Wrangell Sentinel

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Wrangell Sentinel
Oldest Continuously Published Newspaper in Alaska
Don Young being interviewed at The Wrangell Sentinel in 2020
TypeWeekly newspaper
OwnerLarry Persily
FounderA.V.R. Snyder
Founded1902
LanguageEnglish
Circulation600
ISSN2837-6595
OCLC number1378685787
Websitewrangellsentinel.com

The Wrangell Sentinel is a weekly newspaper founded in 1902 in Wrangell, Alaska. The newspaper remains in publication with only a few short periods of inactivity. It is one of the oldest continuously published newspaper in Alaska. The paper covered potlach traditional celebrations.[1][2]

From the 1970s to 2024, the Sentinel used the replicas of the Three Frogs ridicule pole in its branding and masthead; after Tlingit clans removed the replica of the pole in 2024, the newspaper discontinued its use of the totem pole.[3]

History

On November 20, 1902, the first issue of the Alaska Sentinel was published by A.V.R. Snyder, who was from Oregon and at one time reported for the Dixon Telegraph in Illinois.[4] At that time Wrangell was a seaport with around 800 inhabitants. Snyder moved to Alaska to work as a deputy collector of customs.[5] In 1905, the owner's son George Curtis Lee Snyder was named editor and business manager.[6] At that time Snyder was appointed the town's United States court commissioner,[7] but Governor Wilford Bacon Hoggatt removed him from office in 1907 after he published an article in the Sentinel critical of the governor.[8]

In February 1909, the Alaska Sentinel ceased.[9] Richard Bushell Jr. relaunched the paper as the Wrangell Sentinel in June 1909.[10][11] Harold F. Dawes became the owner two years later,[12][11] and Bushell resumed ownership in 1913.[13][14] Later that year the Sentinel was purchased by Paul F. Stanhope,[15] who then sold it in 1916 to J. W. Pritchett.[16] On August 19, 1920, Pritchett, received a copy of The New York Times sent by plane, the first piece of mail to arrive in Alaska by plane.[17] Mrs. Pritchett took over running the paper in 1930 when her husband became ill.[11] She was the paper's editor and publisher for 8 years.[11]

In 1939, Lew M. Williams Sr., bought the paper from her. He formerly worked at The News Tribune,[18] and had moved to Alaska to work at Juneau Empire. After moving to Wrangell, Williams Sr. served as postmaster and mayor.[19] He was appointed Alaska Secretary of State in 1944.[20] His son Lew M. Williams Jr. soon started work at the paper and assisted his father.[21] The Williams family purchased Petersburg Press in 1956.[22] Williams Jr. then left the Sentinel to manage their other paper in Petersburg, Alaska.[21]

In September 1967, the Sentinel and Press were purchased by Charles F. Willis, president of Alaska Airlines, and Al Phelps, editor of The Nome Nugget, doing business as Nome Nugget Publishing Co. In July 1968, the Williams foreclosed on the sale alleging delinquent payments. The company filed an injection but Superior Court Judge Thomas Stewart ruled in favor of the Williams, who regained ownership of the Sentinel and Press in February 1969.[23] A few weeks later the two sides reached an agreement and Willis resumed control of the two papers.[24] In March 1971, Jamie Bryson bought the Sentinel.[25] A year later his wife Linda Bryson died in a plane crash. Jamie Bryson was injured, but fishermen pulled him out of the Queen Charlotte Strait and he survived.[26]

In December 1972, former owner Williams died.[27] In May 1976, Larry Persily and Leslie Murray bought the paper. They sold it in August 1984 to Alvin Bunch and Ann Kirkwood. Bunch previously worked as a copy editor at the Anchorage Daily News.[28] Two decades later the new owners filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and in December 1996, Persily bought back the paper for $10,000.[29] He was the paper's largest creditor,[2] and lost $70,000 in the bankruptcy.[29] In June 1996, Persily sold the paper to Mrs. Seanne Gillen Saunders.[29] In December 2003, Saunders sold the Sentinel to Anne and Ron Loesch, owners of the Petersburg Pilot.[30] Persily reacquired the Sentinel in December 2020.[31][32]

