was established at Stockton by J. W. Newell in January, 1876. It was Republican in politics. Newell purchased the press and material of the Lincoln County Patriot, removed it to Stockton in November, 1875, and issued the first number January 6, 1876. [33] The Society has Vol. I, No. 15, of the News, dated April 20, 1876. If published regularly the first number should be dated January 13, 1876. However, the Osborne County Farmer, of Osborne, announced it January 14:

     The Stockton News has made its appearance. It is a neat, well edited six column sheet, is a credit to Mr. Newell the publisher, and will be an honor to the people of Rooks county if they support it handsomely.

     This indicates that the first issue may have appeared January 6, 1876.

     The News continued publication until September 30, 1909. During the period of May, 1881, to April, 1882, it was published at Plainville. With the issue of March 28, 1883, it changed its name to The Western News, having earlier dropped Stockton from its title. The Society has a good file of this paper.

     The grasshopper scourge of 1874, the panic of 1875, and the subsequent depression period, no doubt greatly retarded the westward march of the Kansas frontier newspaper men. In 1872-1873, thirteen new counties established newspapers, whereas during the next three years there were only three: Ford and Rush in 1874 (although the Dodge City Messenger came in before the grasshopper invasion), none in 1875, and one in 1876.

     Andreas and the First Biennial Report gave the date of the first issue of The Norton County Bee as January 1, 1877, listing Harmer and Baker as the proprietors. The First Biennial Report added Nat. L. Baker, editor. [34] J. C. Swayze announced the initial number in the Topeka Daily Blade, January 10, 1877:

     The Norton County Bee is a new newspaper published at Norton in this state, by Harmer & Hugill. It is exceedingly country in appearance, but we suppose that is accounted for by the fact that it is exceeding[ly] far out in the country. It claims to be "intensely local" also. It has a worm fence around each page, which leads us to infer that it is opposed to the herd law. May it have better luck than the Locomotive.

     The Society has only one issue of the Bee, dated May 7, 1877, listed as Vol. I, No. 19, which places the first number January 1, 1877. However, it gave A. F. Harmer as editor and publisher. No doubt the initial number was published by Harmer & Hugill as announced in the Blade. According to Andreas the office of the Bee was removed to Leota, Norton county, in November, 1877; after a few months it was returned to Norton, and soon discontinued. [35]

     The first issue of the Citizen appeared November 30, 1877. It was printed at Sterling. Theo. L. Kerr was the editor and proprietor. Throughout its brief existence the editor boosted Pratt county. It lived and died before Stafford county was organized. With the

organization of the county in 1879, Stafford city was included in this county, and the Citizen was honored as Stafford county's first newspaper. The editor did not commit himself politically. In "Our Bow" he wrote:

     In genera] politics we do not propose to take much of a hand at present, but when occasion shall arise, we expect to be found on the side of honesty and good government. In local politics, the Citizen will use its best endeavors to assist in the selection of honest, capable men to office and will then Watch them to see that they do their duty faithfully.
     But We consider it our chief mission at present to talk up the country and get it filled with settlers.

     More interesting than "Our Bow" was "Our Adieu," which followed in Vol. I, No. 31, dated June 28, 1878. It reads, in part:

     For thirty-one weeks we have been amusing ourselves at journalism; during which time we have acted in the capacity of editor, reporter, business manager, bookkeeper, compositor, proof-reader, pressman and devil; and must confess that it is a little the liveliest amusement we ever engaged in. On account of our limited financial resources we were obliged to do our printing at Sterling, Which being thirty-three or four miles from our town of publication prevented us from making a flying visit to the beautiful little city we have had so much to say about, oftener than once in three or four weeks. During the last thirty-one weeks, however, our bump of imagination has increased to such an enormous size that we feel perfectly competent to write all the local news notwithstanding the many miles of prairie that hides from our view our country and people.

     Kerr had but two reasons for dropping the newspaper business. The most important was, he could not make it pay; the second, which he considered a direct consequence of the first, his declining health. He therefore sold his subscription list and good will to E. B. Cowgill of Rice county who promised to publish the Stafford news in his paper. The Society has all thirty-one issues of the Citizen.

     The Society has an incomplete file of this paper, including Vol. I, No. 1, dated May 21, 1878 [36] M. J. Cochran was the editor and publisher. The paper was Republican in politics. In the "Salutatory" the editor wrote:

     We will say that while we have political views of our own and those of a radical nature, we do not think the growth of the county would be in any way materially aided by their advocacy. The only politics needed, in our judg

ment, in a new county, is economy in county management, and the selection of pure, noble-minded and honest men to fill the places of trust and profit, keeping an eye single to the advancement and substantial development of your county. Not many politicians would admit as much.

     Cochran published the last issue of the Mail March 6, 1879. On the editorial page he wrote that his interest in, and management of the Mail ceased. In the first issue of the Medicine Lodge Cresset, published March 20, 1879, the editors and proprietors, J. W. McNeal and E. W. Iliff, wrote that they had purchased the Mail on the following terms:

     The terms on which we purchased the Mail were that we were to continue all paid up subscriptions until their time expires. Those who are in ar[r]ears we are to collect arrearages.

