View source for Yellowstone Journal

Published in Miles City, beginning on July 24, 1879, The Yellowstone Journal (weekly) represents the first newspaper established in eastern Montana, only three years after Custer’s demise at Little Bighorn and following upon the construction of Fort Keogh by Colonel Nelson Miles.  From its beginnings as Miles Town in 1877, the military and later the cattle industry dominated the town, and Custer County’s first newspaper reflected those interests.  The Journal’s first editor and owner, Major [[Thompson P. McElrath]], a veteran of the Civil War and son of the New York Tribune owner and assistant editor of  both the Philadelphia Evening Journal and the New York Weekly Century, relocated to Miles City, Montana in May 1879 for his health.  McElrath had a financial interest in promoting the fledgling town, appointed the U.S. Land Office commissioner a year after his arrival and acquiring major real estate interests over time.  In January of 1880 W.D. Knight, a printer and pressman from the Black Hills appeared in Miles City, and by December 1881, he acquired an interest in the Weekly Journal, and on October 18, 1882, Knight began publishing the Daily Yellowstone Journal, a six column, 21.5 x 15 inch newspaper, with a declared Republican perspective. During those years the newspaper proclaimed themselves to be “the only newspaper between Bismarck, North Dakota and the Rocky Mountains.”

The paper existed as a '''weekly''' continuously from '79 to '01, and as a '''daily''' for most of the period from '82 to '93 (except for a pause spring/summer of '83. If indeed, it started as a daily on 19 Oct 1882, it may be tied in to the fact that the Western Union telegraph reached Miles City the day before, providing a source of daily news from outside town. The Northern Pacific had recently reached Miles City as well.

The paper was distributed in the morning, so it contained yesterday's news and was printed over night.

==Connections to outside world==
Was part of the Associated Press network. Received news via telegraph and subscribed to area newspapers.

==Subscriptions==

'''Daily edition:''' ''(By mail - in advance - postage paid)''
{|
|'''1882'''||'''1893'''
|-
|1 yr: $18||1 yr: $10
|-
|6 mo: $10||6 mo: $6
|-
|3 mo:  $5||1 mo: $1
|}

City subscribers, by carrier to Miles City and Fort Keogh: 50 cents / week ('''1882'''); 25 cents / week ('''1893''')

'''Weekly edition:'''
{|
|'''1882'''||'''1893'''
|-
|1 yr: $4.00||1 yr: $3.00
|-
|6 mo: $2.50||6 mo: $2.00
|-
|3 mo: $1.50||3 mo: $1.00
|}

==Advertising==
{|
|Space||1 day||2 days||3 days||4 days||5 days||6 days||3 mos||6 mos||1 yr
|-
|1 in.||$1.00||1.50||1.75||2.00||2.25||2.50||9.00||16.00||30.00
|-
|2 in||2.00||3.00||3.50||4.00||4.50||5.00||14.00||24.00||45.00
|-
|3 in ||3.00||4.50||5.25||6.00||6.75||7.50||20.00||35.00||60.00
|-
|1/4 col||5.00||7.50||8.75||10.00||11.00||13.00||32.00||58.00||90.00
|-
|1/3 col||6.00||8.00||9.75||11.00||12.00||14.00||37.00||63.00||105.00
|-
|1/2 col||7.50||11.00||13.00||15.00||17.00||19.00||61.00||102.00||165.00
|-
|3.4 col||10.00||13.00||17.00||20.00||23.00||25.00||90.00||152.00||240.00
|-
|-1 col||11.00||17.00||20.00||23.00||26.00||28.00||120.00||200.00||365.00
|}
''Contracts payable in advance, quarterly.''

'''Local notices:''' 15 cents per line, first insertion, 10 cents per line, subsequent insertions.

'''Write ups:''' 20 cents per line.

==Weekly versions==
* '''The Yellowstone Journal (weekly)''' [[24 Jul 1879]] - [[29 Mar 1884]] Published by [[T. P. McElrath]]
* '''Weekly Yellowstone Journal''' [[5 Apr 1884]] - [[15 Aug 1885]] Published by [[W. D. Knight]]
* '''Weekly Yellowstone Journal and livestock reporter''' [[22 Aug 1885]] - [[18 Jul 1891]] Published by [[W. D. Knight]] and [[Sam Gordon]].
* '''Yellowstone Journal''' [[25 Jul 1891]] - [[Nov 1901]] Published weekly by [[Yellowstone Journal Pub. Co.]] (Sam Gordon).

==Daily version==
'''Daily Yellowstone Journal''' [[18 Oct 1882]] - 1920s Published by [[W. D. Knight]]. Daily publishing was suspended from February to September in 1883. Last issue available onine is [[17 Jan 1893]] (see Links, below).



Originally housed in a log building, the newspaper grew into a frame building in 1882 following the Yellowstone River floods of spring 1881.  In early issues of the Yellowstone Journal the editor declared, “our functions are of a local character, to record the growth and progress of this new country…”  At the same time the newspaper commented on the movements of Sitting Bull and the Sioux; arrivals of steamboats on the Yellowstone River; the persistence of horse thieves; warnings about rattlesnakes; and the beauty of moonlight during a recent summer evening.  The newspaper also noted the daily progress of Northern Pacific Railroad construction and its arrival in 1881 and the creation of the Montana Stockgrowers Association in Miles City in 1884.  Throughout its early succession of editors and owners the Yellowstone Journal consistently represented its eastern Montana audience of cowboys, ranchers, and railroad men, and Republican Party interests.  A reflection of the newspaper’s interest in the cattle industry is reflected in the paper’s name change on August 22, 1885 to the Weekly Yellowstone Journal and Livestock Reporter.  

In 1883 [[Sam Gordon]], a bookkeeper in the employ of St. Paul fur buyers, [[Gordon & Ferguson]], purchased a share in the newspaper from W.D. Knight (?Aug 1885), where he remained until 1915 and served as sole proprietor from 1891 forward.  Most of these were edited by Sam Gordon, who was usually tasked with being secretary or clerk at civic events, since he was taking notes anyway.

The Daily Yellowstone Journal continued through the 1920s, and then a Weekly Yellowstone Journal persisted through 1936.  In 1911 a rival newspaper hit the streets of Miles City, The [[Miles City Star]], published by [[J.D. Scanlan]], former editor of the [[Red Lodge Picket]] and an active member of the Montana Republican Party.

==Disclaimers==
In 1882, three paragraphs were included:
* No bills of the papers are valid without a written order signed by the publisher.
* The editor is not responsible for the opinions of its correspondents.
* This paper is the only official organ for legal notices in and by Custer County.

==Timeline==
===1882===
19 Oct 1882 YJ: A good job printer can obtain steady employment at this office. Address the publisher.

==Links==
The Library of Congress has [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86075021/ digitized many issues].