Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-07-14
TWENTY YEARS AGO.

Friday, sent postage paid to any address. for one
year q: SIX months. 81; three months. 10 cents.
TWENTY YEARS AGO.
Quite a number of North Dakota
papers are just now publishing from day
to day, or week to week, chronological
reports of events-some OF one year
period, others of two and five year
periods and Ole or two Of ten year
periods. This has caused a little retro
specticn on the part of the TRIBUNE. and
being able to do what no other news
paper in North Dakota can do-publish
a SYNOPSIS of happenings of twenty years
ago, as recorded in it's own columns-it
has been decided to run as often as
once a week at least, a brief Synopsis of
events transporting in Bismarck and
North Dakota twenty years ago." The
TRIBUNE is the only paper IN the state
that can go back 50 far. It is the only
paper IN the state that is over twenty
years old. The first issue of the Bismarck
TRIBUNE appeared July II, 1873. 1t
was established by Col. c. \. Louns-
berry, who is Just now engaged in
Worlds Fair work in Chicago, who con-
tinued the publication till 1873 when
Stanley Huntley (of ~Spoopendyke fame
and NJ. H. Jewell arrived from Chicago
and took charge. 4 year after Huntley
withdrew. Lounsberry again took edi-
torial charge and he and Jewell were
partners till April, 1884, when the pres.
ent management purchased the interest
OF Mr.. Lounsberry. AS an Introductory
to the daily or weekly twenty year re-
trospections' it is proposed to publish,
the TRIBUNE has interviewed Col.
Lounsberry regarding events t%ranspir.
ing during 1872, the year prior to the
establishing Of the TR1B1SE, with the
following result:
Twenty years ago the TRIBUNE was
about to be born. On the Fourth Morris
Russell came up from Brainerd and the
Lincoln and were right royalty enter
tanned by Col. Wilson, manager tor Mai.
Dickey. Champaign was free as water
and the party danced and frollicked With
the military. For the first few months in
the life of the TRIBUNE Maj. Dickey paid
it more money than any other customer.
Jimmy Emmons was the mex best Gus
ming to see what he could have printed to
help the paper along. He had cards
printed and sent out with every package
which indicated that II went out with the
"complimenls Of j. a. Emmons." Some
took him at his word and repudiated the
bills. Maj. Dickey lived to see that ali
who visited him. eat, drank and were
come in about once a month and thrown
down a 500 with the remark send me
your Id old newspaper The fact
that he was credited twenty years ahead
did not make any difference and he would
never take any change. H: S. Parkins
kept the books for Mai, Dickey. Mrs.
Slaughter was Bismarck's first postmaster
in fact. but Maj. Dickey had the commits
ion. There was no regular mail prior to
June, 1873, except as it was carried by the
quartermaster department, and it was sent
over to Fort Lincoln first and come back
when they got ready to send it.
The TRIBUNE was conceived in 1871. l
l agreed with Oscar Wall that when the
Northern Pacific should reach the Mis-
souri, we would go to the crossing and start
a paper. He was running the Caledonia,
Minnesota Journal, and l the Wells
Atlas. He sold his paper and got ready to
come and l leased mine and went to work
on the Minneapolis Tribune. Wall, how
establish a paper at Audubon, Mimi, and
so could not join me. During the winter
of 1872 % l reported the Minnesota leRi,la.
ture for the Minneapolis Tribune and St
Paul Dispatch, and read with interest a
series Of letters written from the crossing
by Mrs. Slaughter. L read of Jackman's
race for the tOwnsite and finally me,
"Phocion'' Howard. and Denny gave me
the first clear idea 1 had Of tie situation at
the crossing and advised me to strike quick
for the place if l wanted to be the first on
the grounds. l met A. }. Clark a few days
afterwards and gained further informa.
ton, and accordingly commenced laying
my plans for Bismarck: | landed a,
There l met c. W. Mead and Gen. Rosser
and arranged with them to 20 to Bismarck
and establish the TRIBUNE. Bismarck wa
then known as Edwinton, but the name
Bismarck was selected about that time.
returned to Minneapolis and made an
other trip early in May. lrode out from
Fargo on a freight, a great deal of the way
on the pilot of the engine, in order TO ge
better idea of the soil and grasses. Quo
tations from a letter of that time in the
Minneapolis Tribune will show you tina
l had correct impressions of the country
and its capacity for wheat growing. ]
met G. G. Beardsley, John Haggart, j. B
Chaplin and others on that trip.
rode on q freight to jamestown
and on q construction train to Crysta
Springs. From there to where Steele is
helped pump q hand car, and rode in from
there with T. 2. Davis BY team. On tn
way in l selected my soldiers homestead
and went out after dark and made settle
ment on it, and made ARRANGEMENTS wit
Scott & Millet q. W. Mil1et) to furnis|
logs tor my house. Van Etten had take
his claim, and l got Harry BrOwnson t
take his when he came back again In june
JOrdon, q brother of j. j., now of the Farg
Republican, came back with me and too
the Cannon quarter as q soldiers home
stead. All four claims are now in the col
porate limits Of the capital of the STATE
They were then vacant land. l reache
Bismarck. May IL, 1873. I met Jackma
that day and rode back to the end of tn
track with him that night. 1t showed feal
fully-several inches Of snow falling. Tn
TRIBUNE material was shipped from Mil
neapOlis and arrived on n of the frs
trains. l determined to call the paper tn
TRIBUNE out of compliment to the Mime
RpOlis Tribune, then edited by w. A, Gro
fut. George Alfred Townsend visited Bis
marck about that time and urged that til
pomo Of tho noror cho,,ld no tho R;uvn q m