Arizona Miner (alternatively the Arizona Weekly Miner, Miner, or Weekly Miner) was a newspaper published in Prescott, Arizona Territory, from 1868 to 1885 and circulated throughout Yavapai County. The paper merged with the Arizona Weekly Journal in 1885 to create the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, which was published until 1934. It underwent a succession of owners and changes in its publishing frequency as well as its political leanings. History The predecessor paper, the Republican Fort Whipple Arizona Miner, was established in 1864 at Fort Whipple as a monthly. It was owned by then Territorial Secretary Richard C. McCormick who purchased a press in Santa Fe, New Mexico on his initial journey to the territory and transported it in government wagons along with his other personal belongings. The first publisher was Tisdale A. Hand. The first issue was published on March 9, 1864, making it the oldest newspaper in Arizona. The paper was published under military protection by staff who had "rifles strapped to their backs." Later that year, after the first six issues, McCormick moved the publication to Prescott, the new capital of the Territory. Emmet A. Bentley, editor from July 1866 was shot by Apache Indians on Weaver Mountain in February 1867 and died a few days later in the paper's office at age 27. Bentley was born in Burlington, Iowa and came to Arizona in 1863. Although McCormick established the paper as "the creature of the new territorial government", the paper had little political content in its early years, aside from reporting on the reelection of President Lincoln in 1864 and on meetings of the Arizona Territorial Legislature. Still, William F. Turner, the Chief Justice of the Territorial Supreme Court of Arizona and a political foe, felt that McCormick unduly benefited from being the owner and controller of the Miner. In 1867, McCormick sold the paper to John H. Marion, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana who came to Arizona in his 20s to prospect. He stayed to promote mining and Arizona's political rights. During Marion's tenure the paper became highly politicized. Marion, a Democrat, was said to have a "combative and racist perspective that made itself known through his often aggressive and biting criticism of others". Marion intended the Miner to be both "The Official Paper of Arizona" and an "Organ of the White People of Arizona." Marion published weekly beginning in August 1867 and said he grew