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Newspaper The Arapahoe Agency Courier (Arapahoe Agency, Wyo.) 1???-1???

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About The Arapahoe Agency Courier (Arapahoe Agency, Wyo.) 1???-1???

On March 31, 1878, in a letter to the editor of Wyoming’s Cheyenne Daily Leader appeared news of a shootout over a mining dispute, new inventions that would be imported to help with gold extraction, a political plot to remove the governor from his seat, and one sentence to note that, “The Arapahoes have arrived at the Shoshone Agency and the Shoshones are not satisfied with their new neighbors.” This was followed by news of an oncoming storm, which was meant to be a weather report, yet through the lens of time can also be taken as metaphor.

In the early 1830s, Fort Laramie was established in the southeast of what would become the state of Wyoming. Named for Jacques La Ramee, a fur trapper who also gave his name to the county and town of Laramie, the fort originally served as a trading post before the military bought it and took over in 1851. Although the Arapahoes were accused of La Ramee’s disappearance on a hunting trip, they were one of the fort’s reliable trading groups. The first Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed that year, mapping out territorial claims by the eight tribes living in the area. Despite the United States government agreeing to the land rights as set in the treaty, it did nothing to enforce them against the travelers passing through on the Oregon Trail or the increase in settlers during the gold rush that created competition for natural resources. The Arapaho had been assigned land with another tribe, the Cheyenne, despite being promised their own designated land, and in 1868 were finally told by the U.S. government that they could relocate to Missouri, Montana, or Indian Territory, part of modern-day Oklahoma, with other native tribes. Some made it to Indian Territory, while others were moved to the Wind River Valley, which was meant to be temporary as it was Shoshone land.

When the Eastern Shoshone signed the treaty in 1863, they were not expecting to share their newly designated homeland with another tribe, especially after that land had shrunk from 44 million acres to 3.2 million when they had to sign a second treaty in 1868. In 1870, a military outpost was established and its name changed from Camp Brown to Fort Washakie after the Eastern Shoshone chief. The Shoshone Indian Agency, what is now the Wind River Indian Agency, was located near the fort.

Less than ten years after a military escort arrived at the Eastern Shoshone Reservation with the Northern Arapaho who had not gone with the rest to Indian Territory, James C. Burnett began publishing his newspaper, the Arapahoe Agency Courier. During his time on the reservation, Burnett served as Agency Sub-Agent, trader, owner, and operator of the first general store, postmaster when an office and telegraph line were established in 1893, and on the Shoshone First National Bank’s board when it began business in 1906. In the Courier’s January 1, 1888 issue, he claimed, “I carry everything usually found in a first-class general store and if you want something I haven’t in stock I’ll be pleased to get it for you.” This is the only accessible issue of the newspaper, and it likely ended when Burnett moved to Saratoga in 1910.

Provided By: University of Wyoming Libraries

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Arapahoe Agency Courier (Arapahoe Agency, Wyo.) 1???-1???

Dates of Publication

  • 1???-1???

Created / Published

  • Arapahoe Agency, Wyo. : Published for J.C. Burnett

Headings

  • -  Arapaho Indians--Newspapers
  • -  Indians of North America--Wyoming--Newspapers
  • -  Wind River Indian Reservation (Wyo.)--Newspapers
  • -  Fremont County (Wyo.)--Newspapers
  • -  Arapaho Indians
  • -  Indians of North America
  • -  Wyoming
  • -  United States--Wyoming--Wind River Indian Reservation

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Description based on: Vol. 18, no. 1 ([Aug. 1900?]).

Medium

  • v.

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn93070034

OCLC Number

  • 27334961

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

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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 Arapahoe Agency Courier Arapahoe Agency, Wyo. 1???-1???. (Wind River Indian Reservation County, WY), 1???. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn93070034/.

APA citation style:

(1???) The Arapahoe Agency Courier Arapahoe Agency, Wyo. 1???-1???. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn93070034/.

MLA citation style:

The Arapahoe Agency Courier Arapahoe Agency, Wyo. 1???-1???. (Wind River Indian Reservation County, WY) 1???. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn93070034/.