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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Safford Rattler (Safford, Ariz.) 1896-189?

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About Safford Rattler (Safford, Ariz.) 1896-189?

The Safford Graham Guardian began its run in 1895 as a weekly Democratic newspaper published by the Guardian Publishing Company and edited by John J. Birdno. Safford had been the first seat of Graham County when it was formed in 1881, but the seat was moved to Solomonville after only two years. The issue of moving the county seat from Solomonville back to Safford became a topic of fervent conversation during Birdno’s editorship, with both the Graham Guardian and the short-lived Safford Rattler supporting the move.

The Safford Rattler was created on September 2, 1896, with Robert S. Patterson as editor and the Court House Executive Committee as publisher. The sole purpose of the paper was to promote the return of the county seat to Safford. Patterson claimed in the September 16, 1896 issue of the Rattler that “The county seat was taken from Safford by the fraud and boodle of that one [land] owner, and he and his men endeavor to hold it by the same means.” After only five issues, the Safford Rattler admitted defeat and closed its doors. The issue did not make it to the ballot that year, and Solomonville remained the county seat until June 1915, when Safford defeated Pima in a close race.

Two years later, in 1917, Birdno left the Graham Guardian and John F. Weber took over the editorial reins, which he held until 1922 when W. M. Moore and Clyde W. Ijams stepped in. On May 2, 1923, the newspaper consolidated with the Pima Gila Valley Farmer and changed its title to the Graham County Guardian and Gila Valley Farmer under the editorial direction of William B. Kelly, formerly editor of the Bisbee Daily Review . Kelly ran the Graham County Guardian and Gila Valley Farmer until 1943, when the Gila Printing and Publishing Company purchased it from him and changed the masthead back to the Graham County Guardian.

In 1946, Earl Hunt became editor of the Graham County Guardian. The Safford Eastern Arizona Courier merged with the Graham County Guardian in 1975 to become the Eastern Arizona Courier and Graham County Guardian. In 1984, the newspaper changed its masthead one last time, becoming simply the Eastern Arizona Courier, a weekly periodical that remains in operation today.

Research provided by the University of Arizona Libraries.

Provided By: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Safford Rattler (Safford, Ariz.) 1896-189?

Dates of Publication

  • 1896-189?

Created / Published

  • Safford, Ariz. : R.S. Patterson

Headings

  • -  Safford (Ariz.)--Newspapers
  • -  Graham County (Ariz.)--Newspapers
  • -  Arizona--Graham County
  • -  Arizona--Safford
  • -  United States--Arizona--Graham--Safford

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in Aug. 1896?
  • -  "Devoted exclusively to removing the county seat to Safford."
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 3 (Sept. 9, 1896).

Medium

  • v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn2004060008

OCLC Number

  • 56366394

ISSN Number

  • 2151-3872

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:

Safford Rattler Safford, Ariz. -189?. (Safford, AZ), Jan. 1 1896. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn2004060008/.

APA citation style:

(1896, January 1) Safford Rattler Safford, Ariz. -189?. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn2004060008/.

MLA citation style:

Safford Rattler Safford, Ariz. -189?. (Safford, AZ) 1 Jan. 1896. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn2004060008/.