Griggs Courier (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.])
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
881 issues from 1885 to 1902, published in Cooperstown, North Dakota, digitised for Chronicling America.
Griggs County lies in the eastern central portion of North Dakota, on the edge of the Red River Valley. This region’s rich soil provided for a type of large-scale agriculture production known as bonanza farming. Bonanza farming boomed in the late 19th century as a result of new industrial farm machinery, railroad expansion, and the Homestead Act of 1862. Better faster farming methods, a means to transport goods to markets, and plenty of affordable land all contributed to the boom.
These prospects brought Rollin and Thomas Cooper to Griggs County in 1880. Raised in Michigan, both brothers were industrious entrepreneurs, and before coming to Dakota Territory to farm they had mined in Colorado and raised cattle in Kansas. Rollin had made a $25,000 profit in these ventures, and he used that money to build Cooperstown. In the year 1881 alone, he bought 20,000 acres of land, platted the town limits, built a boardinghouse and hotel, became a county commissioner, and harvested his first crop. In 1882, Cooperstown became the Griggs County seat.
Rollin Cooper, unlike many new landowners at the time, planned to live in Cooperstown and farm. He invested heavily in his city, not only for profit, but also to build a thriving place to call home. His vision included a newspaper. Cooper paid $500 for the first printing press and type, and the press was shipped by rail “til the end of the line.” From there it was carted the remaining 40 miles by mule cart to Cooperstown.
Two months later,…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Cooperstown, North Dakota, 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