Las Vegas Optic

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

In May 1879, W.J. "Jap" Turpen and Russell A. Kistler published the first edition of The Otero Optic in Otero County, New Mexico.^[2] Two months later the paper relocated to Las Vegas, New Mexico.^[3] That August, it was relaunched as the Las Vegas Optic.^[4] Turpen left a few months later.^[5] The Optic was then expanded from a weekly into a daily.^[6] Winchester Dove Kistler assisted his brother at the paper. In 1890, he died.^[7]

In September 1897, Kistler formed the Las Vegas Publishing Company, which operated the paper and was majority owned by Kistler.^[8] In February 1898, Kistler retired from the business,^[9] only to return two years later.^[10] The paper soon encountered some financial difficulties and in 1902 it was acquired by the Allen brothers.^[11] C.W. Allen soon left for a job at the El Paso Herald while L. H. Allen remained at the Optic.^[12] In March 1903, James Graham McNary bought the paper. L.H. Allen retained stock and stayed on as business manager.^[13] A month later the company bought and absorbed a rival paper called the Daily Record.^[14]

In 1907, McNary leased the Optic to M.M. Padgett.^[15] McNary soon disposed of his interest after becoming a banker.^[16] In 1914, Optic founder Kistler died. His obituary called him "a clever writer, with a breezy style."^[11] In 1921, Padgett resigned and sold off his stock. Cecil W. Johnson then succeeded him.^[17] In 1922, Johnson resigned and was replaced by Herbert "Hub" W. Kane.^[18]

In 1930, a former employee filed a $60,000 lawsuit against Kane for injuries resulting from when a car she was in, driven by Kane, crashed and rolled over on the highway.^[19] In July 1947, Kane died from a heart attack.^[20] Four months later, his estate sold the paper to Orville E. Priestley and James H. Skewes, owners of the Las Cruces Sun-News.^[21] In 1949, Lincoln O'Brien purchased the Optic. He also bought the Tucumcari News from Richard Hindley.^[22] Later that year O'Brien acquired the Farmington Times-Hustler and turned it into the Farmington Daily Times.^[23][24]

In 1956, Thomas R. Wright acquired the Optic. Brothers Lawrence "Larry" R. Finch and J. Clayton Finch bought a share.^[25] In 1959, Wright resigned and the Finches became the sole owners.^[26] In 1966, Robert M. McKinney acquired the paper,^[27] and a year later sold it to brothers Stuart R. Beck and Robert H. Beck, owners of the Roswell Daily Record.^[28] Stuart's wife Lois Weekes Beck was soon hired as a reporter.^[29]

In 1971, Stuart Beck was elected president of the New Mexico Press Association.^[30] That same year, the Associated Press issued a citation praising the Optic for its contributions to the wire service,^[31] and nominated Lois Beck for a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting racial strife at New Mexico Highlands University.^[32] In 1972, Lois Beck was appointed editor.^[33] In 1975, she stepped down but continued to write for the Optic.^[34] In 1990, Lois Beck died.^[32] A year later she was posthumously inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.^[35] Her husband later remarried.^[36]

In 1998, Stuart Beck died from a heart attack.^[36] In 2002, his widow Delia Beck and brother Robert Beck sold the paper to Landmark Community Newspapers.^[37] The company was acquired by Paxton Media Group in 2021,^[38] and a month later the Optic was sold to O’Rourke Media Group.^[39]