Top of page

Notice
Special holiday hours in effect, December 2025 through January 2026. More information.
Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Williston Graphic (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919

View All Front Pages

About Williston Graphic (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919

In 1895, the town of Williston, North Dakota, was still in its infancy. Nestled on the Missouri River near Fort Buford, where only 15 years earlier Sitting Bull had surrendered after his return from Canada, Williston was a railroad town without a newspaper. On July 9, 1895, the Williston Graphic published its first issue, with Royal H. Copeland at the helm. Copeland, the son of English immigrants, was a seasoned newspaperman whose roots went back to Kirkland, Ohio. Copeland had served as a printer’s devil beginning in 1851, and by the time he arrived in Dakota Territory in 1881 to work for the Grand Forks Plaindealer, he had established newspapers in eight different cities in three states–Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. 

In 1886, Copeland published the Villard Leader, the first newspaper west of Devils Lake in the tiny town of Villard. When the town failed to thrive, Copeland established the Washburn Leader in 1890. He also served as States Attorney for McLean County. After four years, Copeland sold the Leader and a year later re-located to Williston.

Williston was a rough-and-ready railroad town, surrounded by farms and cattle ranches when Copeland arrived, but he was ready for the challenge. To supplement his income, Copeland established a successful law office. Like many of the newspapers in this era in North Dakota, much of the income came from publishing homestead claims, and for four years the Graphic had a monopoly on claims in the Williston area. Copeland was a feisty editor and was quick to attack the politicians and social institutions of his day, earning him a wide following. Wanderlust again overwhelmed Copeland, however, and he formed a syndicate endeavoring to establish newspapers in Montana and Idaho. In 1906, Copeland sold the Williston Graphic to John A. Corbett.

At 10 years of age, Corbett had arrived with his family in Minot, North Dakota, where he attended school and learned the newspaper trade. The Williston Graphic was his first attempt in the editorial field, and by then he was facing some stiff competition in the form of the Williston Herald. Unlike Copeland, a Democrat in a Republican state, Corbett, who was a Republican, adopted a milder approach. The Farmer’s Alliance, begun in the late 1880s as a revolt against the flour mills and railroad monopolies in St. Paul, Minnesota, was waning as a political force. In its place, the Nonpartisan League (NPL) was finding support, especially in western North Dakota. One of the aims of the NPL was control of the state’s newspapers, and a group of local farmers and politicians purchased the Williston Graphic. On May 22, 1919, the paper’s name was changed to the Williams County Farmers Press, which would continue publishing for another 34 years.

Provided By: State Historical Society of North Dakota

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Williston Graphic (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919

Dates of Publication

  • 1895-1919

Created / Published

  • Williston, Williams County, N.D. : R.C. Copeland

Headings

  • -  Williston (N.D.)--Newspapers
  • -  North Dakota--Williston
  • -  United States--North Dakota--Williams--Williston

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (July 9, 1895)-v. 25, no. 48 (May 15, 1919).
  • -  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.
  • -  Williams County farmers press (DLC)sn 88076271 (OCoLC)18021478

Medium

  • 25 v. : ill. ; 56 cm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn88076270

OCLC Number

  • 18021529

ISSN Number

  • 2333-0015

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:

Williston Graphic Williston, Williams County, N.D. -1919. (Williston, ND), Jan. 1 1895. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88076270/.

APA citation style:

(1895, January 1) Williston Graphic Williston, Williams County, N.D. -1919. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88076270/.

MLA citation style:

Williston Graphic Williston, Williams County, N.D. -1919. (Williston, ND) 1 Jan. 1895. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn88076270/.