Claude News

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Claude News. Now settle in, because this little paper had more hands on it than a county fair pie-eating trophy. It started life on January 1st, 1890, born in the brand-new railroad town of Claude, and it went by the name the Argus back then.

Somewhere along the way it merged with something called the Goodnight News, and that union gave it the name it would carry forward: the Claude News. First publisher was a man named W. S.

Decker, who sold the paper to B. F. Hines, who turned right around and sold it to J.

H. Hamner in 1892. Now that's already three owners in not very long, and we're just gettin' warmed up.

But here's where the story gets interesting. Hamner's daughter, Laura V., took over editing the paper during that period. And she wasn't just keeping the presses running.

She went on to become a foremost historian of the early great ranches of the Texas Panhandle. Think about that. She was shaping the record of one era while working in the middle of it.

About 1913, Hamner sold the operation to Spurgeon and Marvin Bishop, and the paper changed hands again. Then on January 1st, 1916, a man named Thos. T.

Waggoner stepped in. He was the founder of four Oklahoma weeklies, so he knew a thing or two about the newspaper business. After Waggoner's death, his sons, Wm.

J. B. and Cecil, acquired ownership in 1950. From the Argus to the Claude News, from Decker to Hines to Hamner to the Bishops to the Waggoners.

A small-town paper, maybe, but it passed through enough stories of its own to fill every edition it ever printed.

What the marker says

Established as the "Argus," Jan. 1, 1890, in the new railroad town of Claude. Later it merged with "Goodnight News" to become "Claude News." First publisher, W. S. Decker, sold paper to B. F. Hines, who sold to J. H. Hamner, in 1892. His daughter Laura V., later a foremost historian of the early great ranches of Texas Panhandle, edited the paper in this period. About 1913 Hamner sold to Spurgeon and Marvin Bishop. On Jan. 1, 1916, Thos. T. Waggoner, founder of 4 Oklahoma weeklies, bought the "News." After his death, his sons Wm. J. B. and Cecil acquired ownership, in 1950. (1969)