contributed to temperance groups like the Anti-Saloon League and urged the nomination of "dry" candidates. Pfister was the acknowledged head of the state party for over twenty years, doling out political patronage to friends and failed candidates. In 1902 it was revealed that Pfister had secretly bought control of the editorial columns of some 300 of the state's newspapers. The scandal gave a boost to governor La Follette's re-election campaign and diminished Pfister's stature among the next wave of conservatives. After stalwart Republican Emanuel L. Philipp was elected Wisconsin governor in 1915 he resisted Pfister's attempts at control. Buying the Milwaukee Sentinel In the face of the electric street railway's resistance to outside control, even the steadfast Republican Milwaukee Sentinel angrily editorialized against the monopoly by 1899. Pfister and Payne responded by suing the paper for libel. Rather than going to trial and having their business practices revealed, Pfister bought the paper outright on February 18, 1901, paying an immense sum to buy up a majority of its stock. After the death of his publisher Lansing Warren that summer, Pfister assumed publishing duties, immersing himself in the paper's operations and directing political coverage. Owning the Sentinel expanded his conservative influence from the convention backrooms to the pages of the largest daily paper in Wisconsin. The Sentinel immediately opposed the newly elected governor La Follette, and continued to denounce him as governor (and later, U.S. senator) for the next twenty years, whether it be for his progressive reforms or his stand against U. S. participation in World War I. Pfister sold the paper to the William Randolph Hearst's newspaper syndicate June 1, 1924. Philanthropy Pfister was a noted philanthropist, donating some of his fortune to a variety of local and state interests, from baseball franchises to conservation groups. He paid scholarships for promising young men and aided many civic, fraternal and Lutheran religious organizations. He gave freely to musical organizations, from choral groups to the Metropolitan Grand Opera. He also paid the scholarships for many talented young musicians. He also donated to art museums, charities and religious schools in Milwaukee and throughout the state, often giving large donations anonymously. Later life In 1912 Pfister bought a 150-acre lake retreat, "Camp Rest," on Lake Five in Washington County, Wisconsin. There he kept schnauser dogs along with a small zoo of pheasants, pigeons, peacocks, turkeys and ducks. He erected a grand house there