The Citizen-Republican Archive

The newspaper that would later become the Citizen-Republican began publication in Bon Homme, South Dakota, on September 30, 1876, under the leadership of Andrew J. Cogan with the title Bon Homme County Democrat. In 1878, Cogan changed the name of the newspaper to the Dakota Citizen, which moved to Scotland, Bon Homme County, the following year. General Charles T. Campbell--one of the founding citizens of Scotland--had persuaded Alexander Mitchell--then president of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad--to run the rail line through Scotland in 1879.

In 1882, Cogan sold the Dakota Citizen to J. E. Ziebach and F. M. Ziebach. With the railroad came a period of significant economic development which lasted from 1881 to 1891. At one point Scotland was even said to have "the largest flax market in the United States and the biggest tow mill in the world" (Herbert T. Hoover, Carol Goss Hoover, and Elizabeth Simmons, Bon Homme County History by Residents of the County, 1994). Over the next decade, still under the Ziebachs' control, the paper changed its name to the Scotland Weekly Citizen and later the Scotland Citizen. In 1894, the Ziebachs sold the Scotland Citizen to Porter A. Bliss, who named it the Citizen-Republican. By this time, the paper had become a six-column, eight-page weekly published on Thursdays, with a Republican political affiliation.

The Citizen-Republican covered typical topics of the times such as South Dakota's economic growth, making claims such as, "For six consecutive years South Dakota has produced the greatest per capita wealth of any state in the union, and the prospects are bright for retaining that prestige for many years to come." The Citizen-Republican also continued the argument over where the state capital should have been located. Even into the early 1900s, there were continued attempts to relocate the capital from Pierre to the eastern--and more heavily populated--side of the state. It seems the Citizen-Republican focused mainly on the events in Bon Homme County, with emphasis on local political and election news. Not much is mentioned about Editor Bliss other than his involvement as clerk in the local chapter of Modern Woodmen of America.

The paper also included national and international news, short fiction stories, and a social column. The Citizen-Republican appears to have had a friendly relationship with most other local newspapers such as the Tyndall Register, but occasionally exchanged words with newspapers such as the Bon Homme County Independent, at one point making the statement, "The editor of the Independent, if we are not very much mistaken, was, at the time the republican convention was held, a republican living in Springfield. Did he do anything for these lamented candidates from Scotland?" Bliss served as editor and proprietor of the Citizen-Republican until his death in April 1921. The paper continued on very briefly under Adam Richard Kayser's leadership in the city of Parkston, Bon Homme County, before being discontinued on June 30, 1921.