Great Falls Tribune
Newspaper in Great Falls, Montana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Great Falls Tribune is a daily morning newspaper covering Great Falls, Montana. It is one of Montana's largest newspaper companies and printed in Helena, Montana.
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| |
 May 18, 1887, issue of the Great Falls Tribune | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | Lee Enterprises |
| Founder | Will Hanks |
| Founded | 1884 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 701 River Drive South #1 Great Falls, Montana, United States |
| City | Helena, Montana (publishing) |
| Website | greatfallstribune |
History
Will Hanks moved from Ohio to Montana to establish the Sun River Sun in Sun River, Montana.[1] It was first published on February 14, 1884.[2] A year later Hanks moved his printing plant to Great Falls, Montana.[1] The first edition of the Weekly Tribune was printed on May 14, 1885.[3] Hanks sold the Tribune in July 1887 to Jerry Collins.[4][1]
In 1890, David Marks and M.J. Hutchins, of the Helena Independent, purchased the Tribune.[5] J.A. McKnight was installed as editor in 1892.[6] A year later the paper was sold to its employees and McKnight was replaced by R.E. Gray.[7] The paper's mortgage was soon foreclosed and the business was sold at auction for $5,000 to A.M. Scott of First National bank in July 1894.[8] Phil A. Julien was then installed as editor.[9]
William McClure Bole purchased the paper in December 1894,[10] and operated it with Oliver Sherman Warden until selling it to William A. Clark in 1900.[11] McClure then operated the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.[12] Clark sold the paper to W.G. Conrad in October 1904.[13] McClure and Warden reacquired the Tribune in April 1905.[13]
McClure died in 1932.[12] Warden died in 1951,[14][15] then succeeded at the Tribune by his son Alexander Warden.[16] Decades later O.C. Warden was inducted into the Montana Newspaper Hall of Fame in 1958,[17] followed by W.M. Bole in 1963.[18] The Warden family sold the paper in 1965 to Tribune Co., owners of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.[19] Decades later the Cowles Media Company sold the Tribune to Gannett in 1990.[20]
The Tribune launched a subsidiary company, River's Edge Printing in 2006; the latter printed for weekly newspapers on a Goss Community press.[21] In July 2020, printing of the Great Falls Tribune moved to the presses of the Independent Record in Helena.[22] In November 2026, Gannett was renamed to USA Today Co.[23] In September 2026, the Tribune was acquired by Lee Enterprises.[24]
Awards
The Great Falls Tribune won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting in 2000 for a yearlong series on alcoholism.[25]
