Our History

The first newspaper in what would later become Rio Blanco County was born in Meeker, Colorado on August 15, 1885.

Mr. James Lyttle was an Irish immigrant who had worked at a newspaper in Leadville, Colorado. He must have liked the work, because he purchased some basic equipment in 1883 from a defunct paper in Kokomo (near Leadville.)

Lyttle started looking for a place to set up shop. He heard the town of Meeker was getting started and might be interested in having a local newspaper, so in 1884, he took a train from Leadville to Red Cliff, as far as the railroad went at that time. Then, he rented a horse and rode to what is now Dotsero and traveled over the Flat Tops.

In 1884, James Lyttle traveled from Leadville to Red Cliff via train, then over the Flat Tops to Meeker on horseback.

Lyttle liked what he saw in Meeker, so he and fellow newspaper man Jack Houston packed up all their printing equipment and brought it to town. According to local legend, the press got stuck in the mud on a pass, delaying the first issue by about two weeks.

The Herald was officially born August 15, 1885. The Washington hand press and some of the type used in publishing that first issue are now on display at the White River Museum!

The Washington hand press and some of the type used in publishing that first issue are now on display at the White River Museum!

It was a very time-consuming job to hand set all of the items that were put in the paper, but there wasn’t enough revenue to support two individuals, so Houston quit to become Meeker’s postmaster, leaving Lyttle a one-man newsroom.

The Herald building was originally located in an adobe building where Mountain Valley Bank is now, then moved to a frame building across the street in 1887. This location at 4th and Main Street in downtown Meeker is where the current Herald office is now located.

Herald founder James Lyttle and his sweet mustache in front of the Meeker Herald building.

HOW WAS THE PAPER PRINTED?

In the beginning, the Herald was a hand-set paper. Each individual letter of type was assembled in frames and placed on the bed of the press (boy, does that make us thankful for keyboards!) The type was inked with a big roller, then a sheet of paper was placed on top. The operator of the press used a crank to place the page under the press, then pulled a lever to press down.

The process was repeated on the other side of the paper, and then the whole thing was folded in half to create one four-page edition.

This time-consuming process lasted until the 1920s when a Linotype was installed and a much faster process took its place.

Robert J. Story and R.G. Lyttle (Jame’s son) in the Herald office in the 1920s.

The hand press eventually gave way to a Hoe printing press. During the spring, the Hoe press was operated by water power from Sulphur Creek. (Back then, Sulphur Creek flowed southwest behind the Herald building on 4th and Main Streets.)

When the creek was dry, a crank was attached to the flywheel that ran the Hoe and it was turned by manpower. When the Meeker Light Plant was built and power was made available throughout the town, the Hoe press was run by electricity.

The paper continued to be printed two pages at a time until a four-page press was purchased and shipped from Juneau, Alaska. To accommodate this new press, an addition was put on the existing frame building. The Herald was printed on this “new” press until the Cook family purchased the newspaper from the Lyttles in May 1964.

In the 1970s, the Cooks did a major remodeling job on the building and converted the cold type process to a more modern offset method. This allowed for a lot more flexibility in production and later, with the use of computers, a more attractive product.

The paper is not printed in-house anymore. It was printed in Gypsum from 2000 to 2018, then at the Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction from 2019 to July 2021, when the Sentinel shut down their press. Check out a cool video of the Herald being printed at the Sentinel below!

The Herald is now printed each week at the Montrose Daily Press in Montrose, Colorado. That’s right, we trek six hours every single week to pick up your pretty print product!

OWNERS, PAST & PRESENT

There were only three owners of the Herald until the 1990s. They were:

  • James Lyttle, who ran the paper until his passing in 1925.
  • His son, R.G. Lyttle, Sr. assisted by Rich Lyttle, Jr.
  • the Cook family, who bought the paper in 1964

When James and Leota Cook retired in 1992, they sold the business to a woman named Sureva Towler. She published the Herald for a little more than a year. Then, Mike and Lisa Cook, James and Leota’s son and daughter-in-law, had the paper for a little more than a year before selling to Glenn and Donna Troester.

