Saskatchewan Herald, Northwest Territories (Saskatchewan),
Patrick Gammie-Laurie, 1878

Front page of the Saskatchewan Herald, the first newspaper to be published in what is now Saskatchewan. Dated April 23, 1885. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved April 27, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=Saskatchewan+Herald&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image

Notes

In August 1878 Patrick Gammie-Laurie published The Saskatchewan Herald, the first newspaper in what is now Saskatchewan. The Herald ceased publication in 1903.

He apprenticed in Toronto as a printer and later worked briefly for The Nor’Wester in Fort Garry. In June 1878, he set out for Battleford after being expelled from Fort Garry for refusing to print a publication by Louis Riel’s provisional government. No railroad existed at this time, so he led an ox cart on a seventy-two-day trek by foot to transport his press to the Battleford area.

A strong supporter of the North-West Mounted Police and an advocate for British imperialism, Gammie-Laurie believed the west should be modeled on British customs and institutions. His editorials, often slanted against Indigenous and Métis people, sought to ensure the Battleford area welcomed only white Anglo-Saxon settlers.

In 1885 the railway arrived and other newspapers soon started up. When Saskatchewan became a province in 1905, it had fifty-two different newspapers in print.

References:

Walter Hildebrandt, “LAURIE, PATRICK GAMMIE,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed July 27, 2024, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/laurie_patrick_gammie_13E.html.

  • Category
    Early Printing and Type

    Title
    The Saskatchewan Herald

    Date
    1878

    Credits
    Printer: Patrick Gammie-Laurie (1833–1903)

    Principal Typefaces
    Typeface: unknown

    Description
    Newspaper
    Size: unknown

    Region
    Saskatchewan

    Language
    English

    Images
    1

    Holding
    Unknown

  • Artifact copyright: CTA was unable to clarify rights but welcomes contact from rightsholders to resolve permissions, if required, and will remove digitized works at the rightsholder’s request (rightsholders may contact CTA at copyright@canadiantypography.ca). CTA makes digitized works available for education and research. Responsibility for any use rests with the user.

    Notes copyright: Notes accompanying artifacts are licenced under Creative Commons licensing CCbyNC which allows for non-commercial use with attribute.

You might also like:

The Nor’-Wester, Northwest Territories (Manitoba), Buckingham & Coldwall, 1859

We will be posting many other pieces to Early Printing and Type. If you have work or insights that you would be willing to share we would like to hear from you.

Please contact Linda Kincaid at: linda@canadiantypography.ca

⚠️ Do you have something to add? Did we get something wrong? Did we miss crediting someone? Please Submit an Edit to suggest a correction, or add to this artifact. Your contribution is important to us. Thank you in advance.