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Newspaper Mineral Point Tribune (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858

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About Mineral Point Tribune (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858

The town of Mineral Point, Wisconsin, was founded in 1827 by lead miners who came to the area from Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. Their simple shelters – some of which were mere holes in the hillside – earned Wisconsin the nickname “Badger State.” During the 1830s, many experienced miners immigrated to Mineral Point from Cornwall, England, and brought with them an architectural style that shaped the look of the town. With the influx of Cornish miners as well as immigrants from Germany, Ireland, and Wales, Mineral Point grew in importance as the territory approached statehood: the city hosted the inauguration of the first governor of the Wisconsin Territory in 1836, established a rail line linking the region to Chicago and points south in 1857, and served as the seat of Iowa County until 1861.

When the Wisconsin Tribune was first published in Mineral Point in 1847, large numbers of lead miners had already left the Southwestern region of the territory to work in copper and iron mines in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and elsewhere. As lead extraction declined, many of those who remained in the area turned to mining another mineral: zinc. Others took up agriculture, particularly wheat and, beginning in the 1880s, dairy farming.

The Wisconsin Tribune and its succeeding titles (Mineral Point Tribune, 1854-58; Mineral Point Weekly Tribune, 1859-68; and Mineral Point Tribune, 1869-1938) and the Iowa County Democrat captured the history of what was once the most populated region of Wisconsin.

On September 3, 1847, just months before the territory gained statehood, Editor George Bliss launched the first issue of the Wisconsin Tribune. Content included poetry on the front page, national and international news catering to the immigrant readership on page two, and local news on page three. In July 1860, the layout changed from a six-column, 22-by-32-inch to an eight-column, 26-by-40-inch spread. Editors George and Edward Bliss also added the slogan “Pledged but to truth, to liberty and law – No Favor Sways us, and no Fear Shall Awe.” The following year, the publication became semiweekly to keep up with the fast pace of the growing news industry. This change, however, was short-lived, as was its 1869 slogan, “Independent of all Men – Indifferent to None,” which the new editors William Bennett and John Teasdale (1869-71) quickly altered to “Home First, the World Afterwards,” suggesting the Tribune‘s new focus.

Along with the Tribune, the eight-page weekly Iowa County Democrat served readers in the Mineral Point area after 1877. The Iowa County Democrat had succeeded the National Democrat and was published through 1938, when it was merged with the Tribune to form the Iowa County Democrat and Mineral Point Tribune.

Provided By: Wisconsin Historical Society

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Mineral Point Tribune (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858

Dates of Publication

  • 1854-1858

Created / Published

  • Mineral Point, Wis. : Bliss & Chaney, 1854-1858.

Headings

  • -  Mineral Point (Wis.)--Newspapers
  • -  Wisconsin--Mineral Point
  • -  United States--Wisconsin--Iowa--Mineral Point

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 7, no. 14 (Feb. 16, 1854)-v. 11, no. 52 (Dec. 28, 1858).
  • -  Publishers: G.W. Bliss, October 4, 1854- December 29, 1857; Bliss & Son, January 5-December 28, 1858.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Mineral Point weekly tribune 2640-0774 (DLC)sn 86086769 (OCoLC)14687169

Medium

  • volumes ; 51 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn85033189

OCLC Number

  • 11738325

ISSN Number

  • 2640-0723

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

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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:

Mineral Point Tribune Mineral Point, Wis. -1858. (Mineral Point, WI), Jan. 1 1854. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85033189/.

APA citation style:

(1854, January 1) Mineral Point Tribune Mineral Point, Wis. -1858. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85033189/.

MLA citation style:

Mineral Point Tribune Mineral Point, Wis. -1858. (Mineral Point, WI) 1 Jan. 1854. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn85033189/.