Wallowa County Chieftain

Founded in Joseph in 1884 by S. A. Heckethorn, the newspaper preceded the establishment of the county itself.[2][3] A few years after Enterprise was selected as the county seat, the paper relocated there.[2][4] Though the newspaper was named after Chief Joseph, it was not particularly friendly to Native American issues, and opposed a Joseph's request to resettle Wallowa Valley in 1900.[5]

George Cheney became the owner, editor, and publisher in 1911, on the wave of an economic boom experienced in Enterprise upon the completion of a railroad and sawmill, as well as a booming agricultural business. Cheney built a new building, designed to meet the needs of the paper, which it occupied beginning in 1916.[2] Cheney sold the newspaper in 1941, and the building in 1943, to Gwen Coffin. Coffin, who brought a more controversial approach to the paper, owned it until 1972.[2]

In a 2006 article about Joseph, the New York Times cited the Chieftain's coverage of a new grocery store.[6]

The building used by the paper from 1916 to 2007 has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2012.[7]