St. Helens Chronicle The St. Helens Chronicle originated in 1881 as the
Oregon Mist. The paper was founded by William Glendye out of a vendetta against Enoch Adams of the
Columbian, founded a year earlier. Within two years, Glendye sold the paper to Emmanuel H. Flagg. In 1890, Charles Meserve acquired the paper.) and George D. Borden. In July 1929, Hyde bought the
Scappoose Register from Paul Robinson. A month later Barney O. Garrett bought an interest in the
Mist. In October 1929, Hyde merged the
Register into the
Mist. In May 1930, Hyde sold the
Mist to John. T. Hoblitt, former owner of the
Silverton Appeal, for $25,000. After a month Hoblitt sold the
Mist back to Hyde and repurchased the
Appeal. The
St. Helens Sentinel was established in 1926 by Lew Cates and J. M. Cummins. It was soon sold to Edward. E. Brodie He sold it a year later to Miss Jessica L. Longston. In 1933, Longston and Miss L. Berenice Anderson merged the
Mist and
Sentinel together to form the
St. Helens Sentinel-Mist. In 1963, Longston and A. T. Brownlow sold the paper to John M. McClelland Jr., owner of the
Longview Daily News. In 1936, a Paul S. Paulson founded the
St. Helens Chronicle. He sold it to Gilbert and Eldridge Crouse in 1965. The Crouse brothers and McClelland bitterly feuded for years until merging their papers together in 1968 to form
The Sentinel-Mist Chronicle. In 1985, the paper was sold to Earl Parsons. By then the paper's name was
The Chronicle and Sentinel-Mist, finally becoming
The Chronicle in 2009. That same year the newspaper was sold to
Country Media, Inc. The Clatskanie Chief The Clatskanie Chief was founded in 1891 by F. T. Shute. An article in another newspaper read "The latest newspaper in Oregon, launched upon the fateful sea of journalism May 29th, is the Clatskanie Chief. It is bright and newsy and evidently succeed." In its early days the paper offered a bundled subscription with
Better Fruit, a publication in
Hood River, Oregon. Shute soon sold the
Chief to Enoch C. Blackford. His uncle Enoch W. Conyers, a businessman and a former state legislator, became the controlling owner in 1889. Conyers had been a lifelong Whig, and became a Republican when that party was formed. As his health declined, Conyers sold his interest in the paper. The new owners in 1908 were his niece and nephew Nora H. and George B. Conyers. The siblings sold the paper in 1910 By 1915, the paper was owned by W. G. Baylis. Baylis' business partner Minnie Hyde bought him out in 1920. A couple months later she sold a half-interest to A. E. Veatch, who owned the
Rainer Review. Hyde worked as editor and Veatch handled the business-side. At that time the paper was printed in
Rainier until the
Chief installed a cylinder press. Veatch sold his interest in 1921 to S. F. Scibird. Hyde's health declined which led her and Scibird to sell the paper in 1922 to Earle Richardson and W. Arther Steele. Richardson went on to buy the
Elgin Recorder later that year, and sold his
Chief shares to Steele. He published the paper for five decades and also served as the town's mayor for 18 years and a councilman for six years. Arthur and his wife Melvina Steele ran the paper together until Melvina's death in 1972, when their son Gail Steele took over. Gail Steele died in 1999 and his daughter Deborah Steele Hazen inherited the paper. In 2014,
The Clatskanie Chief 's name was changed to simply
The Chief. That same year Hazen sold the newspaper to
Country Media, Inc.
Merger and closure In December 2023, Country Media announced
The Chronicle and
The Chief will merge to create a new weekly newspaper called
The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief. The change was made due to declining revenue and difficulty recruiting and retaining experienced staff. Country Media president Steve Hungerford said: “Combining the two newspapers into one was a last-ditch effort to reduce expenses and reestablish profitability." But the effort was unsuccessful and after eight months the paper was closed. Its last issue was published on September 25, 2024. ==References==