Chaska Herald

Valley herald (Chaska, Minn.) 1862-1872  Browse the title

The weekly valley herald (Chaska, Minn.) 1872-1969  Browse the title

Chaska herald (Chaska, Minn.) 1989-current  Browse the title
Issues from this title can only be accessed from the Gale Family Library at the Minnesota History Center.

September 4, 1862 marked the debut of Valley Herald, a weekly newspaper published in Chaska, Minnesota, the seat of Carver County. Valley Herald was established by Charles Adams Warner and Morris Craw Russell as a politically Republican newspaper; the motto printed on the masthead page of issues read: "The Constitution as it is, The Union as it Ought to be." The paper was first printed on Saturdays, and later on Fridays and then Thursdays. Issues generally contained four pages and six to seven columns of content, including poetry, miscellany, political news, and state and regional news. Warner continued all operations after Russell left the Herald in October 1862. Local attorney William B. Griswold joined as editor and publisher in January 1864, but left one year later to publish the Mankato Union. On June 2, 1866, Warner sold the paper to Frederick Eugene Du Toit, Sr. 

Under new management, the Herald became a politically Democratic newspaper, "devoted to…the good old democratic party…the only party on which the American people can rely for the protection of these principles which were handed down to us from the fathers of '76." Du Toit also served as a representative to the Minnesota Legislature 1872-1873 and helped organize the Minnesota Editorial Association. Under Du Toit the Herald promoted growth in Chaska and Carver County. In the October 15, 1869, issue, the paper endorsed lawyer Luther Loren Baxter of Carver County to the state senate as a Democrat to bring the Hastings and Dakota Railroad to Carver County. The paper argued that the railroad would be key to "our prosperity, even our very existence."

The paper was renamed Weekly Valley Herald beginning with the April 4, 1872 issue. In January of 1874, Du Toit was elected sheriff of Carver County and left the newspaper; his brother Aloys Frederick Du Toit then became proprietor. Frederick Du Toit resumed operations following the death of Aloys on August 11, 1882. Frederick Du Toit, Jr. joined as co-editor and publisher around 1907. Du Toit, Sr. worked at the Herald until his death on May 22, 1922. Du Toit, Jr. remained at the Herald until his death on April 5, 1963. 

In 1969 the paper was renamed Chaska Weekly Valley Herald, which was later changed to Chaska Herald and then Carver County Herald. The newspaper has published weekly as Chaska Herald since 1989.