| Show COLORFUL PUBLISHERS -THEN AND NOW Before Brundage left Freeman became interested in the dissemination of news to the soldiers and settlers and learned bit about the business After Brundage departed the print ing equipment remained and shortly thereafter the Civil War ended and the Union Pacific resumed construction of what would eventually becometranscontinental railroad sighted Freeman seized the opportunity it presented newspaper on wheels by following the track-layers ingly the Mormon migration years earlier played The farto edita Interesta part in Freemandecision for he noted in an 1877 article that the emigrants had leftportion ofprinting office on Wood River in the then savage plains of Nebraska This fell into our hands and by some necessary additions made by the whittling process of jackknife we began the publication of The Frontier Index in the Fort Kearny Garrison The paper he began in 1868-69 followed the railroad in jumps of 100 miles or more housing its equipment intent at most of the ten end-of-track locations including present-day North Platte Nebraska Julesburg Colorado Laramie and Green River Wyoming While work was idled for the winter in Laramie the Index erected one of the townfirst buildings majority of the remaining end of track locations were comparatively temporary pauses while bridges were constructed over such streams as the Upper North Platte the Green and the Bear Rivers The latter point east of present-day Evanston Wyoming marked the end of Freemantravelling newspaper for there on November 20 1868 mob destroyed the office and equipment The publisheroutspoken editorials were no doubt responsible though he insisted officials of the railroadinfamous Credit Mobilier paid 15 000 to leaders of the rioters to level his business Reported the publisher Fifteen thousand dollars was the price paid to the leaders to do the deed Forty-odd rioters are buried around the office the last of the cutthroats has died with his boots on and the ringleader had his head chopped off with an ax after he was dead Whether the Credit Mobilier bore responsibility was never determined But evidence that Freemanpaper was indeed 177 Digital image 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah Al rights reserved |
