Little Falls Herald Archive

The Little Falls Herald was a weekly newspaper published every Friday in Little Falls, in Morrison County, Minnesota, beginning in 1889 and ceasing in 1950. Little Falls was also served by the Morrison County Democrat, the Little Falls Weekly Transcript, and the Little Falls Daily Transcript. The Herald covered local news in Little Falls and served as a news source for other nearby towns in the county, such as Fort Ripley, Cushing, Motley, Royalton, and Swanville. The paper also included state, national, and some international news within its eight-page, six-column format.

Located along the Mississippi River in central Minnesota, Little Falls is one of the oldest established settlements in Minnesota. The surrounding area was originally inhabited by the Dakota and Ojibwe tribes and was home to the Ojibwe leader, Bagone-giizhig or Hole-in-the-Day the Younger, who from the 1840s until his death in 1868 was instrumental in fostering a relationship between the tribe and the U.S. government. However, tensions between the Ojibwe and the government continued. In 1904, the Herald began covering the removal of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to the White Earth Indian Reservation. One article in the January 15, 1904 issue reads “Chief Dissatisfied – Mille Lacs Indian Doesn’t Like White Earth Land…[Chief Wah-we-ye-comig] said that he’s not pleased with the land offered his people, that one acre of Mille Lacs land was worth twenty acres of the White Earth land.”

When the Herald began, it was edited and published by J. H. Seal and William H. Workman. In 1895, editing duties were taken over by J. H. Streets, and the paper was published by the Little Falls Printing Co., owned by the brothers Peter, Stephen, and Charles Vasaly. Two years later, the Vasaly family began managing the Herald as well, first with Charles E. Vasaly acting as editor until 1914. Vasaly was very involved in local politics, serving as the chairman of the Democratic Party in Morrison County and mayor of Little Falls. Following his role as editor, Vasaly was appointed superintendent of the St. Cloud state reformatory. His brother Peter Vasaly took over the role of editor thereafter and held the position until 1934.

The Herald regularly featured court notices, marriages, births, deaths, society news, financial transfers, and mortgage foreclosure sales. The region was home to many farmers, so farm advice and the market rates of various crops were routinely included. Local politics, including reports of the city council and Board of County Commissioners, were published. As a Democrat-affiliated paper, the Herald often butted heads with the Republican Weekly Transcript. The Herald’s February 18, 1898 issue fumed, “The Transcript’s attempt to show that the Herald…has attacked the present city administration is as absurd as its attempt to show that this paper has personally attacked Charles A. Lindbergh”-- Little Falls being home to Charles August Lindbergh, noted lawyer and Republican congressman, and his son, the famous pilot Charles Augustus Lindbergh.     

Peter Vasaly continued to own the Herald until 1949, when he sold the title to the Transcript Publishing Company, which published the Daily Transcript. The Herald ceased publication shortly after, leaving the Transcript as the only major newspaper in Little Falls.