named after him, was a Montana native who understood the political climate and had worked with Anaconda Company staff as a young reporter. He and Lee Enterprises' CEO, Phillip Adler, successfully purchased the papers despite not being the highest bidders with an agreement made in late May. The newspapers each announced the change in ownership with a "hello" on June 2, 1959, stressing that they would be accountable to the public and not their parent company. While most of Lee Enterprises' new newspapers retained their leadership, the Missoulian was an exception, where Lloyd Schermer, son-in-law of Phillip Adler, took over as publisher. Name and organization The Missoulian began as the weekly Missoula and Cedar Creek Pioneer in 1870, before being renamed The Missoula Pioneer in 1871, but under the Montana Publishing Company. It was rechristened The Pioneer, later in 1871, by the Pioneer Publishing Company and then, The Montana Pioneer near the end of 1872, by Washington J. McCormick Sr., before being purchased by Frank Woody and T. M. Chisholm a couple months later and renamed The Weekly Missoulian. This would remain its incarnation, through 1898. The Weekly Missoulian continued for a year, from January 1899 to April 1900, as the still weekly The Missoulian, published by Bryan Bros. & Hauck. The weekly newspaper was then purchased by the Fruit-Grower Publishing Company and existed as a horticulture and general news publication, until the mid-1910s. In 1889, Harrison Spaulding founded The Morning Missoulian, as a daily (minus Monday) paper to complement The Weekly Missoulian. By 1893, this was changed to The Evening Missoulian, and then, to the Daily Missoulian, under the Missoula Publishing Company with Harrison Spaulding as editor. After brief separate ownership, both the daily and weekly Missoulians were reclaimed by the Missoula Publishing Company, with The Daily Missoulian lasting until 1961, when it was once again called the Missoulian, after being purchased by Lee Enterprises. Timeline Weekly Missoula and Cedar Creek pioneer - (September 1870) The Missoula Pioneer - (January 1871) The Pioneer - (November 1871) The Montana Pioneer - (December 1872) The Weekly Missoulian - (February 1873) The Missoulian - (January 1899) Edwards' fruit grower & farmer - (December 1901) Semi-weekly Missoulian - (September 1902) Weekly Missoulian - (January 1904 - 1915) Daily The Morning Missoulian - (1889) The Evening Missoulian - (February 1893) Daily Missoulian - (August 1894) The Missoulian - (May 1900) The Daily Missoulian -