The Caddo Herald
January 5, 1912
Volume XX
With last week’s issue The Herald starts its twentieth year. For nineteen consecutive years The Herald has been published in Caddo. Naturally it has had its ups and downs, mostly ups.
Mr. Crossett has been with The Herald twelve years and Mr. Carraway has been with it five years. Prior to that time Mr. J. S. Hancock, Mr. White, J. Y. Schenk and others had been in charge.
In the Oklahoma Historical Society files at Oklahoma City there are copies of The Caddo Banner which are dated as early as 1874, but it seems there is a break in the continuity of publication until 1878, when the Banner again appears. The old Banner advocates the opening of the Cherokee strip to settlement at that time and was suppressed by the U. S. Government, but ten years later this strip was opened.
The present management has seen Caddo grow from a mere village of a few stores, and few homes, to its now magnificent proportions. The town when we first saw it was void of sidewalks and had only four brick buildings, narrow crooked streets, many vacant lots, no public school. The city government was just starting; the roads were simply fierce, no bridges, no country schools. There were no banks.
Now things have changed. We have good business houses, and many of them, cement sidewalks all over town, straight streets, one good brick school house and another in course of erection; our public schools are as good as those of any town. There are good roads, good farm houses, good bridges, and a thousand other advantages which might be mentioned. Now we have three excellent banks with aggregate deposits of more than $300,000.
Caddo has grown immensely, and will continue to grow; her progress has been steady and along right lines. Permanency seems to be the watchword.
In all this growth The Herald has had its share, and has contributed to it in the fullest sense. It has rejoiced with its people; it has sorrowed with them; it has labored and it has played; it has sung peons of praise and lamented in times of stress. The Herald is an integral part of Caddo and has endeavored faithfully to represent the town.
The local newspaper naturally falls into the station of being the historian of the town. We have recorded Caddo history truthfully, considerately, and concisely. It has endeavored to adhere strictly to a policy of saying nothing but good things. We have let the past forget the bad things that may have happened.
Now for our twentieth year The Herald expects always to keep pace with the growth and business of the town. It has no other promise to make. If every other citizen will as well perform the work set out for them as will The Herald, Caddo will have no reason to complain of its prosperity.
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