     The Cresset therefore replaced the Mail. The issue of May 22, 1879, announced Iliff's withdrawal and replacement by T. A. McNeal, now of Topeka. The McNeals were brothers. The Cresset continued its publication until August 30, 1917, when it consolidated with The Barber County Index, of Medicine Lodge. Under this name the paper is still published. Cloyce M. and C. W. Hamilton are the present editors and publishers.

     Andreas was correct in saying: "The Mercury was the first newspaper published in Kingman county. It was established by J. C. Martin [formerly connected with the Chase County Courant, of Cottonwood Falls], the first issue bearing date June 14, 1878." [37] The Society has a good file of the Mercury, including Vol. I, No. 1.

     In the salutatory Martin wrote that he intended to devote his time to help make Kingman county "the equal of any in the state." He abhorred "long-winded salutatories and promises" never intended to be fulfilled, and closed with the quotation:

     Here's freedom to him that would read, Here's freedom to him that would write 1 There's none ever feared that the truth should be heard But they whom the truth would indict.

     The Mercury started as a five-column folio. On June 13, 1879, Martin increased it to a seven-column, four-page paper. On August 19, 1880, the paper changed hands, Martin sold to A. E. Saxey, who

changed the name to the Kingman Blade. Saxey continued the Blade till December 23, 1880, when he disposed of his interests to P. J. Conklin, editor and publisher of the Kingman County Citizen, of Kingman, who discontinued the Blade.

     The first journalistic venture in Foote, now Gray county, was the Cimarron Pioneer. The paper was edited and published by Joseph E. Morcombe, formerly a correspondent of the Kinsley Graphic, and printed by the Dodge City Times. The Optic gave the date of the first issue as July 2, 1878. [38] On June 25, 1878, the Ford County Globe, of Dodge City, published a news item by "Dick" of Cimarron which told of the prospective newspaper venture:

     We are to have a newspaper here soon, we understand. The first issue will come out Saturday, June 29. We wish it much success, and as we have an enterprising editor, we think it cannot be otherwise. We understand it is to be called The Pioneer.

     On July 6, 1878, the Dodge City Times announced the first issue:

     The first number of the Cimarron Pioneer was issued last Tuesday [July 2]. It is edited and conducted by Jos. E. Morcombe, a young man of fine ability, and who gives promise of much usefulness. He is a fine writer and will adapt himself to the newspaper profession. The Pioneer is a credit to the growing town- of Cimarron. We wish it unbounded success.

     Three days later, July 9, the Globe announced the first issue:

     The Cimarron Pioneer came to hand on Friday. Progress is to-day the touchstone of success and we feel that the publishing of the Pioneer is progressive enough for the most enthusiastic and consequently deserving of success. We welcome it to our table.

     The Kinsley Graphic announced the Pioneer July 13:

     The Cimarron Pioneer is the latest journalistic venture outside of Kinsley. Jos. E. Morcombe, late correspondent of the Graphic, editor. The Pioneer is indeed an oasis in the desert, and we wish it abundant success. [39]

     According to the Dodge City Times the first issue of this paper appeared July 2. The Society has no copy of the Pioneer.

     The New West, Cimarron, was the second newspaper in the county. It was first published March 22, 1879, and was printed at Lamed. The Society has a good file of it.

     Andreas listed the Press as the first newspaper in Pratt county. [40] It had no rival for priority. The first number no doubt appeared August 15, 1878. The earliest number in the Society's file is Vol. I, No. 3, dated August 29, 1878. If regularly issued the first number should be dated August 15. On August 22, the Weekly Bulletin, Sterling, announced the Iuka paper as follows:

     We have received Vol. 1, No. 1, of the weekly Pratt County Press published at Iuka, by [J. B.] King and [M. C.] Davis. The Press is a handsomely printed, spicily edited seven column folio. The proprietors say they know how to get up a county paper, and from the contents of the initial number we judge their words to be no vain boast. . . .

     The initial number was highly complimented by other Kansas papers. The Pawnee County Herald, of Larned, stated: "The paper is a very good looking seven column sheet, unusually well gotten up for a `backwoods' paper." The Hutchinson Herald spoke of King and Davis as "both practical printers and experienced publishers. Their paper, the Press, is a credit to the locality." The Kansas City (Mo.) Daily Journal, said the Press was "exceptionally well gotten up. . . . Iuka is sixty miles from a railroad station, but the pluck and energy displayed by Messrs. King and Davis is what makes success certain." The Daily Democrat, Pueblo, Colo., listed the paper as " `independent' in politics." [41]

     Jasper S. Soule established the Journal in Anthony, August 22, 1878. It was the official and only paper in the county, [42] started as a five-column folio. Before a year elapsed, however, another column had been added. Soule started the project to earn a living for himself and family. He proposed to make the Journal a "free, fearless and independent" publication. Anthony was selected because he regarded Harper "the `banner' county of the `Great Southwest,"' and the townsite attracted him. At the time of the first issue Anthony was four months old.

