The Aspen Historical Society digitized newspapers in the Roaring Fork Valley, dating as far back as 1860. Because of this effort, I was able to understand even the most mundane details of Sterling Price and Edith Slosses lives. Especially because Sloss became a public figure in 1895 when he became Pitkin County Commissioner.
The newspapers had sections they called “the gang sheet” where citizens would essentially submit public and anonymous endorsements, advertisements, news snippets, etc. In today’s terms, it seems as close to a Twitter feed as I can find.
This clip came out when Price Sloss was nominated for county commissioner. He faced some harsh criticism during his candidacy, but continued to publish smart rebuttals for each piece of negative press posted against him, eventually leading to his victory.
Here’s an example of the gang sheet, published on October 13, 1895, in the Aspen Tribune:
