On July 4, 1891, Stephen D. Taylor published the first edition of the Kootenai Herald in Kootenai, Idaho.[1][2] Taylor relocated his printing plant to Bonners Ferry in January 1892.[3] The paper was renamed to the Bonners Ferry Herald in December 1904.[4] Taylor leased the paper to Bert Hall for three years followed by Charles W. King in 1912.[5] King acquired full ownership at some point and Taylor died from blood poisoning in 1925.[6]
King operated the Herald for three decades until he leased it in 1945 to Richard Meyers and two other men. In February 1946, Meyers and William A. Chubb, a co-owner of the Sandpoint News-Bulletin and previous owner of the Northern Idaho News, bought the Herald from King. Chubb soon sold his stake in the News-Bulletin.[7][8]
In December 1977, Chubb sold the Herald to Pete Thompson, owner of Pend Oreille Printers, Inc. Thompson also owned the Bonner County Daily Bee, Priest River Times and Sandpoint News-Bulletin.[9] In July 1984, Thompson sold his four papers to Duane Hagadone of Hagadone Media Group.[10][11] The News-Bulletin was discontinued in October 1984.[12] Hagadone died in 2021.[13]