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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Cottonwood Chronicle (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1917-Current

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About Cottonwood Chronicle (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1917-Current

Cottonwood, Idaho, located between Lewiston and Grangeville on the Camas Prairie, boasted publication of its first newspaper on January 27, 1893. The Cottonwood Report, edited by E.T. Tannatt and co-owned by Frank J. Hogan, provided a politically neutral, family paper “that any father and mother can safely have. . . at their fireside and know that it contains nothing to injure or mislead.” The Report was four pages, six columns long and was published weekly on Fridays. It sang the praises of Cottonwood and advocated for the small town’s advancement, particularly in local infrastructure and business development. At the time, there was no railway stop for Cottonwood to transport its agricultural produce and lumber, and the nearest banks were in Lewiston and Grangeville.

The Cottonwood Report saw many transitions in ownership through the years, but the paper consistently provided local, small-town gossip, news of the surrounding towns of Grangeville, Mount Idaho, Denver (Idaho), and Keuterville, and coverage of events in the larger cities of Spokane and Boise. The mining, farming, and lumber industries in the region provided plenty of local content.

The Report first changed ownership in July 1893, when John W. Turner bought it with a partner, J.S. Rhoads. The motto of the Report became “Count the day lost whose low descending sun . . . views from thy hand no worthy action done.” In May 1894, Turner and Rhoads sold the paper to L. J. Hornaday, who switched the political affiliation of the paper to Republican during his brief, six months of ownership. In one week, the Cottonwood Report went from advertising itself as “the only non-political paper in Idaho County” to “the newsiest paper in Idaho County.” In November 1894, Hampton H. Taylor, the town’s attorney general, bought the Report and reverted it to an independent journal. On August 20, 1895, Taylor sold the paper to Joseph M. Wolbert, who ran it until 1901. William M. Leach bought the Report in January of that year and sold it three months later to John Rustemeyer, who renamed it the Camas Prairie Chronicle. Rustemeyer left the paper to Frank S. Wimer, who successfully ran the Chronicle until September 1917.

In 1917, Wimer sold the Camas Prairie Chronicle to Sloan P. Shutt, who renamed it the Cottonwood Chronicle. Shutt reasoned that the new name was “shorter, easier to say, and provided better advertisement” for the town. Harry C. Bailey briefly took ownership of the Chronicle in 1918 and then sold itto George Medved, who had worked for the Idaho County Free Press in Grangeville. Medved owned the paper until 1927. The Cottonwood Chronicle has remained in publication to the present day.

Provided By: Idaho State Historical Society

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Cottonwood Chronicle (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1917-Current

Dates of Publication

  • 1917-current

Created / Published

  • Cottonwood, Idaho : S.P. Shutt

Headings

  • -  Cottonwood (Idaho)--Newspapers
  • -  Idaho--Cottonwood
  • -  United States--Idaho--Idaho--Cottonwood

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 25, no. 38 (Sept. 21, 1917)-
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn88056166

OCLC Number

  • 18945459

ISSN Number

  • 2381-1757

Preceding 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:

Cottonwood Chronicle Cottonwood, Idaho -Current. (Cottonwood, ID), Jan. 1 1917. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88056166/.

APA citation style:

(1917, January 1) Cottonwood Chronicle Cottonwood, Idaho -Current. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88056166/.

MLA citation style:

Cottonwood Chronicle Cottonwood, Idaho -Current. (Cottonwood, ID) 1 Jan. 1917. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn88056166/.