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Newspaper The Ward County Independent (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965

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About The Ward County Independent (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965

The Ward County Independent  was launched in Minot, North Dakota, on April 1, 1902, under the guidance of Charles R. Truax. Born in 1868 in Minnesota, Truax, a former printer, came to Minot in 1890 as a boilermaker for the Great Northern Railroad. When failing health forced him to give up rigorous physical activity, he looked for another occupation. Another former printer, Glenn Colcord, who had come to Minot to take up a homestead, was working for the Ward County Reporter as a journalist to supplement his farm income. Colcord joined Truax in launching the Independent, taking the job of editor. At the turn of the century, Minot was a growing community with a population of more than 1,200. There were already two established newspapers, the Minot Optic and the aforementioned Ward County Reporter, both of which would establish daily editions by the middle of the decade while retaining their weekly editions.

With an Army press situated on a soapbox in a tiny office, Truax and Colcord squeaked out issues of the Independent, printing one page at a time using ready-prints, which were preprinted pages with blank spaces for local columns. To separate the columns of type, cigar boxes were cut to form the borders.  Within a year, due to the publication of homestead proofs and print jobs, the partners were able to buy a Washington hand-press which was soon replaced by a Cranston press. It was necessary to install a gasoline engine to run the press until a consistent source of electricity could be found in the city. The paper consisted of a six-column, 14- by 21-inch news sheet, with preprinted pages.

Beginning in the 1920s, the Independent began publishing all home-print and carried the news for much of the northwestern and north-central part of the state. In August of 1937, Glenn Colcord purchased the interests of Charles Truax. Earl C. Fuller joined him in managing the paper. A Duplex press was installed which printed, folded, and counted out an eight-page newspaper in one operation. From 1947 to 1953, the Independent received awards for excellence from the National Editorial Association in the National Better Newspaper contest.

Upon the death of Colcord in 1950, Fuller was joined by his son William, with Glenn Dill as editor. By this time, the Independent had grown to an eight-column spread, often containing two sections totaling 16 pages. Mechanical problems and a slow local economy caused a two-week suspension of the paper in April 1965. After a second suspension on June 17, the newspaper never resumed publishing, and the Ward County Independent ceased to exist. 

Provided By: State Historical Society of North Dakota

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Ward County Independent (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965

Dates of Publication

  • 1902-1965

Created / Published

  • Minot, Ward County, N.D. : C.F. Truax

Headings

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

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began Apr. 1, 1902.
  • -  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.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 37 (Jan. 7, 1903).
  • -  Minot daily news (and daily optic-reporter) (DLC)sn 89074034 (OCoLC)19284509
  • -  Minot daily news 0885-3053 (DLC)sn 85042375 (OCoLC)1758323

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations ; 54 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn88076421

OCLC Number

  • 2253156

ISSN Number

  • 2333-0031

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

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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:

The Ward County Independent Minot, Ward County, N.D. -1965. (Minot, ND), Jan. 1 1902. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88076421/.

APA citation style:

(1902, January 1) The Ward County Independent Minot, Ward County, N.D. -1965. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88076421/.

MLA citation style:

The Ward County Independent Minot, Ward County, N.D. -1965. (Minot, ND) 1 Jan. 1902. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn88076421/.