University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1959 John Hurst Durston editor: The Anaconda Standard in the Clark- Daly feud John Palmer Fought 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 Fought, John Palmer, "John Hurst Durston editor: The Anaconda Standard in the Clark-Daly feud" (1959). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 5031. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5031 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]. 6S61 8 Z m tooqog a^snpejp ♦uB®g *a so $ 4 & m ‘vtmxtBm s^fq p a m $ M y 666X ui$mMm mvss nm&m ■ ffl85fB8«n<jf vt s % m f» jo aaiSsp otu Jtoj s^Haaraainliaa M U j® 4ae®fnJT»J tews® pa^uasMdf: j r t x6 t ‘opmoioo $ i® Aie*9*t«a'*?**■ fowf amsa aaotilff ©a.f xw H f f i r a shs si obnwvss vomoovsv s w m m i m . ‘Kossana m « e # UMI Number: EP40495 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. Disssrtatfcm Rybfehlfig UMI EP40495 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 G-l-69 #•#,*;* «$ # #.# t *t**### ■#•* «■:##* * »#■ #■■•£ t-f ■»’ ■# £« « * # * #’ & * #m*4 # * . * . # 0 » # # . f : # . $ # < $ ;#■■ « « # # #■ IH #> % # $ # # #■ it f #•'.*■■ 0 ■*■ #■♦*■» :# .%* * # * # #♦# #f *♦ •»£# i 0•* ESP*®*' « * * * * •#•». ■# # # * * # * « #■* ♦ 4 * * * * * % * *'» 0 ♦ #'« #■* it. E# #: * % :# * * £ * * * * # * ££ *£ f, £ !■:•* # «- #• 0. 0. 0 #■ # * $ *. *■ *■# m * m * €■ ♦ $ # •# # it # i * * t * #- ■# # *•« CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Montana is the story of copper mining* political intrigue and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a small hun&er of men. It has boon reviewed many times* yet always it will remain untold# A large part of the story Is legend and merely grows with the telling. Much of it concerns three men I Mhroue Daly* William A. Clark* and P. < Augustus Heinse. They were the copper kings. They became the legend; the legend became them. Nearly always in the telling of the legend* great gaps have been left* They represent the men behind the men who made Montana. Their stories remain to be told. One of them was John Hurst Durston.^ Learned* aggressive* brilliant, he was to create for one of the copper kings* Marcus Daly* a newspaper unique in America. How well he succeeded is the object of this study. Duroton was the editor of the Anaconda Standard from its founding in 1889 until he became editor of the Butts Post in 1913. During those years he took part in one of America *s most colorful episodes* the growth and development of Montana1 s economic and political empire m; This period has been described too ofton and too ably for repetition in the work In hand. Therefore* attention will be devoted chiefly to two events, the state capital contest of l892~9i* and the struggle by Durston and the 3 k Anaconda Standard to defeat the candidates of William A* Clark In the state ©lection campaign of 1900* Subsequent concltisionG, furthermore# will bo based principally on these events# Because a r.avlcw of Durstonfs newspaper career would be incomplete without mentioning hie activities before he came to Montana# and the 15 years he spent oh the Butte Post# chapters devoted to those periods are included# It was on the basis of Durston^s entire Montana newspaper career# not merely the years on the. Standard# that ho was named to th© Montana Newspaper Hall of Fame Oct# 25# 1953,# An attempt has been mad© to include enough historical data and political conflict among Montana newspapers < themselves to provide the reader with an outline of state politics during the period# It is not within the scope of this study to furnish a history of the period but to examine a segment of th© career of one man who lived a part of It* At th© height of th© Standard ys years of editorial campaigning# four newspapers clashed for political supremacy in Butte# They wore the Standard# which was published in Anaconda but sought circulation mainly In Butte; the Miner# owned by William A* Clark; th© Xnter^Hountain# the paper of loo Mantle# and the Reveille* political organ of P# Augustus Heinsse# Most of th© newspapermen who played important rolos In this portion of Montana history have died# fho few who 5 remain furnished some of th© material for this study* Still alert# they were asked to reach forty or fifty years into their