Publication History:

Place of Publication:  American Fork,  Utah County, Utah

Frequency:  Weekly

Volume and Issue Data:  At least 12 issues; No. 12, ca. March 11, 1868

Size and Format:  Pen and ink manuscript

Editor/Publisher:  R. G. Eccles

Title Changes and Continuation:  None

General Description and Notes:

The Salt Lake Telegraph,March 11, 1868, reported:  “From American Fork.  We are pleased to receive number 12 of the American Fork Weekly Gazette, edited by Brother R.G. Eccles.  It is published in neat manuscript.  Its pages are filled with instructive and interesting matter, comprehending the scientific, useful, and amusing, such as: ‘An Essay on Astronomy; Original Poetry by J. Crystal; Local Items; Wit and Humor; and Various Selected Matter.'”

The telegraph opened in American Fork. Nov. 20, 1867

July 20, 1868–President Brigham. Young organized a theological school in American Fork for the region.  (George F. Shelley)

According to the University of Utah,

“American Fork first got a newspaper in 1868. The Weekly Gazette was written in pen-and-ink manuscript, and included items like “Original Poetry,” “An Essay on Astronomy,” and “Wit and Humor” before folding after about 12 editions. The American Fork Independent debuted in March 1890. It provided coverage of Utah’s mining industry for the next two years. Other American Fork newspapers included the Item, an “Independent Weekly,” which survived for less than three years, and The Advance, which succumbed after just 12 weeks in 1901.”

Information Sources:

Bibliography:  J. Cecil Alter, Early Utah Journalism (Salt Lake City:  Utah State Historical Society, 1938), 18-20; George F. Shelley, Early History of American Fork, American Fork City, 1945

Links: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85058027/

Locations:  None; cited in Salt Lake Telegraph, March 11, 1868