About Hot Springs post. (Hot Springs, Alaska) 1908-1909
Hot Springs, Alaska (1908-1909)

Hot Springs post

The Hot Springs post made its debut on October 1, 1908 and was the creation of George M. Arbuckle and James Wilbur Ward. Ward and Arbuckle were veteran Alaskan news publishers and were fresh off their latest creation, the Innoko Miner, which started and ended in the summer of 1908. Their new paper was located at the Hot Springs near Tanana, now called the Manley Hot Springs.

In 1908, the Hot Springs had a growing resort and permanent community and was having some promising mining activity. The Post emphasized that unlike the past summer's gold stampede around the Innoko River, the growth around the Hot Springs would be steady and the population would match the district's production. Ward and Arbuckle seemed cold on stampedes after Innoko and an early editorial on October 15, 1908, argued that the secret to the success of Hot Springs was that there had not been and would not be a stampede. It further said that "In a big rush, no matter how well justified, more are disappointed than satisfied, and the disappointed ones always talk the loudest".

The Post boasted of its telegraph service, which it hoped to make the chief feature of the newspaper, claiming that it would be second to none among Alaskan newspapers. Wire notices of national and international events were often featured on the front page of the Post, while the other pages were devoted to local issues. The Post carried news reports from nearby Fairbanks and also focused on news of developments in the mining and infrastructure around Hot Springs.

The Post took a back seat on politics and strong editorial positions, avowing that it had no intention of wading into national politics, in part due to Alaska's inability to directly vote on or help decide national events or policy as a territory. The Post also declared in its first issue that it would try to be non-partisan in all local matters to promote "a united community," and said that the fostering of disagreements through the columns "will at all times be discouraged." The Post still took some positions on local issues, urging citizens in November 1908 to support the establishment of a school, and writing that it would encourage more people to settle at the Hot Springs permanently. Ward left the Post and purchased the Tanana Miner in March 1909. The Post ended in May 1909 when Arbuckle moved the press to Tanana and joined up with the Tanana Leader.

Provided by: Alaska State Library Historical Collections