The First Newspapers
The Knik News and Cook Inlet Pioneer and Knik News 1914-1916
The newest book from Northern Light Media is a history of the first newspapers in the Cook Inlet region, The First Newspapers of Knik and Anchorage: The Knik News and the Cook Inlet Pioneer and Knik News, the name given when the newspaper moved from Knik to the new Knik Anchorage townsite at Ship Creek in 1915.
As an author of nonfiction books about the history of Alaska, I’ve written about many subjects over the years, from the construction of the Alaska Railroad to the United States government’s 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, and from the roadhouses of Alaska to the colorful histories of Alaska’s great sled dog races. In the course of my research I’ve learned that whatever the history I’m seeking, the newspapers of the day often held valuable information about the era, the people, the dates and details of specific events, and more.
The book opens with a brief history of the Cook Inlet region, the land and its first inhabitants, the Dena’ina. The stories of the towns of Knik and Anchorage follow, giving context for the coming of the newspapers, and then the newspaper histories lead into the actual pages of each publication, reprinted in full from archives at the Library of Congress.
In brief, The Knik News was founded by Ted Needham, a veteran of Klondike journalism, in October, 1914, in the then-booming town of Knik, which served as the gateway to mining regions in the Willow and Iditarod districts. The following spring Knik began losing its residents when railroad workers developed a settlement on the Ship Creek mudflats in anticipation of the coming railroad construction headquarters. Needham and his then-partner L. Frank Shaw decided to move their newspaper operation across the inlet to Ship Creek, then known as Knik Anchorage.
They pitched a tent near the creek’s bank and found themselves immediately amidst the discord and confusion of a settlement experiencing severe growing pains. It was a ripe atmosphere for a budding newspaper, and the details of the town’s growth filled the pages of the newly-named Cook Inlet Pioneer and Knik News. From reports on the progress of the government railroad project to plans for a new townsite on the bluff above Ship Creek, the daily developments were recorded amid editorial commentary, helpful tips and tricks, humor of the day, and advertisements for all manner of items.
We are all very fortunate to have online archives of our newspapers and magazines, and most of those are free to access. This book was produced with historic pages from the Knik News and the Cook Inlet Pioneer and Knik News, and later the Cook Inlet Pioneer, which are all in the public domain and archived online at the Library of Congress.
The First Newspapers of Knik and Anchorage, Alaska: The Knik News and Cook Inlet Pioneer and Knik News, 1914-1916, by Helen Hegener, will be published in June, 2024 by Northern Light Media. Available now for $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping from Northern Light Media.