111 years between first and last print issue

111 years ago today, on September 30, 1916, the San Juan Record was first published by Oscar W McConkie, a Moab native whose wife was from Monticello.
McConkie had moved to Monticello days earlier after dropping out of law school at the University of Michigan.
He brought along his wife, Maragaret Vivian Redd, and their firstborn son, Bruce R. McConkie, who was just one month old.
It seemed that his deteriorating eyesight had dashed McConkie’s lifelong ambition to become a lawyer. The condition had been a challenge for years and it was made worse by the demanding reading load of a first-year law student at a prestigious university.
So he returned home to southeast Utah and decided to try a new venture.
With a small group of advisors and partners, McConkie published Volume 1 Number 1 of the San Juan Record.
San Juan County was good for Oscar W. McConkie and after spending several years at the helm of the San Juan Record, his eyesight began to recover.
He was able to return to law school and eventually became one of Utah’s most famous attorneys. Those who faced legal challenges in the past 111 years took solace if their attorney was from a law firm with McConkie in the name.
In that first issue of the San Juan Record, McConkie outlined the purpose of the newspaper and what would guide the fledgling journalistic venture in this isolated outpost on the frontier.
Since that first issue, the San Juan Record has not missed a single week documenting the lives or the residents of San Juan County.
Check out the original front page from 1915, printed below. Those key principles outlined by the first publisher has helped to guide the paper in the subsequent 111 years and will continue to provide direction as we move into an exciting and uncertain new direction.
This issue of the newspaper, Volume 111 Number 52, will be our last issue printed on paper. Next week will be the first week since the founding in 1915 that the San Juan Record will not be printed.
The San Juan Record is moving toward electronic distribution of news, with a newly upgraded and expanded website at sjrnews.com and supplemented by our radio broadcasting venture, Redrock92.
We offer our heartfelt thanks to the many people who support the San Juan Record. We are anxious to move ahead and appreciate your patience.