memories* . Bid they recall the events and th© spoken words accurately? Had# in fact# the happenings slowly evolved over forty years into something quit© different? Or wore they so vividly inscribed on these men1 o memories that tim© could not alter them? Memories alone were not the only complicating factors* Burston# although a prolific editorial writer# left practically no record of his own philosophy* As far as can be determined# ho never wrote for publication outside his newspapers* Furthermore# what personal correspondence ho might have had was lost'** following his retirement from the Butte Post in 1920* Still enough remains to examine this unusual man# to reveal his. dynamic perspective and his editorial abilities* If all his editorial output were assembled it would fill several volumes* is believed Burston1a files of personal correspondence were destroyed by personnel of th© Post in an office cleanup,sometime after Burston*© death* His granddaughter# Mrs* Martha Bolles Palffy# Boseman# made Inquiry several times regarding this material without avail* Zt is interesting# and perhaps significant# to note that Daly*s papers also were destroyed after his death* See St* Ross Tool# "Marcias Daly# a Study of Business in Politics#" Unpublished master of arte thesis# Montana State University# Missoula# 191*7# P* !• fo aefee an honest of & journalist it 4# necessary to examine «t # « # length th© content Of hi# wsrttihg#* Stone sni»j?inga not only an© ' # » ft iiiteotgiging*. twit may actually I# ft iiatortei views* la the present we*&r s m izialw3eti somewhat extensive quotations at time# When It was feit they’ wouia &Ut In #» ««AttstiO» of ©w?#t«**# newspaper , » i# eBhneetly hope# they fie not tseceme tedious.. CHAPTER 12 THE PROFESSOR GOES WEST He was a large man and he sat at a piano la the upper floor room used for holding carrier boys* parties* Rather stiffly at first* then somewhat more easily# he began playing* Music, always brought him mental relief # even in those furious days 3k years ago when ho throw all his energy into the fight to make Anaconda the capital of Montana* But always ho managed to slip away from the turmoil of the composing room# sometime after deadline# and dissolve himself briefly in music* How 80# he was losing his dexterity# yet his careful training was revealed as he played on and on* Ho doubt his memory wandered back aoross many years that afternoon In 1928* He may have thought of the early struggle of founding the Anaconda Standard* the capital fight# the extended campaign to unseat Sen* William A* Clark* But now It was over# and,in many respects he was glad* He was tired# too tired to go on* Only a few minutes earlier he had taken his last walk to the 0front office” of the Butte Post* which he had edited for the past 15 years* He had asked Ed Hanmor# a trusted friend and employee# to go upstairs with him when he resigned* And now as he slowly played# his friend Ed stood behind# concealed in the doorway# and watched *2 ^Interview with Ed* J* Hamer# Butte# Feb* 23# 1959 8 This was not Just th© retirement of a beloved and respected newspaperman* It was the end of the career of one * * .I .* of the most influential men in western Journalism* And it was also the end of the most colorful chapter of. Montana history,* The last of the warriors# Dura ton had seen his king defeated* The empire had been overrun long ago and there was nothing he could say# nothing ho could do* But It was not always so* Once his name stood for something that had unified western Montana into a powerful political force* Once with a few piercing words he could sound the rally call for half the state* John £♦ Burs ton# philologist, professor# newspaperman# had come nearly the breadth of the United States to seek his fortune in raining, but ho wrought it not from copper but from newsprint and ink* The chance he took in mining-was not half so great as tho one that brought him together with th© man who would help launch him on on© of America* s phenomenal newspaper careers* Syracuse, Mew York, in 181*8 was a busy commercial center, drawing trade from a wide area and catering to boatmen sailing tho Erie Canal from hake Erie to the Hudson Hivor* Here John Durston, a native of Bristol, England, had come several years earlier and was already established