The Troesters moved the location to the former school administration building at 6th and Garfield and ran the paper for about five years.

The Herald was then sold to Kerry and Joy Murdock and moved to offices in the Hugus Building. The Murdocks had it about a year when it was again sold to Mitch and Meg Bettis in March of 2001. The Bettis family sold the paper to Niki Turner and daughter Caitlin Walker in September 2016.

OTHER NEWSPAPERS

Another Leadville man named Jim Riland had planned to come to Meeker with Lyttle but took a job in Aspen instead. In 1900, however, Riland set up his own rival publication, The White River Review. Riland’s paper ceased publication in 1934.

One other publication popped up in 1964. The White River Press was run by Robert F. Sweeney and did not last long, folding after just two years.

THE RANGELY DRILLER & THE RANGELY TIMES

The Rangely Driller published its first edition Sept. 29, 1949. The first publisher was Charles Baker and first editor was William Lahman. The Library of Congress lists the first owner as Cliff Neumann.

The publication changed hands numerous times before landing in the lap of local business entrepreneur Bernard F. Yaeger in the early 1950s. Yaeger rebranded the publication as The Rangely Times and used the funds from his other businesses to keep the presses running. Yaeger was owner and publisher until his death in 1995. A news entry in that week’s Times read: “Bernard F. Yaeger, one of Rangely’s greatest and most revered fathers, passed away at Colonial Minor Nursing Home in Glasgow, Missouri on Christmas morning. He parted this world at age 76, leaving behind an impressive legacy to his credit.”

Photo of the Rangely High School football field, courtesy of Jesse McCann

The Rangely High School football field is named after long-time Rangely newspaperman Bernard F. Yaeger.

After Mr. Yaeger passed away, the business was sold to his relative, Michael Prewitt, who appointed Peggy Rector as business manager. 

The paper was printed as a small tabloid on the Herald press in Meeker.

Due to massive staff turnover throughout the years, we do not have complete records of these newspapers in our vault. Their history has been, well, lost to history.

THE MERGE

In 1996, the Troesters, owners of the Meeker Herald, were approached by Rector and asked to purchase the struggling newspaper, or else it would be sold off to a Utah outfit. They signed the contract Oct. 9, 1996, and switched the Times to a broadsheet format the following week. The Troesters published one edition for Rangely and one for Meeker with basically just the front pages changed each week. (No one was happy about it.)

Under Mitch Bettis, the papers were combined into one print product and the name was changed to “Rio Blanco Herald Times.” Bettis attempted to run offices on both ends of the county but ended up folding the Rangely office due to a lack of local support.

TODAY

Today, the paper is owned by Niki Turner and daughter Caitlin Walker. If you ask them why, they’ll tell you they went temporarily insane ( … kidding, but only sort of.) Turner and Walker want to keep local journalism sustainable in Rio Blanco County. “We believe in the power of local journalism to connect people, create a sense of community, and foster a healthier, happier, more informed Rio Blanco County.”

“We believe in the power of local journalism to connect people, create a sense of community, and foster a healthier, happier, more informed Rio Blanco County.”

Niki Turner and Caitlin Walker, HT owners
HT mascots Nellie ‘The Newshound’ Bly and Carl ‘Bernie’ Bernstein living their best lives.

Turner and Walker brought another family member, Lucas Turner, on board in 2019 to help the Herald add media-rich and digital storytelling methods, like a podcast and news show. We also expanded our scope of work through our parent company, Golden Lasso Media, Inc., to provide specialized marketing and social media services to local businesses. Several regular contributors help fill out the newspaper each week, telling the story of Rio Blanco County for future generations.

In their spare time, you will probably find HT staff working on the next edition of the paper, chasing the littlest HTers around (Caitlin has four kiddos and Lucas and Haley have two, which yes, means Niki has six grandbabies!), and hollering at office mascots/Golden Retrievers Nellie the Newshound and Bernie the Broadcaster.

— By Rich Lyttle and HT Staff

Come say hi!