     Soule had learned the printers' trade in the office of the Walnut Valley Times, El Dorado, under the eagle eye of T. B. Murdock. It

is of interest, therefore, to read what the master workman had to say about the product of his former apprentice. On August 30, 1878, Murdock wrote in the Times

     We have received the first number of the Anthony, Harper County Journal, J. S. Soule editor and proprietor. Jasper learned the printing trade in the Times office and we can therefore claim him as one of our boys. His paper is a neat and well filled sheet and is a credit to the publisher as well as to the county in which it is printed, and if the people of that county don't give the Journal a handsome support they deserve to be without a newspaper at all. We hope to see Jasper make a success of it in his new venture.

     Soule sold the Journal to C. W. Greene April 26, 1879. [43] The Society has a good file of the Journal, including Vol. I, No. 1.

     W. W. Wheeland was editor and publisher of the Agitator, the first newspaper in the county, published and printed at Hodgeman Center. Andreas wrote that Wheeland was both editor and county clerk. [44] When the governor organized Hodgeman county, March 29, 1879, he appointed Wheeland a temporary county clerk. However, this was nearly five weeks after the paper was established. [45]

     In the "salutatory," Wheeland informed his constituents that his subsistence was wholly dependent upon the subscription list and if they wanted a paper they had better cooperate. He admitted having come to Hodgeman Center to help make it the county seat (in which he failed). The paper was definitely political, the editor conceded that he was "an uncompromising Republican."

     The Agitator was a neat five-column folio, and was favorably received by Kansas newspaper men. [46] The editor of the Ford County Globe announced the first issue in frontier language:

     Hodgeman county has a paper, not published on a buffalo chip, but a real, live newspaper, called the Agitator. We trust it will not wither and fade away from premature birth. [47]

     The paper issued forty-five numbers, then discontinued. Andreas wrote: "The last number of the Agitator was issued January 10,

1880, and with its demise, its editor went out of the office." [48] The Society has a good file of the paper.

     Two other newspapers were established in the county during the year 1879: The Republican, Fordham, which appeared April 9, 1879, and the Buckner Independent. The Society's file of The Republican starts with Vol. I, No. 1, and of the Buckner Independent with Vol. I, No. 3, dated November 7, 1879.

     The first newspaper established in this county was the Wa-Keeney Weekly World, with W. S. Tilton as editor and publisher. The first number appeared March 8, 1879. The Society's file starts with the second number, dated March 15, 1879. The World, started as a six-column paper, was enlarged to seven columns August 9, 1879, and was further enlarged to eight columns, October 29, 188I. It was folio in form, and Republican in politics. The Society has a good file of the Weekly World, changed March 21, 1885, to the Western Kansas World.

     The paper was favorably received. The editor of the Smith County Kansas Pioneer, of Smith Centre, described it as "a neat, newsy little six-column paper, and bears the `imprint' of marked ability." [49]

     The Society also has a good file of the Wa-Keeney Kansas Leader, the second paper established in this county. The first number was dated August 6, 1879, and was published by H. P. Stultz.

     The Paper no doubt was the first newspaper published in the territory now Finney, then Sequoyah county. Kirk Himrod and Amos "Bonaparte" Baim were the editors and publishers. They made no political claim. The first number appeared April 3, 1879, as a lengthy five-column folio, thereafter it was published as a four-column, eight-page paper.

     The salutatory was very brief, but pointed: "Here we are. Shake!" To which D. R. Anthony of the Leavenworth Times replied: "Dr. Brown suggests that his ague pills are good for anything"

of that kind." [50] The editor of

     The Weekly Bulletin, of Sterling, commented on this prospective newspaper venture:

     Garden City is to have a newspaper. It will be a five column folio, Himrod and Baim, both long legged printers, will be the publishers. Kirk Himrod, the senior member of the firm, is well known to the people of this section. Amos Baim, better known as "Bonaparte," has been employed in the job department of the Bulletin for a long time. Both of the boys are first-class printers and we wish them success in their enterprise, but fear they will have to skirmish right briskly to make a living the first year or so. [51]

     The Ford County Globe carried the following description of the ' first number:

     Westward the newspaper takes its way. It seems that the first thing necessary to build up a new town or county is a newspaper. The newest and most suburban now on record is the Garden City Paper, published at Garden City, Sequoyah county, over a hundred miles west of Dodge. It is a very neat little five-column paper, very interesting to home-seekers, published by Himrod and Baim. Himrod we know to be on the square in every respect. The paper is very ably and sensibly edited, and the people of Sequoyah should be proud of it. [52]

     The editors of the paper commented on the large size of their county, saying, if it were five miles wider it would be exactly the size of the state of Rhode Island. The dimensions of Sequoyah extended 24 miles east and west and 36 miles north and south, comprising 864 square miles. The Society has a complete file of this paper. Numbers two and three were not published because the publisher had to move and lacked the necessary paper. [53]

Notes