History of Oregon Newspapers/Crook County
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Prineville.—Prineville and Crook county's first newspaper, the Ochoco Pioneer, 7-col. folio, independent in politics, was started in the fall of 1880 by John E. Jeffrey. It lasted only a few months, dying in the business depression, and in the next year Dillard & Co., the same H. A. Dillard who pioneered journalism in Harney county with the Harney Valley Items in 1887, launched the Prineville News as an independent paper with Republican leanings. Horace Dillard took in D. W. Aldridge as a partner, and two years later Aldridge became editor and publisher. The paper suffered a $1500 fire November 11, 1883. The Aldridges, D. W. and E. H., conducted the paper until 1893. In the summer of 1894, with Fred E. Wilmarth as editor and publisher, the News was absorbed by the Ochoco Review, a publication started in Prineville in June 1885, by Douthit & Barnes. The News had been independent, and the Review Democratic. When the papers combined. J. N. Williamson, editor of the News, who later was to be a member of congress from Oregon, was made manager of the combined papers; L. N. Liggett soon succeeded Williamson as manager and bought the paper, which under Williamson had become Republican. He sold in July 1902 to William Holder, who in turn sold the paper to A. H. Kennedy in April 1904.
In the meantime A. C. Palmer had bought the Mitchell Monitor and moved it to Prineville, rechristening it (1894) the Crook County Journal, in competition with the Review. In 1901 he sold to W. T. Fogle, who sold a half interest to W. H. Parker of Albany. In 1903 the Journal, then owned by W. C. Black and S. M. Bailey, claimed 625 circulation, and the Review 750. The Journal was now running as a Republican paper, and the Review independent. In 1915 Guy La Follette came in as editor and publisher of the Journal, and Charles O. Pollard of the other paper, now known as the News. A publication known as the Spokesman received passing mention in Ayer's annual for 1917.
In 1917 (noted the next year in Ayer's) the Central Oregon Enterprise, A. M. Byrd publisher, succeeded the News and continued as an independent Thursday weekly until 1920, when it was succeeded by the Prineville Call, with Floyd A. Fessler, later a Scripps managing editor, as editor and publisher.
Guy La Follette started the Western Stock Grower, a monthly, in 1919, ran it until 1922. In that year Floyd Fessler merged the papers under the title of Central Oregonian. Under that title the paper has run through to date, being a direct descendant of the News, dating back to 1892, and tying in all the other publications except the first one, the old Pioneer, which has no posterity.
In 1922 the Central Oregonian was purchased by R. H. Jonas, born in Kansas in 1881, who has had a long career in Oregon journalism since his start on the Medford Success, then published by Charles Meserve. Later he worked on the Chewaucan Post at Paisley (Percival & Holder), the Lakeview Examiner, Klamath Falls Herald, Valley Record at Ashland under E. J. Kaiser; then took over the Wallowa Sun as publisher (1907), the Beaverton Times (1919), was partner with A. E. Scott in the News-Times at Forest Grove (1920-22), selling to his partner and buying the Central Oregonian that year.
Mr. Jonas' son Herbert, Oregon journalism graduate of 1931, was associated with his father for a time in the publication of the paper. A new concrete building was completed in June 1925 as a home for the Central Oregonian. It was specifically designed for newspaper purposes, with emphasis on correct lighting.