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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Jamestown Alert (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1878-1882

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About Jamestown Alert (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1878-1882

The Jamestown Alert, promising to “be alert, watchful and fearless in all that informs, instructs, and for the general welfare of this country,” published the first volume on July 4, 1878, six years after the city of Jamestown, North Dakota, was established on the Northern Pacific Railroad near the military post of Fort Seward. Edward H. Foster was the editor. The Alert, with its five- column spread, struggled to get by and suspended publication from July to October of 1879. It was purchased by Marshal McClure, an experienced newspaperman out of Michigan who had originally located in Fargo. McClure published the Alert as a weekly until February 14, 1881, when he also brought out the Daily Alert. Later renamed the Jamestown Weekly Alert, the newspaper continued to publish under that title until June 1926.

Fort Seward served as a freighting point to Fort Totten located 70 miles north on Devils Lake, and the issues of the Alert chronicle the comings and goings of personnel at that post. They also documented settlement in Dakota Territory in what is now the central part of North Dakota.

The Daily Alert was renamed the Jamestown Daily Alert  in 1881, but would alternate between those two names until 1925, with the exception of a three-year period from 1882 to 1885, when it was known as the Jamestown Morning Alert.

William R. Kellogg purchased the newspaper’s plant in 1886 and remained its owner until June 1925. A number of times throughout the history of the state, Jamestown vied to become the capitol of North Dakota, and Kellogg, with his folksy reporting style, strongly supported this effort.  Due to its in-depth political analysis and circulation through the seven adjoining counties, the Jamestown Alert  had a significant influence on politics of the day.

The Jamestown Alert managed to survive the efforts by the progressive Nonpartisan League to take over all of the state’s newspapers in the 1910s. However, by 1925, a sharp downturn in the economy and advancing age caused William Kellogg to retire and sell in July 1925. The Alert was purchased by the Hanson Brothers, and in July 1925 its name was changed to the Jamestown Sun and Jamestown Daily Alert.

Provided By: State Historical Society of North Dakota

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Jamestown Alert (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1878-1882

Dates of Publication

  • 1878-1882

Created / Published

  • Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.] : E.H. & C.H. Foster

Headings

  • -  Jamestown (N.D.)--Newspapers
  • -  North Dakota--Jamestown
  • -  United States--North Dakota--Stutsman--Jamestown

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (July 4, 1878)-v. 4, no. 80 (Feb. 17, 1882).
  • -  Published by: E.H. & C.H. Foster, July 4, 1878-Sept. 25, 1879; Marshall McClure, Oct. 2, 1879-Feb. 17, 1882.
  • -  "Republican."
  • -  Official paper of Stutsman County, 1879-1880.
  • -  Available on microfilm from the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Jamestown weekly alert 2332-9998 (DLC)sn 85042405 (OCoLC)12356062

Medium

  • 4 volumes : illustrations (chiefly advertisements) ; 54-64 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn85042404

OCLC Number

  • 12355978

ISSN Number

  • 2332-9947

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:

Jamestown Alert Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. N.D. -1882. (Jamestown, ND), Jan. 1 1878. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85042404/.

APA citation style:

(1878, January 1) Jamestown Alert Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. N.D. -1882. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85042404/.

MLA citation style:

Jamestown Alert Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. N.D. -1882. (Jamestown, ND) 1 Jan. 1878. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn85042404/.