The Parker Post

J. B. Flanagan started The Parker Post in Parker, Arizona, in May 1910. Originally established within the Colorado River Indian Reservation in western Arizona, the town of Parker was named after Ely Parker (Donehogawa), a Seneca Indian who was confidante to Ulysses S. Grant and later appointed by Grant as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The Parker Post was published weekly from 1910 to 1918. In heralding the new newspaper, the Arizona Republican [LCCN: sn 84020558], noted that the Post had a “linotype machine, a Hoe press and a job printing plant, the machinery being operated with a gasoline engine.” Two earlier newspapers, the Parker News and the Parker Herald had been distributed in Parker but printed in Phoenix, Arizona.  

Flanagan was not only the manager and editor of the Post, which called itself “An Independent Newspaper,” but was also active in politics. Flanagan ran for election as a Democrat and served several years as state representative while running the paper. Political news was often included in the newspaper. For a short time in 1917, the newspaper included different slogans alongside the masthead, from “Display the Flag,” to “Buy a Liberty Bond,” to “Give to the Red Cross.”  In November 1918 an advertisement was above the masthead: “Elect to Congress and to the office of Governor men who will fight the Kaiser and support the president." The Parker Post also included local news, from its “Personal Mention” column about the comings and goings of residents and visitors, to “Local News Paragraphs” and advertisements for local businesses.

Copper mining was an importance industry around Parker, and mining news was a major focus of the Post. In April 1917, the newspaper published a special mining edition of the paper. Announcement of the forthcoming mining edition noted how much interest there was and that thousands of extra copies were ordered to be shipped to Boston and St. Louis. Typically, the newspaper was four pages, but the mining edition was a sixteen-page publication highlighting the mining interests in and around Parker and Yuma County (Parker later became part of La Paz County in the 1980s). The special edition also championed the town of Parker: “There is no place where the sun shines so brightly or the moon glows with its silvery rays so grandly.”

Essay provided by University of Arizona Libraries.