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Newspaper Daily Yellowstone Journal (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893 Daily journal

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About Daily Yellowstone Journal (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893

Published in Miles City, beginning on July 24, 1879, the weekly Yellowstone Journal was the first newspaper in eastern Montana, established only three years after Custer’s demise at the Little Bighorn and the construction of Fort Keogh by Colonel Nelson Miles. From its beginnings as “Miles Town” in 1877, the military and later the cattle industry dominated the community, and the Journal, as Custer County’s first newspaper, reflected those interests. The Journal’s first editor and owner was Major Thompson P. McElrath, a veteran of the Civil War and son of the owner of the New York Tribune. Having himself served as assistant editor of both the Philadelphia Evening Journal and the New York Weekly Century, McElrath relocated to Miles City in May 1879 for his health. He had a financial interest in promoting the fledgling town, where he was appointed the U.S. Land Office commissioner a year after his arrival and where he acquired major real estate interests over time. In January 1880, William D. Knight, a printer and pressman from the Black Hills, appeared in Miles City and by December 1881, had acquired an interest in the Journal. On October 18, 1882, Knight began publishing the Daily Yellowstone Journal, a six-column, 21.5 x 15-inch newspaper, with a declared Republican perspective. During those years, the Journal proclaimed itself “the only newspaper between Bismarck, North Dakota and the Rocky Mountains.”

Originally housed in a log building, the newspaper moved into a frame structure following the Yellowstone River floods of spring 1881. From its beginnings, the Journal declared that “our functions are of a local character, to record the growth and progress of this new country…” The newspaper also commented on the movements of Sitting Bull and the Sioux; arrivals of steamboats on the Yellowstone River; the persistence of horse thieves; the dangers of rattlesnakes; and the beauty of moonlight during a recent summer evening. It also noted the daily progress of Northern Pacific Railroad, then under construction, and its arrival in Miles City in 1881, as well as the establishment of the Montana Stockgrowers Association in 1884. Throughout its early succession of editors and owners, the Yellowstone Journal consistently represented its eastern Montana audience of cowboys, ranchers, and railroad men and advanced the cause of the Republican Party. A reflection of the newspaper’s interest in the cattle industry is demonstrated in the paper’s name change on August 22, 1885 to the Weekly Yellowstone Journal and Live Stock Reporter. In 1883, Sam Gordon, a bookkeeper in the employ of the St. Paul fur buyers, Gordon & Ferguson, purchased a share in the newspaper. Gordon remained with the paper until 1915, serving as sole proprietor from 1891 forward. The Daily Yellowstone Journal continued through the 1920s; it was followed by the weekly Yellowstone Journal, which persisted through 1936.

Provided By: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Daily Yellowstone Journal (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893

Other Title

  • Daily journal

Dates of Publication

  • 1882-1893

Created / Published

  • Miles City, Mont. : W.D. Knight

Headings

  • -  Miles City (Mont.)--Newspapers
  • -  Custer County (Mont.)--Newspapers
  • -  Montana--Custer County
  • -  Montana--Miles City
  • -  United States--Montana--Custer--Miles City

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Mon.)
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Oct. 18, 1882)-
  • -  Ceased with: January 17, 1893 issue.
  • -  Suspended: Feb.-Sept. 1883.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Yellowstone journal (Miles City, Mont. : Daily) 2329-5619 (DLC)sn 86075022 (OCoLC)13055082

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations (chiefly ads.) ; 51-56 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn86075021

OCLC Number

  • 13054849

ISSN Number

  • 2163-4912

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:

Daily Yellowstone Journal Miles City, Mont. -1893. (Miles City, MT), Jan. 1 1882. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86075021/.

APA citation style:

(1882, January 1) Daily Yellowstone Journal Miles City, Mont. -1893. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86075021/.

MLA citation style:

Daily Yellowstone Journal Miles City, Mont. -1893. (Miles City, MT) 1 Jan. 1882. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86075021/.