The general rule for a newspaper of any era is to report the news of the day on a regular basis, typically daily or weekly. Some have a thematic focus whether it be the slavery issue, the military, masonic events, etc., but even such newspapers maintained a history of publishing on a regular basis.
I don’t believe we have previously discovered a newspaper that had a singular focus on a specific event until we acquired “The Trainwrecker [1]” from Pond Creek, Oklahoma Territory, 1894. This is not just a rare title; this could be a unique issue being the volume 1, number 1 issue of a newspaper about which nothing can be found. It is not listed in Gregory’s “Union List of Newspapers”, nor have we found anything on the internet.
Its purpose is noted on the front page, and it seems to have a singular focus: the dispute the Pond Creek area had with the Rock Island Railroad.
As a bit of background, I might encourage a visit to “Hell on Rails: Oklahoma Towns at War with the Rock Island Railroad [2]“, which details the backdrop for why this newspaper was created. It is rather convoluted and relates much to how the Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, was settled and how the railroads were a factor in town settlements.
The issue begins with: “The only paper in the Cherokee Strip capable and willing to take up and handle without gloves the action of the Rock Island Railroad, in the pursuance of their policy to rule or ruin.”
Then the “Salutary” begins: “In placing the TRAINWRECKER before the public, we ask for no sympathy–realizing full well the step we have taken. Our object is to give to the people of L county a complete account of the fight between the Rock Island railroad and Pond Creek, the county seat of L county and the only live, energetic city in the Strip…” with much more not just on the front page but on inside pages as well.
It is possible this newspaper existed for just this one issue, but without documenting records we cannot confirm. Printed as it is on green paper, it certainly doesn’t seem as though the publisher planned for a lengthy run.
This is part of the fascination with rare titles, as their scarcity simply implies a lack of information. Although we have encountered other newspapers that failed to exist beyond just a few issues, this is the first that seems to have existed to exploit a singular concern.
Personal note from Guy: “If historical fiction is within your wheelhouse of interests, I found ‘The Assassin’ and ‘The Wrecker’, both by Clive Cussler, fun reads. The former focuses more on the O.T. region (with a mention of some of the locations indicated above), while the latter zeros in on the sabotaging of trains during this era.”
