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The Wallowa County Chieftain is a weekly newspaper in Enterprise, Wallowa County in the U.S. state of Oregon.

History

Founded in Joseph in 1884 by S. A. Heckethorn, the newspaper preceded the establishment of the county itself. A few years after Enterprise was selected as the county seat, the paper relocated there. Though the newspaper was named after Chief Joseph, it was not particularly friendly to Native American issues, and opposed a Joseph's request to resettle Wallowa Valley in 1900.

George Cheney became the owner, editor, and publisher in 1911, on the wave of an economic boom experienced in Enterprise upon the completion of a railroad and sawmill, as well as a booming agricultural business. Cheney built a new building, designed to meet the needs of the paper, which it occupied beginning in 1916. Cheney sold the Enterprise Chieftain in 1941 to Gwen Tappen Coffin. Under Coffin, the paper absorbed the Wallowa Sun in 1942 to form the Wallowa Chieftain, and then the Chief Joseph Herald in 1959 to become the Wallowa County Chieftain.

Coffin was a "controversial editor" who wrote columns opposing the internment of Japanese Americans, opposing the Vietnam War and opposing increased logging in federal forests. He was induced into the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame in 1993 and died the following year. Coffin operated the paper until 1971. He sold the Chieftain to his son-in-law Don Swart Sr., who operated the paper until selling it to his son and daughter-in-law Richard and Cheryl Swart in 1998. In March 2000, the East Oregonian Publishing Co. purchased the newspaper from Richard and Cheryl Swart.

In June 2024, EO Media Group announced the Wallowa County Chieftain will cease print publication and go online-only. All print subscribers will instead receive the East Oregonian, published weekly and including news from Wallowa County Chieftain's website. In October 2024, the company was sold to Carpenter Media Group. In December 2024, the paper's editor was laid off, leaving only one reporter to cover Wallowa and Union counties.

References

1. "EO Media Group Publishing Map". EO Media Group LLC. 2023-03-06. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
2. ^ Turnbull, George S. (1939). "Wallowa County" . History of Oregon Newspapers . Binfords and Mort.
3. "Enterprise chieftain" – via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
4. Pedersen, Nathan (January 6, 2024). "Enterprise". The Oregon Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
5. Lozar, Patrick; Rinn, Daniel. "Joseph, Wallowa Chieftain". Oregon Digital Newspaper Program. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
6. "Enterprise Chieftain Under New Publisher". Statesman Journal. Associated Press. October 19, 1941. p. 7.
7. "Wallowa County Papers Merge Because of War". The Oregon Daily Journal. November 29, 194. p. 12.
8. "Weekly Papers Consolidate". La Grande Observer. February 27, 1959. p. 1.
9. "Ex-publisher of Wallowa County paper dies". The Oregonian. December 16, 1994. p. 54.
10. "About Us | Wallowa County Chieftain carries on long, proud tradition". Wallowa County Chieftain. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
11. "Two newspaper families to join forces". Albany Democrat-Herald. Associated Press. February 25, 2000. p. 4.
12. Brown, Kathryn (2024-06-23). "From My Corner: A sad chapter in the Chieftain's rich history". Wallowa County Chieftain. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
13. "EO Media Group announces changes to newspaper operations". East Oregonian. 2024-06-03. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
14. Buckley, Kyra (June 3, 2024). "Company that runs Bulletin, other Northwest newspapers to slash workforce and scale back print distribution". OPB. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
15. Rogoway, Mike (2024-10-23). "Oregon newspaper chain EO Media sells itself to Mississippi company". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
16. Haas, Ryan (December 5, 2024). "Carpenter Media proceeds with more layoffs, cost cutting at Oregon newspapers". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2024-12-06.

• 1884 establishments in Oregon
• Enterprise, Oregon
• Newspapers published in Oregon
• Publications established in 1884
• Native American history of Oregon
• Online newspapers with defunct print editions