The Weekly Pioneer and Democrat (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory)
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
506 issues from 1855 to 1865, published in Saint Paul, Minnesota, digitised for Chronicling America.
The Minnesota Pioneer, credited as the first paper printed in the new Minnesota Territory, published its first weekly edition in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on April 28, 1849, under editor and publisher James Madison Goodhue. After Goodhue’s death in August 1852, his brother Isaac Goodhue edited the paper for a brief period. Joseph R. Brown became editor and publisher in February 1853, followed by Earle S. Goodrich in March 1854. On May 1, 1854, Goodrich brought out the first issue of the Daily Minnesota Pioneer. He continued to publish the weekly paper, which became a digest of the news appearing in the daily paper. On November 1, 1855, the papers merged with the rival weekly Minnesota Democrat and St. Paul Daily Democrat to become the Weekly Pioneer and Democrat and the Daily Pioneer and Democrat, with Goodrich remaining as editor of the combined titles.
The Minnesota Territory was created on March 3, 1849 and existed until Minnesota became a state on May 11, 1858. In 1850, the population of the Minnesota Territory was approximately 6,000 persons. By 1860, that number had increased to over 120,000. This run of newspapers therefore covers most of the years of the territory’s existence as well as the transition to statehood and the early years of that statehood.
As the first newspaper published in the territory, Goodhue’s Minnesota Pioneer initially concentrated on boosting the image of the territory as a place to immigrate. Other papers established during this period…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
- Language
- English
- Collection
- Chronicling America
- Licence or status
- None stated by the archive
- Rights
- The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety.
- Credit
- Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities
- Who can read it
- Teens profiles and older (placed by Invisible Network from what the archive says; archives give no ratings)
- Archive
- Library of Congress