The Clovis News Archive

Many towns throughout New Mexico Territory were founded with the arrival of railroads. Railroads brought prodigious development and prosperity, and the most flourishing towns had a railroad payroll. This revenue from employees at division points and railway shops supported prosperous retail business. These towns also became regional trading centers.  As the population of the homestead regions of central and eastern New Mexico Territory grew, railway hubs such as Clovis received still more retail trade dollars. Clovis, a division point and a railway shop site, attracted growth because it boasted a stable water supply that many towns in the region lacked.  The promise of new economic activity led to the launching of the Clovis News.

The Clovis News was published weekly between May 1, 1907, and March 28, 1929, except for briefly being printed daily during May 1909 and between August and November 1909.  A subscription to the Clovis News cost a reader one dollar a year between 1907 and 1912.  It periodically lowered its rate to 50 cents a year, however, in an attempt to entice new subscribers; these lowered rates successfully produced larger circulations. The January 4, 1912, heading made three bold claims about the News: that it was the “Oldest Established [newspaper in Clovis],” “The paper that reaches the people,” and “Not owned or controlled by politicians.”  The Clovis News, in fact, did establish itself as a stable newspaper prior to any other paper in Clovis; the last point, however, was debatable as the News was closely tied to the Republican Party.  A reader could expect to find state and local coverage (or territorial coverage prior to statehood in 1912).

In its early days, the Clovis News had several competitors; the longest lived was the Clovis Journal. Both were launched during a period of intense competition in 1909.  The Journal, a Democratic daily published by Thomas J. Mabry, squared off against the News published by Arthur E. Curren, who began the paper after selling off the Tucumcari Times.  In addition to being a publisher, Curren served as an appointed official in the United States Land Office.  It was not uncommon for Republican publishers to receive political appointments as a reward for party loyalty and to ensure future party allegiance. The competition between the two papers ended on April 1, 1929, when the Clovis News merged with the Clovis Journal to form the Evening News-Journal.