About Die Eureka post. (Eureka, McPherson Co., Süd=Dakota) 18??-19??
Eureka, McPherson Co., Süd=Dakota (18??-19??)

Eureka Post and Die Eureka Post

In April 1889, the printing office of Flinn & Lutgen in Eureka, South Dakota, began publishing a German-language newspaper, Die Eureka Post, with Theodore J.P. Gliedt as the editor. Gliedt became owner of the paper in 1892, and in 1896 also began publishing an English version, the Eureka Post. Gliedt sold the printing company to Orvin Jarper Roe in October 1898. Roe printed both the English and German versions of the newspaper until April 5, 1907, when he sold them to E.A. Warner. The Eureka Post was discontinued in favor of Warner's own newspaper, the Northwest Blade (1894-current). Warner continued publishing Die Eureka Post through April 6, 1912, when it was purchased by the Volkszeitung Publishing Company under the direction of Gustav Mauser and Otto H. Froh. The two men consolidated Die Eureka Post into their own German-language paper, the Eureka Rundschau ("Eureka Review"), which was published until June 1927.

Die Eureka Post was a six-column, eight-page paper published on Wednesdays and costing $1.50 per year. It had many editors including Roe, Francois Martin, Leo Rasfe, Carl Semrath, and Gustave Dentner. The newspaper was staunchly Republican in tone and ran many articles favoring Theodore Roosevelt. As 87 percent of the immigrants who settled the Eureka area were Germans from Russia, their interests influenced the topics covered. The paper contained a tremendous amount of news from Russia, including reports of Jewish pogroms, the war, and the increase in civil unrest, as well as other international news. Die Eureka Post also published poetry, fiction, railroad and stagecoach schedules, obituaries, local and national news, and political ballot information in German. A few legal notices were printed in English, while advertisements were written in both languages.

The Eureka Post, a six-column, four-page English-language counterpart edited by Roe, was published on Fridays and cost $1 per year. It appears to have been a supplement to the German Die Eureka Post, as very few articles were published in both papers. Articles closely covered the fight for the location of the state capital between Pierre and Mitchell, as well as many articles of railroad news, especially of the extensions into South Dakota. Timetables for three railroads were carried: the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul, the Chicago & Northwestern, and the Minneapolis, St Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, which was known by its popular name of the Soo Line. From 1887 to 1902, Eureka was "the world's largest inland wheat-shipping center" because of its high-yielding grain fields and the extensive railroad shipping connections. Another topic which the Eureka Post covered extensively was the extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul north to its terminus of Linton, North Dakota, and Linton's subsequent growth. The beginning of the construction of the Panama Canal was also covered frequently. Regular features in the Eureka Post included a timetable for a stage line running between Eureka and the town of Artas in Campbell County, South Dakota; detailed market reports and prices; and legal notices.

Provided by: South Dakota State Historical Society – State Archives