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Chronicling America
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Newspaper The Arkansaw Traveler (Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill. ; Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill.) 1882-1??? Arkansas traveler

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About The Arkansaw Traveler (Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill. ; Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill.) 1882-1???

Located in central Arkansas, Little Rock is the state capital as well as the county seat of Pulaski County. Early European settlers arrived in the Little Rock area by the 1820s. The city grew quickly and by the late 1800s, Little Rock had a telephone exchange, electricity, paved cobblestone streets, and sewer lines. The population in Pulaski County surged in the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially in Little Rock.

In 1882, Opie Percival Read and his brother-in-law Philo Dayton Benham started The Arkansaw Traveler in Little Rock. They published the paper every Saturday, with Read working as editor and Benham managing the business. Read chose to name the paper after the Arkansas Traveler folktale, with the paper masthead including an image of a traveler, sheet music, a squatter, and his hut. According to the folktale, which dates as far back as at least 1840, a lost traveler in rural Arkansas asks a squatter for directions. The squatter is unhelpful until the Traveler plays the second half of the tune the squatter had begun on his fiddle. Learning the second part of the song makes the squatter so happy that he offers his hospitality and finally gives the Traveler directions. Read published this story in the first issue of the Traveler.

Read, who had a droll sense of humor, created the Traveler as a humorous literary paper. The Traveler was so popular that it gained national fame for its humor, especially the character sketches, standing out from other general news and political papers. While paper sales increased, some people took offense at Read’s humor, which focused on life in the South. Eventually the newspaper lost its popularity as the quality of the writing declined. Read moved to Chicago, and in 1887, The Arkansaw Traveler began publishing out of Chicago as well as Little Rock.

Read wrote several novels and in 1888, he started publishing chapters of his novels in weekly installments in the Traveler. Read’s novels included Mrs. Annie Green, Len Gansett, and A Kentucky Colonel. All three of his novels were popular and in early 1892, Read left the Traveler to work on his other literary pursuits. In 1902, The Monticellonian (1870-1920) reported that Read was in New York working as a playwright.

In 1896, the Traveler changed to a monthly publication. The last editor recorded for The Arkansaw Traveler was Harry Stephen Keeler. Keeler was a Chicago native who wrote numerous mystery and science fiction novels. While he published The Arkansaw Traveler, it was listed as a fiction newspaper. By the late 1910s, the Traveler had ceased publication in either city.

Provided By: Arkansas State Archives

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Arkansaw Traveler (Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill. ; Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill.) 1882-1???

Other Title

  • Arkansas traveler

Names

  • Read, Opie, 1852-1939

Dates of Publication

  • 1882-1???

Created / Published

  • Little Rock, Ark. : Read & Benham, 1882-[1---?].
  • Chicago, Ill. ; Little Rock, Ark. : Read & Benham
  • Chicago, Ill. : Read & Benham

Headings

  • -  Little Rock (Ark.)--Newspapers
  • -  Chicago (Ill.)--Newspapers
  • -  Arkansas--Little Rock
  • -  Illinois--Chicago
  • -  United States--Illinois--Cook--Chicago
  • -  United States--Arkansas--Pulaski--Little Rock

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (June 4, 1882)-
  • -  Place of publication varies: Chicago, Ill. and Little Rock, Ark., , May 14, 1887-, and: Chicago, Ill.,
  • -  Editor: Opie P. Read, June 4, 1882-
  • -  Issued in two vols. each year.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Latest issue consulted: Nov. 12, 1892.

Medium

  • v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn90050009

OCLC Number

  • 20968341

ISSN Number

  • 2833-2156

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:

The Arkansaw Traveler Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill. ; Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill. -1???. (Chicago, IL), Jan. 1 1882. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn90050009/.

APA citation style:

(1882, January 1) The Arkansaw Traveler Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill. ; Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill. -1???. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn90050009/.

MLA citation style:

The Arkansaw Traveler Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill. ; Little Rock, Ark.; Chicago, Ill. -1???. (Chicago, IL) 1 Jan. 1882. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn90050009/.