About The Teton peak. [volume] (St. Anthony, Idaho) 1899-1904
St. Anthony, Idaho (1899-1904)

The Teton Peak and The Teton Peak-Chronicle

The Teton Peak was first published by Wood D. Parker in St. Anthony, Idaho, in April 1899. The paper, a four-page, six-column journal published weekly on Thursdays, served all of Fremont County and circulated 1,000-2,500 copies of each issue. The Peak had the slogan "Published in the Garden Spot of Southeastern Idaho" under the masthead, and it was bracketed by the claims "Fremont County Leads in Fertile Soil, Free Range and Sub-Irrigated Lands," and "St. Anthony will be the Best Town in Southeastern Idaho. Pure Air, Pure Water."

These themes of agricultural superiority and the importance of water were carried through much of the Peak's content. The sugar beet was, and remains to this day, of key importance to the region. The beet industry provided plenty of advertisements and news about new sugar factories, seasonal employment, harvests, farming practices, and local supply companies. In 1903, the state legislature passed a bill to pay a bounty of one cent per pound of sugar manufactured in Idaho that year, and half a cent per pound of sugar manufactured the next year, as well. The bill was expected to "attract capital to the state and encourage beet culture." There were also agricultural competitions held among Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming to test the best fruit, barley, hops, and beets from these states. In 1904, the Peak reported that Idaho won a grand prize for general excellence for an agricultural exhibit at the World's Fair.

Issues regarding water were of central importance to the community living in the dry, arid, southeastern Idaho climate; in 1905 Governor Morrison stated, "every citizen in this part of our state is interested in a proper solution to this problem." Irrigation, drainage, water rights, and canals were all newsworthy topics. In 1903, the Peak reported on new bills designed to "regulate the appropriation and diversion of public waters" and to "provide for the establishment of drainage districts." Also in 1903, the Southeastern Idaho Fair put an advertisement in the Peak promoting the fair's "school of irrigation" and daily demonstrations regarding water usage.

In November 1904, the Peak combined with the Chronicle, another local paper, to form the six-page, six-column weekly Teton Peak-Chronicle. A statement in the first consolidated issue pointed to "business reasons" for the merger; the Chronicle's need for equipment was met by the Peak "being the best equipped office in eastern Idaho." Wood D. Parker was the manager and Orrin H. Barber was the editor of this new "clean, progressive, aggressive paper. . . with neither favors to bestow nor discriminations to inflict." Barber was only involved for a short time before moving on to become editor of the American Falls Press for many years.

In 1952, the Teton Peak-Chronicle combined with the Fremont County News to form the Fremont County Chronicle-News.

Provided by: Idaho State Historical Society