Top of page

Notice
In observance of the Federal holiday on Monday, February 16, the Jefferson Building Great Hall and exhibitions will be open from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. to guests with timed-entry passes. Reading rooms will be closed to researchers.
Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Bowbells Tribune (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969 Bowbells bulletin=tribune

View All Front Pages

About The Bowbells Tribune (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969

Bowbells is a Soo Line Railroad townsite that was founded in 1896. Railroad officials named it for the bow bells at the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow in London, England. Bowbells was named the county seat when Burke County organized in 1910. The county was named for the governor at the time, John Burke.

In 1899, Thomas B. Hurley arrived in Bowbells with a printing press and established a printing shop on the west side of Main Street. The first issue of the Bowbells Tribune was published Friday, November 18, 1899, with a subscription rate of $1.50 per year. The building occupied by Hurley was one of the many buildings destroyed by a big fire in early 1907. On February 28, 1907, Mr. Hurley purchased another lot and erected a brick building that housed the Tribune until 1969.

In the April 6, 1906 edition, the Bowbells Tribune claimed to be “the oldest paper of Bowbells and the official paper of the people of the city of Bowbells.” They also claimed to be equipped with one of the best printing plants in the west.

The Tribune changed hands November 11, 1910, and was taken over by the Tribune Printing Company. Thomas B. Hurley, Charles R. Hurley and Ben A. Stefonowicz, each owned one-third interest in the plant and business. Stefonowicz took over as managing editor. It was at that time that the Tribune stated that it had an undisputed circulation 200 percent larger than any other newspaper published in Burke County.

The Tribune was sold in 1920 to a group of farmers who incorporated under the name of the Burke County Farmers Press while keeping the Tribune as the title. Ben Stefonowicz continued to manage the paper for over a year, when he moved to Devils Lake in 1922, where he had purchased the Devils Lake World newspaper.

Ben’s brother, Leonard A. Stefonowicz, became manager and editor in the spring of 1922 until he became business manager in late 1923. L.C. Miller became manager and editor on March 21, 1924. E.R Salisbury took over the reins, succeeding Miller on March 30, 1928. Fourteen months later, L.C. Mill returned to the Tribune and once to hold the editorship and management position until 1937.

After a few more short-term editors, the Tribune was published and edited by the Maschka family beginning in 1943. First was A.H. Maschka, followed by his wife, Ruth, and their daughter, Opal. Soon after Ruth Maschka’s death in 1969, the Tribune was sold to Dwight Pfeifer, who changed the name to the Burke County Tribune.

Provided By: State Historical Society of North Dakota

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Bowbells Tribune (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969

Other Title

  • Bowbells bulletin=tribune

Dates of Publication

  • 1899-1969

Created / Published

  • Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D. : Thos. B. Hurly

Headings

  • -  Bowbells (N.D.)--Newspapers
  • -  North Dakota--Bowbells
  • -  United States--North Dakota--Burke--Bowbells
  • -  United States--North Dakota--Ward--Bowbells

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in Nov. 1899.
  • -  -v. 71, no. 11 (Sept. 4, 1969).
  • -  Published as: Bowbells bulletin=tribune, Nov. 22, 1907-June 25, 1908 (due to fire at Tribune plant).
  • -  "Official paper of the Village."
  • -  Available on microfilm from the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 3 (Dec. 1, 1899).
  • -  Burke County tribune (DLC)sn 88076097 (OCoLC)1537836

Medium

  • 71 volumes : illustrations ; 39-56 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn88076095

OCLC Number

  • 2252739

ISSN Number

  • 2576-6856

Preceding Titles

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 Bowbells Tribune Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D. -1969. (Bowbells, ND), Jan. 1 1899. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88076095/.

APA citation style:

(1899, January 1) The Bowbells Tribune Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D. -1969. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88076095/.

MLA citation style:

The Bowbells Tribune Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D. -1969. (Bowbells, ND) 1 Jan. 1899. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn88076095/.