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Chronicling America
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Newspaper The Red Cloud Chief (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923

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About The Red Cloud Chief (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923

The city of Red Cloud, Nebraska, is notable both for its namesake and for its well- known resident, the author Willa Cather. The city, situated in Webster County, was named for the Oglala Sioux chief Red Cloud, who led a successful offensive against the U. S. Army in 1866 and signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. The city’s first newspaper, the Red Cloud Chief (1873-1923) focused on the development of this heavily rural community.  Founding publisher and editor, C. L. Mather, sold its operation in 1875 to Mark Warner, who eventually sold it to M. L. Thomas. Thomas ran it during a deadly 1879 summer storm. “The rain fell in torrents, and the wind blew a hurricane, eddying and whirling about, blowing down some buildings and unroofing others. A great many buildings were leveled to the ground, and the only way their occupants were saved was by flying to their cellars,” said one account. The newspaper’s offices were heavily damaged. 

The Chief published some early contributions from Willa Cather, who had spent much of her childhood there since age ten, having moved from Virginia in 1883. Cather’s childhood memories influenced her fiction writing. The city’s official website states that “Cather has immortalized this small community and Webster County in her writings. The Red Cloud of her youth is the setting of many of her works . . . [it] appears as Hanover, Moonstone, Black Hawk, Frankfort, Sweetwater, and Haverford.” 

While initially the paper had a Republican stance, a later editor and owner, A. B. McArthur, boasted of his paper as “the only Democratic paper in Webster County.”  The paper’s name was featured in elaborate bold capitals across an illustration of a wilderness panorama of trees and mountains in the background, a covered wagon on the left, and empty railroad tracks on the right. Between these, sitting on a log and gazing into the distance with a long rifle across his knees, sat a Native American who looked better placed in one of James Fenimore Cooper’s tales than anything like the historical person of Chief Red Cloud.  McArthur’s motto was “a newspaper that gives the news fifty-two weeks each year for $1.50.” The Red Cloud Chief was published on Thursdays. Local news and advertisements appeared on the front page.

Provided By: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Red Cloud Chief (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923

Dates of Publication

  • 1873-1923

Created / Published

  • Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb. : C.L. Mather

Headings

  • -  Red Cloud (Neb.)--Newspapers
  • -  Nebraska--Red Cloud
  • -  United States--Nebraska--Webster--Red Cloud

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began with July 3, 1873 issue.
  • -  -v. 51, no. 47 (Nov. 22, 1923).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 15 (Oct. 9, 1873).
  • -  Webster County argus (DLC)sn 95061674 (OCoLC)31877842

Medium

  • 51 volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84022835

OCLC Number

  • 10589157

ISSN Number

  • 2163-7199

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 Red Cloud Chief Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb. -1923. (Red Cloud, NE), Jan. 1 1873. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84022835/.

APA citation style:

(1873, January 1) The Red Cloud Chief Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb. -1923. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84022835/.

MLA citation style:

The Red Cloud Chief Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb. -1923. (Red Cloud, NE) 1 Jan. 1873. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84022835/.