White Mountain Independent

About White Mountain Independent

The White Mountain Independent is a weekly newspaper published in Show Low, Arizona — the news voice of the White Mountains, the high-country towns of Navajo and Apache counties. Its lineage is among the oldest in Arizona journalism: founded January 15, 1885 as The St. Johns Herald by Henry Reed, 141 years ago, in Arizona Territory. Through the Herald, the White Mountain Eagle, the Apache County Independent-News and the White Mountain Roundup — papers that merged, split and merged again — the title that emerged in 1977 as the White Mountain Independent carries the territory's oldest continuous newspaper lineage into the present. Owned by Casa Grande Valley Newspapers. Publisher Brian Kramer, editor Warren Adams-Ockrassa, general manager Shannon Bryant, from 3191 S. White Mountain Rd. #3, Show Low, AZ 85901. The White Mountain Independent still publishes weekly at wmicentral.com.

1885: Henry Reed's St. Johns Herald

On January 15, 1885, Henry Reed founded The St. Johns Herald in St. Johns, Arizona Territory — 27 years before statehood. The Herald was the newspaper of Apache County's Mormon pioneer settlements, documenting the territory's ranching frontier, its water wars and its path to statehood. A January 25, 1902 cover survives in the archives — the territorial paper in its maturity. The Herald lineage is the root from which the White Mountain Independent grows: 141 years of continuous Arizona journalism.

The White Mountain papers: Eagle, Roundup, Independent-News

The 20th century scattered the lineage across the White Mountains: the White Mountain Eagle (published in Show Low 1956–1974), the Apache County Independent-News, the White Mountain Roundup — and earlier, the Show Low Record (1956–1957) and the Navaho Sun (from 1964). The Library of Congress catalog records the mergers: "White Mountain Independent And Continuing The Apache County Independent-News - White Mountain Roundup - White Mountain Eagle (from 1974)" — years of publication 1974 to 1977 — then "White Mountain Independent (from 1977)... 1977 to current." The mountain towns' competing papers consolidated into one.

1977: the White Mountain Independent emerges

In 1977, the consolidated paper took the name it carries today: the White Mountain Independent, published in Show Low — the White Mountains' commercial center, "the news leader" of the high country. The consolidation ended two decades of fragmentation and gave the region a single weekly of record, heir to the 1885 Herald.

Casa Grande Valley Newspapers

The paper is owned by Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. — the Kramer family company that has published the Casa Grande Dispatch (founded 1912) since 1963, building a group of Arizona community papers. Publisher Brian Kramer, editor Warren Adams-Ockrassa and general manager Shannon Bryant lead the Show Low operation. The ownership connects the White Mountains' paper to one of Arizona's enduring family newspaper companies.

The White Mountains beat

The Independent covers the White Mountains: Show Low, Pinetop-Lakeside, Snowflake, Taylor, Eagar, Springerville and St. Johns — resort towns, ranching communities and the Fort Apache Indian Reservation's neighbors. Its journalism spans local government, schools, high-country sports, wildfire coverage (the defining emergency of the mountain West) and the tourism economy of the pines. As "WMIcentral," its e-news platform covers "business, health, sports, local and multimedia news" for the region.

A 141-year lineage

Few American weeklies can trace an unbroken line to 1885 territorial Arizona. The White Mountain Independent — through the St. Johns Herald, the Eagle, the Roundup and the Independent-News — carries 141 years of White Mountain journalism: from Henry Reed's territorial Herald to today's Show Low weekly. ISSN 2166-9767. Its official website is wmicentral.com.

St. Johns in 1885: the territorial Herald

When Henry Reed founded The St. Johns Herald on January 15, 1885, Arizona was a territory and St. Johns was a Mormon pioneer settlement on the Little Colorado River. The Herald documented Apache County's ranching frontier through the territory's final 27 years to statehood in 1912 — its water disputes, its county-seat fights, its pioneer institutions. A cover from January 25, 1902 survives in the archives: the territorial paper in its maturity, already 17 years old. Few Arizona newspapers can claim a line to the 1880s; the Herald's 141-year lineage is among the state's oldest.

The Show Low papers: 1956–1974

The mid-20th century scattered White Mountain journalism across competing titles. The Library of Congress records them: the Show Low Record (1956–1957), the White Mountain Eagle (1956–1974), the Navaho Sun (from 1964). Show Low — the mountains' commercial center — supported multiple papers through the postwar growth years, each covering the high country's towns, schools and forests. The Eagle's 18-year run made it the most durable of the Show Low titles before consolidation.

The 1974–1977 consolidation

The mergers are recorded in the papers' own evolving masthead: "White Mountain Independent And Continuing The Apache County Independent-News - White Mountain Roundup - White Mountain Eagle (from 1974)," published 1974 to 1977 — four titles' lineages braided into one. Then, in 1977, the paper took the name it carries today: "White Mountain Independent (from 1977)... 1977 to current." The consolidation gave the White Mountains a single weekly of record, heir to the St. Johns Herald of 1885, the Eagle, the Roundup and the Independent-News.

WMIcentral: the digital Independent

Today the paper publishes as the White Mountain Independent — and online as WMIcentral, "an e-news platform that covers business, health, sports, local and multimedia news" for the White Mountains. Publisher Brian Kramer, editor Warren Adams-Ockrassa and general manager Shannon Bryant lead it from 3191 S. White Mountain Rd. #3, Show Low, AZ 85901 (ISSN 2166-9767). Owned by Casa Grande Valley Newspapers — the Kramer family company behind the Casa Grande Dispatch since 1963 — the Independent covers Show Low, Pinetop-Lakeside, Snowflake, Taylor, Eagar, Springerville and St. Johns: the high country's weekly, 141 years from Henry Reed's Herald. Its official website is wmicentral.com.

The Kramer family: Casa Grande Valley Newspapers

The Independent's owner is one of Arizona's enduring family newspaper companies. Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. has published the Casa Grande Dispatch since 1963 — a paper that "originated in 1912" as the Casa Grande Times, founded by J.F. Brown. Donovan M. Kramer bought the Dispatch in 1963, was inducted into the Arizona Newspaper Hall of Fame in 1998, and died in 2009; "his widow Ruth A. Kramer continued to manage the business until her death in 2025," when it passed to their children. Publisher Brian Kramer — leading the White Mountain Independent today — carries that family tradition into the White Mountains: community papers, family-owned, Arizona-rooted. Under Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, the Independent keeps the 1885 St. Johns Herald lineage publishing weekly in Show Low — 141 years of Arizona journalism, still going.

The high country's weekly. The White Mountain Independent serves the towns of the White Mountains — Show Low, Pinetop-Lakeside, Snowflake, Taylor, Eagar, Springerville and St. Johns — covering local government, schools, sports, wildfire season and the mountain tourism economy. Its lineage runs from Henry Reed's territorial St. Johns Herald through the White Mountain Eagle and the 1974–1977 consolidation to today's Show Low weekly: 141 years of continuous Arizona journalism, the oldest newspaper lineage in the White Mountains, still publishing every week at wmicentral.com. Still the White Mountains’ weekly, still publishing.