References

  1. Ostrowitz, Judith (November 21, 1999). Privileging the Past: Reconstructing History in Northwest Coast Art. University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780774807531 – via Google Books.
  2. Atwood, Evangeline; Williams, Lew Jr. (June 13, 2006). Bent Pins to Chains: Alaska and Its Newspapers. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781469120867 – via Google Books.
  3. Pausman, Sam (October 18, 2024). "Clans take down Wrangell's Three-Frog Totem on Shakes Island". Anchorage Daily News. pp. A2. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  4. "Starts Paper In Alaska". Dixon Evening Telegraph. Dixon, Illinois. December 10, 1902. p. 4.
  5. "Down From The Far North | Well-Known Alaska Editor Visits Old-Time Friends in the Willamette Valley". The Polk County Itemizer and Observer. Dallas, Oregon. June 24, 1904. p. 1.
  6. "Personals". The Capital Journal. September 18, 1905. p. 5.
  7. "Major Snyder Is Judge". The Daily Alaskan. Skagway, Alaska. September 28, 1905. p. 1.
  8. "Roasts Hoggayy, Loses Office | Judge A.V.R. Snyder removed from U.S. Commissionership at Wrangell because his paper's opinions are not satisfactory to Alaska's czarlike governor". The Daily Alaskan. Skagway, Alaska. May 27, 1907. p. 1.
  9. "Notice". The Stroller's Weekly and Douglas Island News. Douglas, Alaska. February 24, 1909. p. 2.
  10. "The Northland | The Latest News, from Reliable Sources, Concerning the Great North. Condensed". The Stroller's Weekly and Douglas Island News. Douglas, Alaska. June 9, 1909. p. 1.
  11. Atwood, Evangeline; Williams, Lew Jr. (June 13, 2006). Bent Pins to Chains: Alaska and Its Newspapers. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781469120867 – via Google Books.
  12. "The Northland | The Latest News, from Reliable Sources, Concerning the Great North. Condensed". The Stroller's Weekly and Douglas Island News. Douglas, Alaska. April 26, 1911. p. 1.
  13. "Bushell Again To Own Wrangell Paper". Juneau Empire. April 21, 1913. p. 2.
  14. "Gleanings From Great Nortern Empire". Juneau Empire. May 20, 1913. p. 3.
  15. "Gleanings From Great Northern Empire". Juneau Empire. September 26, 1913. p. 3.
  16. "Stanhope Sells The Wrangell Sentinel To J.W. Pritchett". Juneau Empire. September 28, 1916. p. 6.
  17. "The Pathfinder". Pioneers of Alaska. November 22, 2018 – via Google Books.
  18. "An Alaskan Editor". The News Tribune. Tacoma, Washington. November 15, 1939. p. 18.
  19. DeArmond, Bob (September 5, 1951). "A Northern Notebook". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. p. 2.
  20. "Lew Williams Now Alaska Secretary". Spokane Chronicle. August 17, 1944. p. 21.
  21. "May 23, 1895: Birth of Llewllyn M. "Lew" Williams". Anchorage Daily News. May 27, 2007. p. 84.
  22. "Petersburg Press Sold by Clemons". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Associated Press. May 18, 1956. p. 2.
  23. "Nugget Loses Appeal". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. February 7, 1969. p. 8.
  24. "Newspaper Sale". Juneau Empire. Associated Press. February 24, 1969. p. 6.
  25. "Two Newspapers in Southeast Sold By Charles Willis". Anchorage Times. Associated Press. March 20, 1971. p. 24.
  26. "Woman dies in crash". Daily Times-Advocate. Escondido, California. June 20, 1972. p. 4.
  27. "Longtime Newsman Lew Williams Dies". The News Tribune. Tacoma, Washington. December 30, 1972. p. 18.
  28. "Wrangell Sentinel sold to Anchorage couple". Anchorage Daily News. Associated Press. August 30, 1984. p. 42.
  29. Thomson, Lori (June 25, 1996). "Wrangell Sentinel sold to local". Juneau Empire. p. 3.
  30. "Petersburg Pilot publishers purchase Wrangell Sentinel". Juneau Empire. December 2, 2003. p. 3.
  31. "Sentinel publishers sell to former Wrangell editor". Wrangell Sentinel. December 2, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  32. Smiley, Sage (December 3, 2020). "Wrangell Sentinel's previous owner to purchase paper again". KSTK. Retrieved October 25, 2025.