Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1942-06-06
MISSOIJLA PAPER
NOW OPERATING
IN 10TH YEAR

The Muscular has started on its
10th year. The first Muscular waS
published by Frank Woody on May /
1874 using equipment brought from
the nlant Of his Mkssoula and Cedar
Greek Pioneer at Cedar Greek, Their
q booming mining town near Superior
NgiSsoa1la was q wilderness outpost
when frank Woody and his assistants
laborio1sly printed that small first
edition on his Washington hand press
The nearest railroads were at Ogden
Utah and Fort Benton on the Mis-
souri, river. Butte was a growing silver
ana gold mining camp, copper being
considered lust something that inter-
Tered with recovery Of the more de-
sirable metals.
chief joseph was starting trouble
for the federal government with his
refusal to keep his people confined to
the Iapwai reservation In northern
Idaho. GoIdseekers abandoning the
California Mother Lode country and
the famous Comstock in Nevada were
trickIinr into Montana IN search of
more riches from mother earth. With
them were the gamblers and gunner
who found 'spickings" easy IN the
scattered. isolated frontier communities.
There was little law and much law
Iessness and the memory Of the motor
IONS henry Plummer and his gang was
still fresh In the minds OF the people
of western Montana.
Frank Woody Editor
Frank Woody remained as publisher
only a year, In the meantime dropping
his first partner, T. II. Chisholm, and
ACQUIRING another, W. B. Turk. he
remained in Missoula, however, 70 be-
come a district Judge and play his
part in bringing law and order to
western Montana.
TIrlt died shortly after taking over
the paper and the property passed to
Worden g. Co., who promptly sold 1t
to Babour g. Aspling. A little later
Barbour bought out his partner and
remained in sole charge until 1879.
In 1879 Duane Armstrong purchased
the naper, but that winter he was
caueht in a bitter Montana blizzard
and developed an illness that forced
him to retire. turning the publication
over to his brother, John.
Purchased by Spaulding
Railroads were building into Mon
tana and the country was filling up
when Harrison Spaulding, publisher OF
the Nlssoula Times, purchased the
Nissoulian from John Armstrong in
1880 and combined the two papers.
Two men named Marcus DAILY and
William A. Clark were acquiring wide
holdings of mining and timber prop
critics. and becoming figures to COM
mand attention In the growing region.
Spaulding, abreast with the times,
decided Missoula needed a daily news
paper. and secured an Associated Press
franchise to augment with several
stories daily over the telegraph wires
the regional happenings and reprints
from out-dated eastern papers that
until then had provided the Missouh-
ans news content.
For II years he continued as pub
Usher. while the territory Of vast dis
tances won acceptance for statehood,
the rails pushed through to link the
Great lakes with the Pacific coast, |
and Butte began to develop into the
worlds greatest copper camp
Lambert Molineli acquired the paper
from Armstrong In 1882, but shortly
after sold it to Helena interests who
were promoting that city for the state
capital in competition with Anaconda,
the former being backed by Clark and
his Butte Miner; the latter by DAILY
with the Anaconda Standard as his
mouthpiece. George BooS became editor