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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Frontier Index (Kearney [i.e. Fort Kearny], Neb.) 1867-18??

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About The Frontier Index (Kearney [i.e. Fort Kearny], Neb.) 1867-18??

The Frontier Index was originally published in 1865 as the Kearny Herald at Fort Kearny, Nebraska Territory, but Legh Freeman quickly decided to change the name as the "press on wheels" (as it was described in the Cheyenne Leader on February 26, 1868) followed the expansion of the western railroad. A Virginian, Freeman had served in the Confederate army as a telegraph operator before being stationed at the fort. In 1866, he asked his brother, Fredrick K. Freeman, to come to Fort Kearny and take over the publication of the Index. Legh became the correspondent, sending dispatches for Fredrick to publish in their newspaper, often under the pen name General Horatio Vattel, "Lightning Scout of the Mountains." The brothers moved to North Platte in Nebraska Territory where they purchased a Washington hand-press to create the Index. They began publishing the paper as a traveling title that would publish from towns just ahead of the planned route for the Union Pacific Railroad.

On March 6, 1868, the Index began publishing in Fort Sanders, Dakota Territory. From Fort Sanders the Index traveled to Laramie, where it was published from April 21 to July 21, 1868, its office in the back of the town's Frontier Hotel. The Index moved from Laramie to Green River City where it continued from August 11 until October 13, seeing the change of that city from Dakota Territory to Wyoming Territory. The paper made its final relocation to Bear River City, where it was published from October 30 to November 17. On November 20, the Index office in Bear River City was burned down in reaction to Legh Freeman's outspoken support for a vigilante mob that had lynched prisoners from the town jail earlier that month. A full account of the riot was reported via telegram and appeared in the November 27 issue of the Cheyenne Leader. This marked the end of the Index's publication.

The Freeman brothers and their paper were democratic and opposed civil and voting rights for African Americans and non-white men. These sentiments were reflected in the Index motto, which first appeared on August 11, 1868: "Only WHITE MEN to be naturalized in the United States. The RACES and SEXES in their respective spheres as God Almighty originally created them." Advertisements accounted for more of the content of the paper than written articles did, but the Index's written articles were known for their fierce support or disparagement of the region's end-of-tracks towns. The Index was published with four pages and appeared semi-weekly on Tuesday and Friday. On August 21, 1868, it boasted a circulation of 15,000 and called itself, "The official democratic organ of Wyoming Territory, and of the mountain region generally."

Provided By: University of Wyoming Libraries

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Frontier Index (Kearney [i.e. Fort Kearny], Neb.) 1867-18??

Dates of Publication

  • 1867-18??

Created / Published

  • Kearney [i.e. Fort Kearny], Neb. : Freeman & Ainsworth

Headings

  • -  Bear River City (Wyo.)--Newspapers
  • -  Fort Kearny (Neb.)--Newspapers
  • -  North Platte (Neb.)--Newspapers
  • -  Julesburg (Colo.)--Newspapers
  • -  Fort Sanders (Wyo.)--Newspapers
  • -  Laramie (Wyo.)--Newspapers
  • -  Green River (Wyo.)--Newspapers
  • -  Colorado--Julesburg
  • -  Nebraska--Fort Kearny
  • -  Nebraska--North Platte
  • -  Wyoming--Fort Sanders
  • -  Wyoming--Green River
  • -  Wyoming--Laramie
  • -  United States--Wyoming--Uinta--Bear River City
  • -  United States--Nebraska--Kearney--Fort Kearny
  • -  United States--Nebraska--Lincoln--North Platte
  • -  United States--Colorado--Sedgwick--Julesburg
  • -  United States--Wyoming--Albany--Fort Sanders
  • -  United States--Wyoming--Albany--Laramie
  • -  United States--Wyoming--Sweetwater--Green River

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Semiweekly, <1867-1868>
  • -  Began in 1865.
  • -  Published in North Platte, Neb., 186 ; Julesburg, Neb. [Colo.], 186<7>; Fort Sanders, D.T. [Wyo.], 1868; Laramie City, D.T. [Wyo.], -July 1868; Green River City, D.T. [Wyo.], Aug.-Oct. 1868; Bear River City, Wyo., Oct.-Nov. 1868.
  • -  Pioneer paper of the plains--of the successive terminal towns of the Union Pacific Railroad and Territory of Wyoming.
  • -  Last issue located: Nov. 17, 1868.
  • -  Vol. numbering dropped by Mar. 6, 1868.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 10 (July 5, 1867).

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AN2.N2 F76

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84022156

OCLC Number

  • 10311877

ISSN Number

  • 2997-9269

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 Frontier Index Kearney i.e. Fort Kearny, Neb. -18??. (Bear River City, WY), Jan. 1 1867. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84022156/.

APA citation style:

(1867, January 1) The Frontier Index Kearney i.e. Fort Kearny, Neb. -18??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84022156/.

MLA citation style:

The Frontier Index Kearney i.e. Fort Kearny, Neb. -18??. (Bear River City, WY) 1 Jan. 1867. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84022156/.