FYI: These articles were copied from the "Arizona Memory Project" newspaper database on the Arizona State Archives website. They are subject to copyright laws, but can be copied without permission. When citing one as a sources, they suggest you use this format: "[Title and date of item], courtesy [name of contributing repository], obtained from http://adnp.azlibrary.gov/"
Graham Guardian
The Safford Graham Guardian began its run in 1895 as a weekly Democratic newspaper published by the Guardian Publishing Company and edited by John J. Birdno. Safford had been the first seat of Graham County when it was formed in 1881, but the seat was moved to Solomonville after only two years. The issue of moving the county seat from Solomonville back to Safford became a topic of fervent conversation during Birdno’s editorship, with both the Graham Guardian and the short-lived Safford Rattler supporting the move. The Safford Rattler was created on September 2, 1896, with Robert S. Patterson as editor and the Court House Executive Committee as publisher. The sole purpose of the paper was to promote the return of the county seat to Safford. Patterson claimed in the September 16, 1896 issue of the Rattler that “The county seat was taken from Safford by the fraud and boodle of that one [land] owner, and he and his men endeavor to hold it by the same means.” After only five issues, the Safford Rattler admitted defeat and closed its doors. The issue did not make it to the ballot that year, and Solomonville remained the county seat until June 1915, when Safford defeated Pima in a close race.
18 Aug 1911
The Copper Era
The Copper Era and The Copper Era and Morenci Leader
April 24, 1899, marked the beginning of the Copper Era, a newspaper out of Clifton in Graham (and later Greenlee) County, Arizona. Because Clifton was a mining town, the newspaper included many articles and advertisements related to mining. An article entitled “The London Mining Journal predicts that Arizona will soon pass Michigan and Montana in the production of copper,” appearing in the June 1, 1899 issue of the Copper Era, shows early evidence that Arizona mining towns were boosting their copper output.
Editor Charles E. Bull led the Democratic paper through its initial development until July 5, 1900. In his book, Those Old Yellow Dog Days: Frontier Journalism in Arizona 1859-1912, William H. Lyon notes that George Kelly, father of future Copper Era editor William B. Kelly, was also connected with the paper. At this time, in 1899, local governments were beginning to drop their contracts with newspaper publishers for public printing, assuming that the newspapers would print the information anyway. The subsequent loss of revenue forced many newspapers out of business.
From 1911 to 1929, William B. Kelly owned and published the Copper Era under the auspices of The Era Publishing Company. In 1929, he transferred ownership to his own Kelly Print and Publishing Company. This was not Kelly’s first experience as owner of a publishing company. In 1903, he and his father had organized the Consolidated Printing and Publishing Company in Bisbee, Arizona, which managed newspapers in Douglas, Tucson, Phoenix, and Globe. The Kelly’s welcomed the Phelps-Dodge Corporation into their enterprise, and the copper company eventually procured all the papers under the publishing company’s umbrella. On September 1, 1911, the Copper Era absorbed the Morenci Leader and changed its title to the Copper Era and Morenci Leader. According to Estelle Lutrell’s Newspapers and Periodicals of Arizona, 1859-1911, William Kelly continued as editor when the Copper Era consolidated with Duncan Valley News and Morenci Leader and became the Copper Era, Morenci Leader and Duncan Valley News through January 1944, when he sold out to the Gila Printing and Publishing Company.
Provided by: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ
25 Feb 1909
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