@ht.1885
  • Bailey is our first Marketing Mixology partner and we are excited to help her promote this fun event along with the Meeker Colorado Chamber of Commerce!

Bailey and Real Estate West will host the second annual Easter Egg Hunt March 25th-29th. Go follow her page so you don't miss any clues!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089966804052

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bailey_waldref_rew?igsh=MXQ5Y3dtOWN4emNkNw==

💚💚💚

Marketing Mixology is a FREE promotion where we spotlight one lucky local business across print, digital, and social channels each month! 

#locallove #locallovespotlight #lovemeeker #marketingmixology #shoplocal #superchargeyourmarketing
  • More freudenfreude, less schadenfreude… Hear from our Editor in her column this week online at ht1885.com.
  • 🍀 Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Herald Times! 🍀 According to the Census Bureau, over 31 million people - or 9.5%! - in America claim Irish ancestry! Everyone have a safe and fun Patty's Day celebrating your Irishness, real or honorary!
  • The Cowboys played in their first golf tournament in the spring at Chipeta, “it was a bit of a cloudy and windy day but it was awesome to see some grass and a golf course,” commented head coach Amanda Back. Vivian Brown, pictured on the left, broke 100 and shot a 94 and Jayda May second from right shot a 99. From the far right, excluding those that have been mentioned, Averee Woodward, Joelle Soler, Mia Pinzon, Aurora Stalling, and Kailynn Watson all played scramble. This was Pinzon’s, Stalling’s and Watson’s first tournament as Meeker High School girl golfers. “It’s going to be a great season,” ended Back.
  • Mountain Sage Therapeutics held a grand opening and ribbon cutting for their new business at 640 Main St. in Meeker. Owners Teresa Wilde and Justin Noller offer movement, energy, and massage therapy for animals and their human companions. They are pictured here with the Chamber of Commerce and local citizens who attended. View their service on their website at www.mountainsagetherapeutics.abmp.com and contact them for an appointment 970-706-8445.
  • Members of the Rio Blanco Golf Association got a jump on spring this past week as volunteers shoveled and blew the snow off the greens. The winter’s snow and ice layers suffocate the fragile bent grass putting surfaces and getting the snow off allows Mother Nature to start her healing process earlier.
“For 50 years I’ve waited to see Meeker’s greens come out this nice,” said Jim Cook, who is returning to help at the course.” Hats off to Hunter and Matt Fellows who did an excellent job applying the snow mold preventative last fall which has made all the difference this year.”
Board members and volunteers are very hopeful that this will be a turnaround year for the local 9-hole course which plans an early April opening, weather permitting.
  • The 2024 Colorado State Champions hosted their annual awards banquet Sunday. Head Coach JC Watt and Assistant Coach Carl Padilla commented on this year’s team’s success as a product of work in the room, dedication by wrestlers and coaches, and a champion mentality. Read the story online at ht1885.com.
  • Once again, the Rangely High School lady Panthers basketball team battled their way to the state championship in Denver. They ended a wildly successful season the ninth-ranked 2A Division team in the state with a 35-29 loss on March 7 to Wiggins and a March 8 loss to Denver Christian 60-46. Bottom row: Aubrey Keeney, TyLee Fielder, Ashlynn Ducey, Miah Wren, Emmeree Wagner. Top row: Coach Lohry, Rachel Elder, Aubrianna Tapia, Addison Scott, Annika Cantrell, Ryann Mergelman, Kastyn Dembowski, Miley Chism. Coach Nate Terrin (in back) and Head Coach Jimmie Mergelman.
  • The Meeker High School girls’ basketball team hosted their basketball awards for the 2023-2024 season. (Left to right) Taylor Garcia earned Western Slope Honorable Mention, Ellie Hossack Western Slope Honorable Mention and Coach’s Mountain Climber awards, Rylee Sullivan Western Slope All-Conference and Ainsley Selle Western Slope Honorable Mention and Coach’s Gold Heart awards.
Bailey is our first Marketing Mixology partner and we are excited to help her promote this fun event along with the Meeker Colorado Chamber of Commerce!

