William Hathaway

Idaho Falls Post Register William Hathaway

This once-rowdy railroad town completed its metamorphosis into a real city--with paved streets, lights, and a firm foothold on law and order--only after decades of struggle and tumultuous, sweeping social change. In the middle of the fray were three distinctly different newspapers, which often took opposing sides, acting as both contestants and self-appointed referees. The Register, with its dapper editor, William Wheeler, at the helm, was an upright proponent of Republican principles and agricultural expansion. The feisty, financially unstable Times was usually a Democratic Party organ and prone to fighting lost causes. The Daily Post, a brash newcomer arriving in 1905, challenged the establishment with a progressive, pro-labor outlook. All eventually combined to become the independent and still locally owned Post Register.