Thanks a bunch. I was not aware the Columbia paper was posting such detailed MO CW material.

During the war the newspaper of Columbia was T. A. Switzler's "Missouri Statesman," (I think I got his name right). He seemed to post more Missouri CW articles copied from the St. Louis, Kansas City, and St. Joseph dailies than just about any other interior Missouri weekly. His paper was keen to bring in articles on its own for a sizable range around Columbia, too. If I haven't confused the "Statesman" editor with somebody else, he became a Union militia colonel late in the war, too. If that strikes somebody as slanted news coverage, you won't get an argument from me.

The pro-southern newspapers were shut down in 1861 with a few holdouts closing down in early 1862. One notable exception was the fiery pro-southern editor Mr. Anderson of the "California Weekly News" of Moniteau County. The Yanks jailed Anderson twice until he finally "saw the light" and printed only stuff that would enable him to keep the "News" running. I've read several issues, and that newspaper did a passable job of reporting MO CW material of that area. If I am not mistaken, his "News" later became the "California Weekly Democrat" still in business today at California. The things a body has to do sometimes to stay in business.

Even careful editors occasionally printed an article that made local Union troops upset which placed such a paper in danger of a nighttime raid on the office.

I seem to recall the the "Missouri Historical Review" has at least one or maybe two articles about the MO newspapers of the CW. It is a fascinating topic.

Bruce Nichols