Buffalo Bulletin, Heritage 2019 – 43
Bulletin file photo
The Buffalo Bulletin is one of the longest running businesses in Johnson County and has served as a chroni-
cle of the county’s history since the late 1800s.
Gillette and worked for the “Gillette Daily
News” in the early 1930s and later for the
“Gillette News Record.”
“It was in Buffalo where he came into his
own as an editor and publisher,” Jim wrote in
the first Bulletin issue of 1988. “In 1956, he
bought the paper and gave it a distinct style.
Both as publisher, and later as editor, he con-
centrated on those things that are necessary to
the life and breath of any newspaper: the com-
munity itself.”
Frank advocated for the construction of
Interstate 90 through Buffalo and the construc-
tion of the hospital in Buffalo. Original plans
for the interstate bypassed Buffalo entirely,
according to Jim, and Frank’s tireless advocacy
changed a lot of minds.
Jim, who grew up as a self-professed
“printer’s devil” at the Bulletin and performed
janitorial work there, continued his father’s
legacy for a second generation when Frank
sold the paper to him and his business partner
Jack Williams in 1965. Aside from a four-year
stretch from 1984 to 1988 when Ed Scripps
and John Barrows operated the paper, Jim
oversaw operations at the Bulletin until selling
to his son Robb in 1996. He continues to write
a weekly column for the paper.
Jim said that early into his tenure at the
Bulletin, he learned just what the paper meant
to the people of Johnson County.
“It wasn’t long before I realized the peo-
ple of the community viewed their hometown
newspaper as a sort of semi-public institution,”
Jim said. “The readers felt it was ‘their home-
town paper’ and expected certain standards.
Many were not bashful about calling shortcom-
ings to our attention whenever needed. It was
also obvious to me these subscribers expected
‘their newspaper’ to serve as something of a
watchdog in their community.”
Like the Lucases, the Hicks family has seen
many changes during their tenure at the paper,
Jim said. The business moved three times, lay-
out went digital, and printing moved to “The
Sheridan Press.” Presidents were elected, wars
were fought, and the town of Buffalo grew.
But the news never changed.
“It was the Bulletin staff that worked to keep
track of what was going on with local govern-
ment, the schools and various boards and com-
missions,” Jim said. “That part of the job has
not changed.”
~ deaths, marriages and births. Stories to tell and
Thursday, August 21, 1958 –
“It is not the papers themselves but the
people writing them that make the newspaper
business unique in Wyoming. Generally a hard-
bitten crew, at least on the daily papers, they
find employment conditions and salaries quite
low and many good newspapermen drift off to
other fields which offer greater earning power
and advancement.
“The philosophy is not the same for weeklies
because quite often the publisher is also the
editor, advertising manager, circulation manag-
er and many times he does part of the mechan-
ical work.
“A weekly publisher finds that his news-
paper is his life and often, though it is a big
headache and loaded with long hours, he
becomes something to a community that is not
possible in most business operations.”
~
In Sheridan, the papers fall off the press
one by one – crisp and colorful and fresh. The
papers keep coming – and have for over 7,000
weeks. To Jim’s recollection the paper has
never missed an issue.
Every new year brings an incessant cycle
of city council meetings, high school sports,
ads to sell. Before you know it, today’s news
will be tomorrow’s history.
But the past never stays quiet. All you have
to do is go upstairs and read.