Peary discovers North Pole
In The Range Ledger, 1909. This article is one of the pieces of a newspaper on the wall in the kitchen.
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Victor-Victrola
Someday you will surely own a Victor-Victrola... an ad from one of the papers on a kitchen wall.
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Scroll down for more pictures
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Old newspapers an intriguing time machine
Sommers Ranch homestead restoration project update
by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online!
October 17, 2010
Earlier this year, the Sublette County Historical Society partnered with siblings Jonita and Albert Sommers to restore the Sommers family homestead ranch and make it into a living history project. The homestead ranch is located along the Green River, about twelve miles southwest of Pinedale.
Restoration of the two-story homestead house has been the focus of the work this fall, and it has already turned up many interesting tidbits of insight into the history story this homestead ranch has to tell. One of the recent fun finds has been the uncovering of the walls to discover they are lined from floor to ceiling with old newspapers. Most cannot be identified, but some that have pieces that include the paper name include the Saturday Evening Post; The Range Ledger from Hugo, Colorado; The Salt Lake Tribune; and The Laramie Republican. Papers date to the early 1900s.
One article that stands out comes from the Saturday, September 18, 1909 edition of The Range Ledger, which is heralded as being "devoted to the live stock interests of eastern Colorado" and being "the newsiest newspaper in eastern Colorado." The headline reads "DISCOVERY OF NORTH POLE RELATED BY ROBERT E. PEARY – Intrepid Explorer’s Story of the Bold Dash by Which He Reached the Earth’s Apex—Dr. Cook’s Claim Flatly Denied." The article begins with a "Notice to Publishers" warning of the copyright protection against the reproduction of the account. Click on the pictures to the right to see that paper.
A 1909 Denver Post had the story about a bold daylight bank robbery. There was an ad for the Salt Lake City Brewing Company, and a 1909 death notice for South Pass area resident John Bilcox.
Below are some of the ads and tidbits from the papers. These papers show how the people living out in rural Wyoming were still getting news of international interest from their available news sources. Being frugal, the papers were "recycled" for a useful purpose. Over 100 years later the papers have resurfaced to give us an insight into the lives of the people who helped shape the world we live in today.
Click on the links below to read more about the Sommers Ranch Homestead project or contact Angie Thomas with the Sublette County Historical Society at the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale, 307-367-4101.
Photos by Dawn Ballou and Jonita Sommers.
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