In January, 1895, the Hartford Pioneer published its maiden issue. Seven months later, it went under. The community it served didn’t last much longer: by 1898, Hartford, Montana, had literally vanished.
The story of Jefferson County in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is one of abrupt booms and busts. Mining companies came and went. Towns emerged and collapsed. And so did newspapers: Dozens of them dotted the region, most surviving only months or a few years.
Many of those old papers are, happily, accessible today, thanks to the Jefferson County Museum and the Montana Historical Society; you can find them at montananewspapers.org.
In “The Paper Trail” The Monitor will ocassionally explore some of those journals, mining them for history while also reflecting on the modern-day reality of the departed communities they once served. We begin with the Pioneer, whose original front page appears at the back of this section. The design of this feature intentionally mirrors that of the period; our reporting is more contemporary. We hope you enjoy it.