Bailey and Real Estate West will host the second annual Easter Egg Hunt March 25th-29th. Go follow her page so you don't miss any clues!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089966804052

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bailey_waldref_rew?igsh=MXQ5Y3dtOWN4emNkNw==

💚💚💚

Marketing Mixology is a FREE promotion where we spotlight one lucky local business across print, digital, and social channels each month! 

#locallove #locallovespotlight #lovemeeker #marketingmixology #shoplocal #superchargeyourmarketing
Bailey is our first Marketing Mixology partner and we are excited to help her promote this fun event along with the Meeker Colorado Chamber of Commerce! Bailey and Real Estate West will host the second annual Easter Egg Hunt March 25th-29th. Go follow her page so you don't miss any clues! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089966804052 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bailey_waldref_rew?igsh=MXQ5Y3dtOWN4emNkNw== 💚💚💚 Marketing Mixology is a FREE promotion where we spotlight one lucky local business across print, digital, and social channels each month! #locallove #locallovespotlight #lovemeeker #marketingmixology #shoplocal #superchargeyourmarketing
3 hours ago
View on Instagram |
1/9
More freudenfreude, less schadenfreude… Hear from our Editor in her column this week online at ht1885.com.
More freudenfreude, less schadenfreude… Hear from our Editor in her column this week online at ht1885.com.
24 hours ago
View on Instagram |
2/9
🍀 Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Herald Times! 🍀 According to the Census Bureau, over 31 million people - or 9.5%! - in America claim Irish ancestry! Everyone have a safe and fun Patty's Day celebrating your Irishness, real or honorary!
🍀 Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Herald Times! 🍀 According to the Census Bureau, over 31 million people - or 9.5%! - in America claim Irish ancestry! Everyone have a safe and fun Patty's Day celebrating your Irishness, real or honorary!
1 day ago
View on Instagram |
3/9
The Cowboys played in their first golf tournament in the spring at Chipeta, “it was a bit of a cloudy and windy day but it was awesome to see some grass and a golf course,” commented head coach Amanda Back. Vivian Brown, pictured on the left, broke 100 and shot a 94 and Jayda May second from right shot a 99. From the far right, excluding those that have been mentioned, Averee Woodward, Joelle Soler, Mia Pinzon, Aurora Stalling, and Kailynn Watson all played scramble. This was Pinzon’s, Stalling’s and Watson’s first tournament as Meeker High School girl golfers. “It’s going to be a great season,” ended Back.
The Cowboys played in their first golf tournament in the spring at Chipeta, “it was a bit of a cloudy and windy day but it was awesome to see some grass and a golf course,” commented head coach Amanda Back. Vivian Brown, pictured on the left, broke 100 and shot a 94 and Jayda May second from right shot a 99. From the far right, excluding those that have been mentioned, Averee Woodward, Joelle Soler, Mia Pinzon, Aurora Stalling, and Kailynn Watson all played scramble. This was Pinzon’s, Stalling’s and Watson’s first tournament as Meeker High School girl golfers. “It’s going to be a great season,” ended Back.
2 days ago
View on Instagram |
4/9
Mountain Sage Therapeutics held a grand opening and ribbon cutting for their new business at 640 Main St. in Meeker. Owners Teresa Wilde and Justin Noller offer movement, energy, and massage therapy for animals and their human companions. They are pictured here with the Chamber of Commerce and local citizens who attended. View their service on their website at www.mountainsagetherapeutics.abmp.com and contact them for an appointment 970-706-8445.
Mountain Sage Therapeutics held a grand opening and ribbon cutting for their new business at 640 Main St. in Meeker. Owners Teresa Wilde and Justin Noller offer movement, energy, and massage therapy for animals and their human companions. They are pictured here with the Chamber of Commerce and local citizens who attended. View their service on their website at www.mountainsagetherapeutics.abmp.com and contact them for an appointment 970-706-8445.
