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Chronicling America
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Newspaper The Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.) 1870-1913

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About The Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.) 1870-1913

Nathan Meeker, former New York Tribune agriculture editor and Horace Greeley protégé, began publication of the Greeley Tribune in November 1870 to serve the Union Colony of Colorado. The colony, of which Meeker was the founder and president, was a private enterprise formed to promote agricultural settlement in Colorado Territory, under Greeley’s patronage and encouragement to “Go West, young man, and grow up with your country.” It later became Greeley, Colorado.

In 1878, Meeker left the paper and Union Colony to take an appointment at the White River Ute Indian Agency, after which Meeker’s son, Ralph C. Meeker, and Edwin J. Carver shared ownership of the newspaper. Carver acted as publisher until 1882, when William Packard took over. However, Carver returned to the position by May 1885 and remained publisher and manager of the Tribune until December 1900. In January 1890, the Greeley Tribune Publishing Company, headed by J. J. Stephens, was formed, and it took over the ownership of the Tribune. Max Clark was hired as editor; he remained in that position until December 1900.

Charles A. Wolf, formerly of the Rocky Mountain News, bought a controlling interest in the Tribune in March 1901 and became the new editor. In his first issue as editor, Wolf wrote, “In identifying myself with the Greeley Tribune, I contemplate no changes in the policy of the paper politically. It will stand in the future, as in the past, for freedom and justice to all men . . . . I conceive it the mission of a local newspaper to devote most of its space to purely local matters, rather than to politics” (Greeley Tribune, March 7, 1901).

The Tribune was listed in N.W. Ayer & Son’s American Newspaper Annual as independent and then Democratic in its political leaning. However, from early on, the Tribune reserved the freedom, to “criticise, to oppose, or condemn any candidate for public office, any public official, or any measure of public policy,” encouraged comments on political affairs and “candid expression of opinion on questions of public interest,” and maintained that “healthy public sentiment is best secured by free exchange of views” (Greeley Tribune, March 18, 1891). The eight-page paper, true to Wolf’s mission, focused primarily on local news items, but also included county and statewide coverage, a social column “About People and What They are Doing,” state and national government news, agriculture reports, and general interest items such as serialized stories, book reviews, and fashion.

By 1903 Charles H. Hansen had become editor; in 1908, Wolf moved into the position of publisher. In that same year the paper began a daily publication alongside the separate weekly edition, the Greeley Daily Tribune. Wolf continued as publisher until 1913, when the paper consolidated the Greeley Republican and Greeley Tribune into the Greeley Daily Tribune and the Weld County Republican. Hansen stayed on as editor until 1914 and as owner and publisher until his death in May 1953. Mildred Hansen, Charles’s daughter, succeeded him as publisher until 1977, when Swift Newspapers took over ownership of the publication.

Provided By: History Colorado

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.) 1870-1913

Dates of Publication

  • 1870-1913

Created / Published

  • Greeley, Colo. : N.C. Meeker

Headings

  • -  Greeley (Colo.)--Newspapers
  • -  Colorado--Greeley
  • -  United States--Colorado--Weld--Greeley

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Nov. 16, 1870)-v. 44, no. 11 (Feb. 27, 1913).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Daily eds.: Greeley tribune (Greeley, Colo. : Daily), <1908>-1908, and: Greeley tribune (Greeley, Colo. : 1908), 1908-<1912>.
  • -  Issued with: New Windsor tribune, Sept. 7, 1893-June 28, 1894.
  • -  Weld County Republican (DLC)sn 89052089 (OCoLC)19613786
  • -  Greely tribune and Weld County Republican (DLC)sn 89052090 (OCoLC)19614404

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84022265

OCLC Number

  • 10333445

ISSN Number

  • 2641-4856

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Greeley Tribune Greeley, Colo. -1913. (Greeley, CO), Jan. 1 1870. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84022265/.

APA citation style:

(1870, January 1) The Greeley Tribune Greeley, Colo. -1913. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84022265/.

MLA citation style:

The Greeley Tribune Greeley, Colo. -1913. (Greeley, CO) 1 Jan. 1870. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84022265/.