News

Moving a piece of local history

By Scott Wagar

06/18/2013

A piece of Bottineau’s history has made a move to a museum in south central North Dakota that will allow visitors the chance to learn an important part of Bottineau’s golden age of printing.

This past week, Allan Burke, owner of the Emmons County Record and the Pollock Pioneer Press, came to Bottineau to obtain a unique printing press which was once utilized by the Bottineau Courant to publish its newspaper.

The printing press is a hand feed cylinder press, and what makes it so unique is that it might be the only one of its kind left in the entire United States.

“This is a very unusual press. It is a Walter Scott hand feed cylinder press from Plainfield, N.J.,” Burke said. “Scott didn’t make too many of these types of presses because so many of these presses were being made in the late 1800s and early 1900s with quite a bit of competition. So, the company started making larger presses instead.

“Because of their size and weight, most were scraped out and would have disappeared completely sometime in the 60s and 70s. They (newspapers) wanted the space, so they broke them down and scraped them,” Burke added. “And, I’ve checked with some of the bigger printing museums and collectors and they are not familiar with this press, so we are thinking this may be the only one in captivity once we get it set-up.”

Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, most printing presses were rather large in size and took up a great amount of space. The Walter Scott & Company’s hand feed press utilized by the Bottineau Courant was unique because it was small in size and took up very little room, which would have been the perfect fit for a small, rural weekly newspaper business.

According to Burke, this cylinder press, which is often referred to as the “pony press” because of its size, is believed to have been manufactured by Scott sometime between 1885 through 1895.

The pony press could be operated manually through a cumbersome fly wheel, but it was primarily operated through either a stationary or electrical engine. In its time, it would have printed newspapers, auction bills and larger sheets for posters and other like items.

The city of Bottineau originated in 1884 just one mile north of its present day location. On August 11, 1885, the town’s weekly newspaper, the Bottineau Courant (called The Pioneer at that time), was established when it printed its first issue.

In 1887, it was discovered by the residents of Bottineau that the Great Northern Railroad would lay its tracks one mile south of it present location.

The townspeople knew that in order to become a bigger and more prosperous town they would have to meet the train. So, they literally pick up their town (buildings and all) and moved one mile south.

When the Courant moved to the town’s new site, the newspaper located itself in downtown Bottineau where the present day Family Bakery stands.

Although it is unknown to the Courant’s historic timeline as to when the Scott press came to the newspaper, Burke believed that it came to the paper after the railroad entered into Bottineau.

“It would have probably come in on the train, and in pieces, and probably had some one come out from the factory to assemble it,” Burke said. “That’s the way it was done in those days.”

The old structure of the Courant was eventually razed and a new newspaper building was constructed on its same lots. According to the history of the two buildings, the Scott press, which weighs 1,500 pounds to one ton, was so heavy and cumbersome to move, it was left in place during the razing of the building and the new Courant building was constructed around the press.  

When the Bottineau Courant moved across the street to its present day location in the 1980s, the press was left in the basement because it was no longer being utilized by the Courant; and, due to its weight and limited access out of the basement, it stayed behind.

The owners of the Bottineau Courant, Norman and Twilla Glinz, own the present day newspaper building and its former building (the Family Bakery). Twilla Glinz is also the director of the Bottineau County Museum. The pony press which was left behind in the 80s has always stayed in the memory of her heart.

In recent years, she wanted to move the Scott press to the Bottineau County Museum, but the museum had limited space and the move could not be made.

Twilla Glinz then came up with the idea of trying to find a new home for it and late last year she began advertising the cylinder press.

“We found out about it through Twilla Glinz (ad),” Burke said. “It would be nice to keep it here in Bottineau, but the museum is tight here for space. “The Glinzs also wanted the press preserved and they liked the idea that it would be put to use and eventually be able to print something on it.”

The press will make its new home with the South West Threshing Association in Braddock, N.D. The threshing association has a museum and pioneer village which holds an annual threshing show the weekend after Labor Day.

Within the pioneer village there is the Braddock News building, which is where the Courant’s pony press will be located.

“The Braddock News (building) is named after the Emmons County Record’s founder, Darwin Reed Streeter, who started the newspaper in Braddock,” Burke said.

The move from Bottineau to Braddock was no easy task for the South West Threshing Association.

Burke brought a team made up of seven men (including himself) to move the cylinder press out of the bakery’s basement, which took a day and a half to do. To assist, the Glinzs brought Phillip Brekke to help, and 12-year old Kevin Yourk volunteered his services to the group.

The press was dismantled into a number of pieces, then moved out to a flatbed trailer and hauled back to Braddock. Some pieces were moved out of the building by hand. However, the larger pieces were too heavy for the nine man team; but, a construction crew was working on the building next to the Family Bakery and offered Burke its hydraulic lift to remove the larger parts. With the lift in place, and planks laid down on the basement steps, the larger pieces of the Scott press were removed from the building after spending nearly a century or more in the two different edifices which housed the Bottineau Courant.

In Braddock, the Courant pony press will become a permanent exhibit in the Braddock News building. Burke stated that once they get it to the museum, they will put the press back together in July and have it operational again.

“We (the members of the South Central Threshing Association) are made up of a group of volunteers who can work only when we have time,” Burke said.

He added that the press will also need new rollers, which will cost $1,000 to $1,500 for each roller.

The threshing association is funded by admission fees to its sites and through donations. During the threshing show weekend, the museum and village is open for threshing displays. The Braddock Press  operates three of their many presses for individuals to learn how newspapers were printed in the early years of North Dakota.

Burke also opens the printing press museum for schools, special parties and those who are interested in the history of the printing press through appointments.

Burke stated that he is pleased to have the Bottineau Courant’s Scott press and feels it will bring a great history and interest to the museum.

“We are very excited to get it and we believe these things should be preserved. We are looking forward in having it in the collection because it is a very interesting piece, and not just in the press, itself, but in the manufacture and the history of Bottineau and the Bottineau Courant,” Burke said. “We were lucky that it was just left there in place, it is quite a find. We’re excited to have found it. It is going to be a conversational piece.”

Burke’s wife, Leah, is the editor of the Emmons County Record and the Pollock Pioneer Press, while Allan is the publisher emeritus of the two newspapers. Allan is also the director of the North Dakota News Association Foundation.