8/17/2008:
In July of 1864 two men of the Wisconsin Infantry stationed at Fort Union, Robert Winegar and Ira Goodwin published the first recorded newspaper in present-day North Dakota, the Frontier Scout. At a cost of $3.00 for a yearly subscription, and advertised as a weekly, only four editions of the Frontier Scout were published between July and its last publication on this date, August 17, 1864. Less than a year later, the Frontier Scout once again began publication; this time by two officers stationed at Fort Rice, Lieutenant Champney and Captain Adams.
Over the last century and a half, most copies of the Frontier Scout were lost or destroyed. However, the few editions of North Dakota’s first newspaper that do survive are currently held by the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Sources
"Frontier Scout", State Historical Society of North Dakota http://www.nd.gov/hist/frontierscout.htm (accessed June 13, 2008).