2 days ago
View on Instagram |
5/9
Members of the Rio Blanco Golf Association got a jump on spring this past week as volunteers shoveled and blew the snow off the greens. The winter’s snow and ice layers suffocate the fragile bent grass putting surfaces and getting the snow off allows Mother Nature to start her healing process earlier.
“For 50 years I’ve waited to see Meeker’s greens come out this nice,” said Jim Cook, who is returning to help at the course.” Hats off to Hunter and Matt Fellows who did an excellent job applying the snow mold preventative last fall which has made all the difference this year.”
Board members and volunteers are very hopeful that this will be a turnaround year for the local 9-hole course which plans an early April opening, weather permitting.
Members of the Rio Blanco Golf Association got a jump on spring this past week as volunteers shoveled and blew the snow off the greens. The winter’s snow and ice layers suffocate the fragile bent grass putting surfaces and getting the snow off allows Mother Nature to start her healing process earlier. “For 50 years I’ve waited to see Meeker’s greens come out this nice,” said Jim Cook, who is returning to help at the course.” Hats off to Hunter and Matt Fellows who did an excellent job applying the snow mold preventative last fall which has made all the difference this year.” Board members and volunteers are very hopeful that this will be a turnaround year for the local 9-hole course which plans an early April opening, weather permitting.
2 days ago
View on Instagram |
6/9
The 2024 Colorado State Champions hosted their annual awards banquet Sunday. Head Coach JC Watt and Assistant Coach Carl Padilla commented on this year’s team’s success as a product of work in the room, dedication by wrestlers and coaches, and a champion mentality. Read the story online at ht1885.com.
The 2024 Colorado State Champions hosted their annual awards banquet Sunday. Head Coach JC Watt and Assistant Coach Carl Padilla commented on this year’s team’s success as a product of work in the room, dedication by wrestlers and coaches, and a champion mentality. Read the story online at ht1885.com.
3 days ago
View on Instagram |
7/9
Once again, the Rangely High School lady Panthers basketball team battled their way to the state championship in Denver. They ended a wildly successful season the ninth-ranked 2A Division team in the state with a 35-29 loss on March 7 to Wiggins and a March 8 loss to Denver Christian 60-46. Bottom row: Aubrey Keeney, TyLee Fielder, Ashlynn Ducey, Miah Wren, Emmeree Wagner. Top row: Coach Lohry, Rachel Elder, Aubrianna Tapia, Addison Scott, Annika Cantrell, Ryann Mergelman, Kastyn Dembowski, Miley Chism. Coach Nate Terrin (in back) and Head Coach Jimmie Mergelman.
Once again, the Rangely High School lady Panthers basketball team battled their way to the state championship in Denver. They ended a wildly successful season the ninth-ranked 2A Division team in the state with a 35-29 loss on March 7 to Wiggins and a March 8 loss to Denver Christian 60-46. Bottom row: Aubrey Keeney, TyLee Fielder, Ashlynn Ducey, Miah Wren, Emmeree Wagner. Top row: Coach Lohry, Rachel Elder, Aubrianna Tapia, Addison Scott, Annika Cantrell, Ryann Mergelman, Kastyn Dembowski, Miley Chism. Coach Nate Terrin (in back) and Head Coach Jimmie Mergelman.
3 days ago
View on Instagram |
8/9
The Meeker High School girls’ basketball team hosted their basketball awards for the 2023-2024 season. (Left to right) Taylor Garcia earned Western Slope Honorable Mention, Ellie Hossack Western Slope Honorable Mention and Coach’s Mountain Climber awards, Rylee Sullivan Western Slope All-Conference and Ainsley Selle Western Slope Honorable Mention and Coach’s Gold Heart awards.
The Meeker High School girls’ basketball team hosted their basketball awards for the 2023-2024 season. (Left to right) Taylor Garcia earned Western Slope Honorable Mention, Ellie Hossack Western Slope Honorable Mention and Coach’s Mountain Climber awards, Rylee Sullivan Western Slope All-Conference and Ainsley Selle Western Slope Honorable Mention and Coach’s Gold Heart awards.
4 days ago
View on Instagram |
9/9

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