To the Mormons must be accorded the honor of establishing the first newspaper in Hall County. In the spring of 1858 a number of farms were opened on Wood River by them, and there the first newspaper in Hall or adjoining counties was established by them. It was named the Banner, and it was owned by Peck and edited by Joe E. Johnson. This journal was published under several names, one of which was the Huntsman’s Echo. In the sping of 1863 the Mormons moved to Salt Lake, and there Johnson re-established the Banner under the title---The Mountain Bugle. . . . The Banner was the evangelist of the tribe on Wood River, and . . . [i]t is simply Mohammedanism revived.

A few miles eastward a colony of German Christians settled. They knew little of the great land in which they made their homes, and less of the rude language of this section. To them a paper printed in the rough language, which Americans adopted, was useless, if it was not actually unwelcomed, and therefore, for over a decade their news was supplied by German papers, published at Chicago or in the faraway Fatherland, so that up to July, 1870, there was no gentile local press here, unless the itinerant

newspaper, which accompanied the graders on the Union Pacific, may be considered a local paper. A great change was impending. A newspaper established in the Far West sought out the more hospitable island for a home and was welcomed by the people. The time arrived "When city lots were staked for sale, Above old Indian graves;" and the era of enterprise was introduced. The ideas of the editor were in accord with the spirit of the times.

Biographical Historical Memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall
and Hamilton Counties, Nebraska (1890) 561-562

Read Additional History of the County's Newspapers:
The Press of Hall County (1920)