Manville News, November 7, 1918

"The first newspaper printed in Manville was ' The Manville Register' in 1910. Founded by J.H. Slater. Later  merged with the Lusk Standard."

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The Lusk Herald, October 5, 1939

Local Man Has Had Interesting Career; Established Manville Paper, Retired 1919

(By Catherine Christian)

Living quietly in his big white house on Main, tending his flowers and trees, is John Slater who came to Wyoming nearly 30 years ago to start the Manville Resister, the first newspaper ever published in Manville.

"That was in 1910 and Billy Hassed was my partner," Slater related. "In 1911, we consolidated with a Lusk [paper owned by William Magoon--the Lusk Standard, likewise new. Slater, Hassed, and Magoon was the name of the firm."

In 1916, Magoon retired, selling out to Slater and Hassed. The next year Hassed sold his interest to a fellow named McHatton. In 1918 the paper was sold again to a group of men known as the Standard company. among then were Happy Hartwell and Ralph Olinger.  McHatton ran the paper for two more years before it was consolidated with the Herald

"When I came here, there was this house, the Rochelle house, and two other houses, but otherwise this end of town was vacant. Mr. and Mrs. Jim Mayes had a yellow house over on the corner," Slater pointed out. "The town in those days had two saloons. The H.C. Snyder and company store was located where the Hiway Super Service station now stands. The population of the town might possibly have been 700 or 800." 

There were shootings and plenty of them , according to Slater, but there was no Indian trouble.

"There was more excitement in town then than there is now,"  he commented.  "In those days one man was as good as another, Now they've lost that freedom.

Around Slater's yard where bloom more than a dozen varieties of flowers besides his dahlias, grows a border of trees. He pointed to the tallest and the smallest which constant trimming has developed into a parasol of foliage.

"I call them 'Mutt and Jeff,' he said. "That little one had its top branches hurt when it came. I cut them off. I couldn't see why branches couldn't grow straight out. All my occupation is keeping up my yard. I'm proud of that cottonwood."

"I'm proud of Lusk, and I'm proud of these people who go to work and improve their places.," Slater continued. "I don't know what I'd do any other place than Wyoming. If I ever got away, I think I'd sneak back," he laughed.

Slater narrated how Bill Magoon, having come in from his ranch one day had started to talk to Hamlin, a South Dakotan who had started the Standard, Magoon bought the paper that night, then bought in Mrs.      Magoon and her sister, Lucy Lipke, now Mrs. John Alter, to help his.

Before he retired, Slater had had five newspapers---one at Madison, one at Stanton, one in Manville, one at Sturgis, and one here. Each was a financial success.  "A man in Lusk who deserves praise is Frank DeCastro," declared Slater. "He is  always good-natured, always optimistic, and Mrs. DeCastro is always cheerful. He was born here, worked among cattle, did a thousand and one things---whatever he could turn his hand to.

"A woman who also deserves praise is Mrs. McKenna. she has a natural bent for writing. I'd like to meet her some day and compliment her."

Still active, Slater believes in simple routine habits. He makes his walk to town nearly every day, stopping to talk to the people he knows. He likes to see  his town grow, and is proud of the people who work to make it prosper.