University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1978 Eggleston of the Anaconda Standard Ralph Henry Wanamaker The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Wanamaker, Ralph Henry, "Eggleston of the Anaconda Standard" (1978). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 5046. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5046 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. •EGGLESTON OF THE ANACONDA STANDARD By Ralph H. Wanamaker B. A., Elizabethtown College, 1965 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 1978 Approved by: Chairman, Board oiNSxaminers Dean, Graduate School UMI Number: EP40510 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI EP40510 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT Wanamaker, Ralph H ., M .A., June,- 1978, Journalism Eggleston of the Anaconda Standard (328 pp.) Director: Warren J. Brier This biography of Charles H. Eggleston examines his career from 1889 to 1931 as associate editor, editorial 'writer and editor of the Anaconda Standard, the official spokesman for Marcus Daly in the War of the Copper Kings . It also analyzes his role as a senator in four sessions of the Montana Legislature. The study attempted to distinguish Eggleston's editorials and articles from those of other Standard editors, most notably Dr. John H. Durston. The research included a detailed study of the Standard from its first issue September 5, 1889, to its final issue; in 1931; five lengthy letters from Eggleston's 81-year-old son; interviews with per­ sons who worked with Eggleston or knew him; obituaries of Eggleston; articles about the period under study; histories of Montana; and numerous letters to learn about Eggleston's life before his arrival in M ontana. The thesis describes the similarities of Eggleston’s writings to those of Mark Twain. It explores his role in the fight over the location of the Montana capital, and it analyzes his editorials during the prolonged feud between Daly and Copper King William A. Clark. The biography serves as an informal history of the Standard, widely regarded in the late 1800s and early 1900s as one of the most technically advanced newspapers in the Far W est. PREFACE The history of the Anaconda Standard, a newspaper started by copper tycoon Marcus D aly/ is mirrored in the life of one of its original editors, Charles Hayden Eggleston. Eggleston, who came to the Standard from Syracuse, N.Y. , when the daily was eight days old, outlived the paper. His works and personality helped build the Standard into a powerful newspaper. During the Standard's early years, Eggleston served as its resident Mark Twain, creating stories about the Chinese, Indians and others of the smelter town. As Montana's political wars of the 1890s developed—between Daly and William Andrews Clark—Eggleston became a potent editorial writer and cogent paragrapher. His satire of Helena's society was a capital-fight masterpiece. After the war of the copper kings, Eggleston's columns amused readers and brightened the Sunday Standard. During World War I, he was editor and the Anaconda Com­ pany's voice in the battle against the Industrial Workers of the World and other company opponents. His later years on the Standard, seemingly in semi-retirement, were spent on historical features and editorial essays. He served two terms in the State Senate in the 1890s, pro­ moting Daly's policies at some of the stormiest legislative sessions. iii His works include interpretations of state and world events and personalities. His obituary editorial of Leo Tolstoi was a monu­ ment to Tolstoi's life and works. His poem about three-time presi­ dential candidate William Jennings Bryan depicts the euphoria of Bryan's 1897 visit to Butte. Eggleston also wrote histories of the Standard and Anaconda, both delightful, factual accounts of their beginnings. As the Standard's muscle in Montana's politics grew, so did Eggleston's role on the paper. At one time the paper had circulation points at Denver, Salt Lake City, Chicago and San Francisco and boasted a statewide circulation of about 15,000. Eggleston's reputa­ tion as a paragrapher was well established, and many considered him the nation's best. When in 1931 the Anaconda Standard folded into a four-page local section of the Butte# Montana Standard, Eggleston was the only one left of the three editors brought from Syracuse to start the paper. Dr. John H. Durston, former editor of the Syracuse Standard and for­ mer Syracuse University professor, was Daly's choice for editor in / ■ 1889. He brought Warren H. Walsworth and Eggleston, both of the Syracuse Standard staff, with him to Anaconda. Eggleston's biography is based on extensive letters from his 81-year-old son, the late Charles L. Eggleston, and information from interviews with Eggleston's associates at the Standard and others at Anaconda and Butte, articles, books, pamphlets, letters and the files iv of the Anaconda Standard. The biography attempts to describe Eggleston's life both at Syracuse and Anaconda, to credit him with writings previously anony­ mous, to recount his role in the State Senate, to portray his role on the Standard and to characterize his role in Montana history. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ........................ ii PREFACE . ................................................................................... iii Chapter I. AN EDITOR’S OBIT. ..................... 1 II. BEGINNINGS IN NEW Y O R K ....................................................... 14 III. EARLY DAYS WITH THE STANDARD . ........................................ 31 IV* ELECTION OF 1892 ..................................................................................... 6.1 V. CONFLICTING AMBITIONS ........................................ 85 VI. HELENA’S SOCIAL SUPREMACY......................... 99 VII. PREVENTING REFORM ................................... 126 VIII. WHEN BRYAN CAME TO BUTTE . ".................................. 154 IX. INFAMOUS SESSION ................................................................ 180 X. THE FEUD ENDS ......................... 206 XL. THE GREAT ANACONDA STANDARD ......................... 228 XII. YEARS AS EDITOR...............................................................................................250 XIII. END OF LINE...........................................................................................................290 XIV. LIFE A. BAROMETER ........................................ 314 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................ 320 vi Photo taken from a copper engraving was taken in 1905 when Eggleston was 47, his son said. It demonstrates his likeness to Mark Twain in his early years at the Standard. CHAPTER I AN EDITOR'S OBIT During the threescore and ten years that have elapsed since the first newspaper made its appearance in what is now known as the Treasure State, no writer has made the force of his personality felt to greater extent than Charles Hayden Eggleston, who for 44 years was associate editor of the Anaconda Standard and dean of the journalistic calling in Montana .1 Eggleston's death on April 28, 1933, of a kidney ailment and a general breakdown ended a tumultuous chapter in the checkered his- 9 tory of Montana journalism." Eggleston helped found the Standard, the political organ of copper magnate Marcus Daly, on September 5, 1889. He watched the Standard, at one time regarded as "the leading news- 3 paper in the Northwest," deteriorate into a four-page section of the ^■"Charles H. Eggleston, Pioneer Editor of Montana Dies in Butte," Great Fails Tribune , April 29, 1933, p. 2, hereinafter cited as "Pioneer Editor Dies." 9 Ibid. , also other obituaries: "State Mourns Death of C.H. Eggleston, Brilliant Figure in Newspaper Field," Butte Montana Standard, April 29, 19 33, p. 1, hereafter cited as "State Mourns Death"; "Sen. C.H. Eggleston, Dean of Journalism, Dies," Butte Daily Post, April 28, 1933, p. 11, hereafter cited as "Dean of Journalism"; "Pioneer Montana Editor Dead After Operation," Missoula Daily Missoulian, April 29, 1933, p. 1, hereafter cited as "Montana Editor Dead." 3 Editorial, "Charles Hayden Eggleston," Missoula Daily Mis­ soulian , April 29, 1933, p. 4. 1 2 newer Butte Montana Standard on July 2.1, 1931.* His tenure as associ­ ate editor spanned more than 40 years of the state's most turbulent periods--entrance into the Union, the . capital contests, the Clark-Dalv feud, labor unrest and World War I. His life bridged the pioneer newspaper of