Iditarod Pioneer Archive

The first issue of the Sunday weekly Iditarod Pioneer, edited by George M. Arbuckle, Frank E. Becker, and Charles A. Derry, was printed on July 10, 1910, complete with 70 advertisements for local businesses. Becker served as editor until July 29, 1911, and Derry was lessee and publisher from September 4, 1915, until January 1, 1918. Publication was first suspended following the September 1, 1917 issue and resumed with the November 3, 1917 issue, the masthead for which now featured an American flag on behalf of the war effort. The paper was suspended again with the June 29, 1918 issue before it resumed on August 2, 1919, and continued uninterrupted until its final publication on November 22, 1919.

The date when the paper officially ceased is unknown; Judge James Wickersham, in A Bibliography of Alaskan Literature, incorrectly listed the date of the paper's final issue and suspension as September 27, 1919, when Arbuckle took over as publisher. Reportedly, the town of Iditarod—later famed for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race—lacked the resources to support two papers, with the competing Iditarod Nugget lasting from 1910 to 1911.