''THE FRONTIER TIMES'' (or Hunters Frontier Magazine) is a popular

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

and

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

devoted to history of the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

and Texas. Before it ceased publication, it was published in many locations at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

The magazine

It was founded by two enthusiastic historians, John Warren Hunter and his son John Marvin Hunter, in 1910 as ''Hunter's Magazine''. Most of ''Hunter's'' contributions were initially published. The publication was later relocated to Ozona in April 1912; and in June 1912, the magazine announced it was relocating its publication to San Antonio. Some years later, the Hunters encountered difficulties due to lack of support & low subscriber count. In May 1916, Hunter founded the ''Frontier Magazine'', published in

Melvin Melvin is a masculine given name and surname, likely a variant of Melville and a descendant of the French surname de Maleuin and the later Melwin. It may alternatively be spelled as Melvyn or, in Welsh, Melfyn and the name Melivinia or Melva may b ...

till 1917. Hunter's magazines started as a publishing company in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

and gaining popularity, it was labeled with the Texas Historic Landmarks Association and the official organ of the Old Time Trail Drivers Association in August 2020. The magazine later suspended publication without notice and it proved to be the last issue of ''Hunters Magazine'' due to inadequate finances and low circulation. The first issue of The Frontier Times was published in October 1923 at Bandera. Through some years of writing, Hunter himself found to be in some instances the names and date might not be correct but the articles are true in details. Hunter's family mostly assisted him in his magazine's printing and in March 1946, Marvin Hunter, Jnr started publication in Baird and his father Hunter Snr continues the edition in

Bandera Bandera - from a Spanish word meaning a ''flag'' - may refer to: Places * Bandera County, Texas ** Bandera, Texas, its county seat ** Bandera Creek, a river in Texas, with its source near Bandera Pass ** Bandera Pass, a mountain pass in Bandera C ...

. In 1953 the publication moved to

Grand Prairie Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties of Texas, in the United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a population of 175,396 according to the 2010 census, making it th ...

and became a quarterly. The last publication by Hunter's family was in October 1954.

The Frontier Times Western publication

Western publication owned by Joe Austell Small purchased The Frontier Times in 1955 suspending all publications till the ending of 1957 when it was published and edited by Norm Wiltsey under

Walter Prescott Webb Walter Prescott Webb (April 3, 1888 in Panola County, Texas – March 8, 1963 near Austin, Texas) was an American historian noted for his groundbreaking work on the American West. As president of the Texas State Historical Association, he laun ...

of the

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...

making differences from the magazine only in title labeled as companion to '' True West''. Walter Prescott Webb was a historical consultant, in winter 1959 the editor and also publisher was Joe Small. Pat Wagner was later the publisher and editor of Frontier in 1962 as it became four months and bimonthly in December. Later at the beginning of 1972, West Publication published facsimiles of Marvin Hunter's earlier Hunter Times and was published at

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in 1979 to 1981, it suspended it publication in 1982 and resumed to published at

Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater ( iow, Ñápinⁿje, ''meaning: "Water quiet"'') is a city in, and the county seat of, Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177 and State Highway 51. As of th ...

in October 1984 edited by John Joerschke and Robert L. Evans published ''Frontier'' in 1984 and April 1985 after the editorial body overall is Randy Clark. Hunter himself published only a few of hundred copies of ''Frontier'' but the magazine had reached a circulation of up to 105,000 in November 1985 as stories of Indians, train robberies,

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

s, ghost town treasure and

gold mines Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface, ...

were all covered. ''The Frontier Times'' was described as having great historical value "and worthy of being preserved in libraries of the country" by Webb, the True West, Old West and Companion publication continued the publication at Stillwater, Oklahoma, and ''The Frontier Times'' ceased publishing in November 1985''.''

During Hunter's edition

Requests were made for copies during Marvin Hunter's edition and its original documents that deal with the history of

settlers A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

cattlemen A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

, observer of events in

and pioneers periodically of Texas history of ones alive and still able to tell their stories making it one of the most valuable assets of the magazine, all the article are largely written from point of eye witness and observer before the generation of those settlers passed on and had sought to gather as much their testimonies to published. Hunter had built the

Frontier Times Museum A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...

at Bandera, Texas in 1953 before his demise, a place serving as the historical museum of the articles of ''Frontier Times Magazine''.

Bibliography

* John Marvin Hunter, ''Peregrinations of a Pioneer Printer: An Autobiography - Grand Prairie, Texas'': Frontier Times, 1954. * ''Handbook of Texas Online'', Ann Graham Gaines. FRONTIER TIMES, accessed July 15, 2020

The magazine

The Frontier Times Western publication

During Hunter's edition

Bibliography

Notes

Further reading