About

Milton H. Gathright, a resident of Auraria, Georgia since its founding began circulating a prospectus for the Miners Recorder and Spy in the West in January 1834, and, along with Howell Cobb of the defunct Cherokee Intelligencer, published the first issue on March 29, 1834 in Auraria, a week after the Western Herald departed Auraria to print in nearby Dahlonega. The Miners Recorder volume and issue numbers continued those of the Cherokee Intelligencer, identifying the Miners Recorder as a continuation of that paper. Gathright served as editor-in-chief while Cobb served as publisher. Much of the Miners Recorder’s content remained the same as the Intelligencers: reports on mining operations, local politics, and news of the ongoing displacement of the Cherokee people. In January 1836, Auraria’s population decline necessitated the Miners Recorder’s move to Dahlonega. By that time, Cobb’s law practice had reduced his role in the paper’s day-to-day matters, and Samuel Tatum served as the paper’s printer. Gathright, much like Cobb, was eager to see Native Americans removed, as evidenced by an October 1836 editorial criticizing Judge White and John Ross’ resistance to terms set in the Treaty of New Echota. The Cherokee Government did not view the treaty as legitimate, as it was signed by Cherokee dissidents. In January 1837, the Miners Recorder gained some notoriety by publishing a scathing report about action taken by Colonel William N. Bishop in Murray County. Bishop, an appointed aide-de-camp by Governor William Schley, interfered with local elections using armed men. Gathright was a member of Colonel Bishop and Governor Schley’s political party, the Union Party, and taking a strong stance against Bishop was considered a professional risk. Despite the controversy, the Miners Recorder continued receiving state patronage to publish official notices. By 1838, however, the paper struggled financially and eventually ceased publication. In a May 15, 1838 article about state-funded newspapers, the Augusta Chronicle & Sentinel wrote, 'the Miners Recorder was actually sustained by the money received, and perished for want of support as soon as the treasury pap was taken from it by the defeat of Gov. Schley.' During the Cherokee Intelligencer and Miners Recorder’s five years, they witnessed some of north Georgia’s most formative moments. These frontier papers, certainly no ally to the Cherokee people, covered the evolution of Cherokee territory into Georgia counties. The paper thoroughly presented the European American perspective of the removal of the Cherokee from the region. The paper also circulated during the rise and fall of Georgia’s gold rush, and, being a Union sheet, played an active role in the debate around the legitimacy of secession. The Mountain Signal filled the Miners Recorder’s absence less than a year later in 1839.