The Influence of Economics on Newspaper Election Coverage in 1870s Montana

Abstract

The Influence of Economics on Newspaper Election Coverage in 1870s Montana Nathan Parmeter 1 A s America wrapped up celebrations of its centennial in 1876, attention shifted to the presidential election between Democrat Samuel Tilden and Republican Rutherford Hayes for the White House. 2 Throughout the country, the election was heavily watched and followed, as a variety of national issues were at stake for American citizens regardless of their choice for president. The Helena, Montana Territory newspaper, The Helena Weekly Herald was no exception to the amount of coverage given prior to the election. Once it became clear that the 1876 election would be the closest and most controversial race ever, the Weekly Herald jumped on the issue, sometimes dedicating half of its weekly edition to the national election. At first glance, it seems surprising that a small town newspaper (Helena only had around 5,000 residents in 1876 3 ) would dedicate a large amount of coverage to the election for several consecutive weeks because of the fact that Montana residents weren’t voting in it due to Montana’s then- status as a territory. 4 The intense and heavily biased coverage of the 1876 election in Helena can be attributed to the platforms of the Republican Party and the fact that their platform of direct economic and infrastructural development would have helped Montana connect economically to the rest of the country, attract more settlers and eventually gain statehood. Other minor aspects of the Weekly Herald’s coverage during the weeks before and after the election reveal insights into national political issues prevalent in Montana Territory and how local coverage of such issues furthered the agenda of the newspaper. In order to understand why a newspaper in a small town in a thinly populated territory would cover the 1876 presidential election controversy with such depth, exposure and bias, an understanding of the national and regional context of the election needs to be explored. By this point in American history, the Civil War had been over for more than a decade, and the nation was industrializing in the north and economically advancing in the Midwest and West. 5 Montana Territory was formed in 1864 out of the Idaho Territory, and much of the economy at this point was based on mining. 6 The town of Helena was founded in 1863 by a group of pioneers and ex- The author, being also an editor, recused himself from the editing process regarding this article. It received no special treatment and was required to conform to all standard requirements. 2. Michael F. Holt, By One Vote : the Disputed Presidential Election of 1876 (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2008), i. 3. R.E. Fisk., “Notes from Montana”, The Helena Weekly Herald (Helena, Montana), Dec. 21, 1876. 4. Clark C. Spence., Territorial Politics and Government in Montana, 1864-89 (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1973), 1. 5. Mark Wahlgran Summers, The Ordeal of the Reunion: A new History of Reconstruction (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2014), 191.