Arizona State Miner

As noted in its twenty-second anniversary issue, the Arizona State Miner originated in about 1898 in Randsburg, California. The paper was moved to Wickenburg, Arizona, in 1919 and published by Harry Bruns (H.B.) Watson, sometimes referred to as “Pop” Watson in the newspaper. For a time, the Arizona paper’s editorial page stated it was “Formerly Golden State Miner of Randsburg, California.”

The weekly paper was a source of community news and celebrated Wickenburg with its motto: “A Place Where The Wild Flowers Bloom In Winter.” The State Miner published local briefs, school news, political notes, mining news, and reports from the Western Newspaper Union News Service. In some issues, it ran a fashion column and prices on the livestock markets, and started including more national news. The newspaper’s slogans included: “Stoically Independent in Everything” and “Favors Government Ownership Of Utilities, Storage and Railroads.” The paper frequently listed the Democratic nominees during elections, and Watson ran as a Democrat for the state senate in 1924. In a 1922 editorial, the paper called for “a minimum wage for every calling based upon the actual scale fixed by a majority of the workers in each industry.” 

In 1920, during a paper shortage, the State Miner was printed on wallpaper, described by the Kansas City Star [LCCN: sn 82007150] as “modest, neat, gray-mottled paper such as one sees on bungalow ceilings,” and by the Salt Lake Mining Review as “printed on a delicately tinted wall paper.”

In May 1920 and again in March 1921, the Arizona Republican [LCCN: sn 84020558] reported that Watson was suing some local businesses, claiming they conspired to boycott advertising in the State Miner. Watson was awarded damages in 1923 but reported in his newspaper in September 1924 that “there's still a little silent boycott on, against the State Miner editor and his family—one of those sneaky, silent, in the dark, behind closed doors” boycotts. That month, Watson moved his printing plant and his family to Phoenix, where he continued publishing the newspaper for Wickenburg and started another newspaper in Phoenix, the Five Points Star [LCCN: sn 96060848]. By the beginning of 1924, the newspaper listed the publishers as the Watson Brothers and Watson Publishing Company.

When Watson died in December 1925, his sons, who had worked on the paper for several years, continued publication until January 1926 when Arizona Publishers purchased both papers. W.V. Martin became manager and Roy George editor. The new publishers installed a new newspaper press where they printed in Tempe, Arizona, and added syndicated material, comics, and more. A few issues later, W.V. Martin was sole manager and editor. By the beginning of 1927, the Kelly Printing and Publishing Company, led by W.B. Kelly, who owned several other newspapers in Arizona, purchased the Arizona State Miner and publication ceased that year.

Essay provided by University of Arizona Libraries.