About Cottonwood chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1917-current
Cottonwood, Idaho (1917-current)

Cottonwood Report, Camas Prairie Chronicle and Cottonwood Chronicle

Cottonwood, Idaho, located between Lewiston and Grangeville on the Camas Prairie, boasted publication of its first newspaper on January 27, 1893. The Cottonwood Report, edited by E.T. Tannatt and co-owned by Frank J. Hogan, provided a politically neutral, family paper "that any father and mother can safely have. . . at their fireside and know that it contains nothing to injure or mislead." The Report was four pages, six columns long and was published weekly on Fridays. It sang the praises of Cottonwood and advocated for the small town's advancement, particularly in local infrastructure and business development. At the time, there was no railway stop for Cottonwood to transport its agricultural produce and lumber, and the nearest banks were in Lewiston and Grangeville.

The Cottonwood Report saw many transitions in ownership through the years, but the paper consistently provided local, small-town gossip, news of the surrounding towns of Grangeville, Mount Idaho, Denver (Idaho), and Keuterville, and coverage of events in the larger cities of Spokane and Boise. The mining, farming, and lumber industries in the region provided plenty of local content.

The Report first changed ownership in July 1893, when John W. Turner bought it with a partner, J.S. Rhoads. The motto of the Report became "Count the day lost whose low descending sun . . . views from thy hand no worthy action done." In May 1894, Turner and Rhoads sold the paper to L. J. Hornaday, who switched the political affiliation of the paper to Republican during his brief, six months of ownership. In one week, the Cottonwood Report went from advertising itself as "the only non-political paper in Idaho County" to "the newsiest paper in Idaho County." In November 1894, Hampton H. Taylor, the town's attorney general, bought the Report and reverted it to an independent journal. On August 20, 1895, Taylor sold the paper to Joseph M. Wolbert, who ran it until 1901. William M. Leach bought the Report in January of that year and sold it three months later to John Rustemeyer, who renamed it the Camas Prairie Chronicle. Rustemeyer left the paper to Frank S. Wimer, who successfully ran the Chronicle until September 1917.

In 1917, Wimer sold the Camas Prairie Chronicle to Sloan P. Shutt, who renamed it the Cottonwood Chronicle. Shutt reasoned that the new name was "shorter, easier to say, and provided better advertisement" for the town. Harry C. Bailey briefly took ownership of the Chronicle in 1918 and then sold itto George Medved, who had worked for the Idaho County Free Press in Grangeville. Medved owned the paper until 1927. The Cottonwood Chronicle has remained in publication to the present day.

Provided by: Idaho State Historical Society