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NW Oklahoma Newspapers Past & Present

by - LK Wagner - 19 August 1997, Tuesday

There have been several Newspaper that have come and gone in NW Oklahoma to either publish public notices or to merely inform  and entertain their readers.

According to information taken from "The Birth of Freedom" by John Cable,  R. I. (Ren) DeGreer was appointed US Commissioner in 1906 for the Old Freedom Country Area.  It was DeGreer's job to publish  filings on homesteads, filed contests, make changes of entry, prove up homesteads, and other jobs. Mr. DeGreer would then give final published proofs in the newspaper nearest the lands being homesteaded. DeGreer was also appointed as a Notary in the area around Freedom, Oklahoma.

At that time  the Freedom Country was located in Woodward County with Woodward as the county seat.  People had to ford the Cimarron and Canadian Rivers just to file records in the county seat.

The Old Freedom Express --

  "The Old Freedom Express" in Old Freedom was edited and published by R. I. DeGreer.  Mr. DeGreer produced the actual paper on his farm near Farry in an open air wooden platform, under a giant elm tree.

DeGreer made arrangements to buy a newspaper from Caleb Bales of Avard with the understanding that the Bales family would assist with the first issues to be printed on April 19, 1906.   

Unlike the Old Freedom Express that was used to publish public notices of government land transactions, another newspaper in Haskew located  south of the Cimarron River may have been printed to merely inform the citizens of other things in the news in the area.  

Newspapers of the Present --

This  listing below is just a sampling of some of the newspapers that are operating around the NW Oklahoma area today:

Present NW OK Newspapers

Harper County Journal PO Box 240 Buffalo, OK 73834-0240 tele: (580) 735-2526 Fax:  (580) 735-2527	Mooreland Leader PO Box 137 / 202 N. Main Mooreland, OK 73852-0137 tele: (580) 994-5410 Fax: (580) 994-5409
Fairview Republican 1105 N. Main Fairview, OK 73737-1009 tele: (580) 227-4439 Fax: (580) 227-4430	Cherokee Messenger PO Box 245 / 216 S. Grand Ave. Cherokee, OK 73728-0245 tele: (580) 596-3344 Fax: (580)
Woodward News PO Box 928 / 904 OK Blvd Woodward, Ok 73802-0928 tele: (580) 256-2200 Fax: (580) 254-2159	Enid News & Eagle PO Box 312 / 227 W. Broadway Ave. Enid, OK 73702-0312 tele:  (580) 233-6600 Fax: (580) 233-7645
Freedom Call PO Box 172 Freedom, OK 73842-0172	Alva Review Courier PO Box 668 / 620 Choctaw Alva, OK 73717-0628 tele: (580) 327-2200 Fax: (580) 327-2454
Woods Co. Enterprise News 109 N. Main St. Waynoka, OK 73860-1243 tele: (580) 824-2171 Fax: (580) 824-2172	FairValley Eagle A valley of justice & friends o/c McGill Sisters L&C PO Box 619 Bayfield, CO 81122