Top of page

Notice
Special holiday hours in effect, December 2025 through January 2026. More information.

Newspaper The Mineral Argus (Maiden, Mont.) 1883-1886

View All Front Pages

About The Mineral Argus (Maiden, Mont.) 1883-1886

The Mineral Argus first appeared on August 9, 1883, in the silver mining town of Maiden, Montana, through the efforts of experienced newspaperman, John M. Vrooman, and his partner, Charles S. Fell. Under the banner, the publishers declared that the paper was “Devoted to the Mineral, Agricultural, Stock, and Wool Interests of the Great Judith Country,” as well as its home base, Maiden, and the adjacent Fort Maginnis, established in 1880 to protect stockmen and miners from marauding Blackfeet Indians.

Vrooman and Fell published the eight-page, five-column Republican weekly on the area’s most up-to-date electrical presses. Vrooman had learned the newspaper trade in Preston, Minnesota, prior to moving to Montana in 1883. In the early 1880s, the gold mining town of Maiden boomed and in fact vied with Lewistown to become the seat of Fergus County. The Argus reported on ongoing mining activity and the activities of the area’s ranchers and sheepmen, as well as providing a scattering of national news. Vrooman published the last issue of the Mineral Argus on August 5, 1886, and moved the paper to Lewistown under the banner of the Fergus County Argus, coinciding with the creation of Fergus County. The Argus documents the birth of a mining boomtown and subsequent establishment of the livestock industry in central Montana.

Provided By: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Mineral Argus (Maiden, Mont.) 1883-1886

Dates of Publication

  • 1883-1886

Created / Published

  • Maiden, Mont. : Fell & Vrooman, 1883-1886.

Headings

  • -  Maiden (Mont.)--Newspapers
  • -  Montana--Maiden
  • -  United States--Montana--Fergus--Maiden

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Aug. 9, 1883)-v. 3, no. 52 (July 29, 1886).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Fergus County argus 2332-757X (DLC)sn 84036228 (OCoLC)11338279

Medium

  • 3 volumes : illustrations ; 50-55 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84036227

OCLC Number

  • 11338256

ISSN Number

  • 2326-9731

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.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://www.loc.gov/ndnp/listawardees.html.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://www.loc.gov/homepage/legal.html

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Mineral Argus Maiden, Mont. -1886. (Maiden, MT), Jan. 1 1883. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84036227/.

APA citation style:

(1883, January 1) The Mineral Argus Maiden, Mont. -1886. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84036227/.

MLA citation style:

The Mineral Argus Maiden, Mont. -1886. (Maiden, MT) 1 Jan. 1883. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84036227/.