Scobey Community Thanks Newspaper For 104 Years Of Service
For more than a century, The Daniels County Leader was a familiar part of life in Scobey and throughout Daniels County. On July 30, 2026, the newspaper published its final edition, closing a 104year chapter of reporting local news, community events, school sports and the stories of the people who call northeastern Montana home.
The Leader was operated by three generations of the Bowler family for the last 102 years. Burl and Roz Bowler, owners and publishers, dedicated 65 and 55 years, respectively, to the newspaper.
The end of The Leader marks more than the closing of a local business. It represents the loss of an institution that documented generations of community life.
For a small rural newspaper to survive 104 years is a significant accomplishment, particularly given the changes the industry has experienced during the past century. The Leader weathered technological changes, economic challenges and multiple fires that forced the newspaper to relocate to different buildings.
Through it all, the Bowlers said community, family and dedicated employees were central to keeping the newspaper going.
“I guess a lot of it was family and community obligation, I always felt,” Burl said. “In the last few years, it was mostly the reason why we stayed in there was because I felt The Leader was an important business for the community, and still think it was, but it was just time.
The Bowlers spent the last several years exploring the possibility of selling the newspaper, hoping someone would carry The Leader into its next chapter.
“I put feelers out for the last two or three years, and I wasn’t getting any response hardly at all, other than comments,” Burl explained. “So, after we got virtually no response after advertising it for sale, I just said, OK, let’s pick a date. How does the end of July sound?”
The decision also came at a natural retirement point for the newspaper’s staff. Longtime employees Mike Stebleton and Vera Lynn Trangsrud each had more than 30 years with the newspaper and were also ready to retire. Milton Gunderson, who devoted more than 60 years to The Leader, had previously retired.
Burl said one of the things he will miss most is something that comes naturally to anyone working in a small-town newsroom.
“Being in the know is probably what I miss, even though I didn’t always print everything we knew,” he said. “I miss knowing what’s going on.”
The Leader’s closing comes at a time when local newspapers across Montana and rural America are facing unprecedented challenges.
According to the LOR Foundation, a private foundation focused on rural communities in the Mountain West, more than half of Montana’s 56 counties have only one or zero outlets producing original local news.
The importance of maintaining local news coverage is something Darla Downs understands personally.
In 2019, The Herald- News closed after 70 years under the ownership of the Downs family. The following week, Downs launched the Northern Plains Independent, recognizing the need for continued local reporting in northeastern Montana.
With The Leader’s closure, Downs has recently added staff to increase coverage of the Daniels County area.
While the newspaper’s final edition marked the end of an era, the community wasn’t ready to let the occasion pass quietly.
Lee Anne Trower, the Darrel Tade family and several other community members organized a celebration to acknowledge the positive impact The Leader made. Ben and Kara Fosland, owners and brewers of Pleasant Prairie Brewing in Scobey, also contributed. The brewery, a popular local gathering place featuring award-winning microbrews, wine and non-alcoholic beverages, became the setting for an evening dedicated to the newspaper and the people behind it.
The Sept. 12 gathering drew approximately 100 community members, family and friends throughout the evening. Past issues of The Leader decorated tables, while attendees were invited to bring favorite memories and mementos of the newspaper. A table was also provided where people could leave personal messages for The Leader crew.
The celebration included a charcuterie board from The Food Rush, live music by Talmadge & Lily and outdoor games.
“They have been a huge part of the community, supporters of the community and carried on a business that connected all of us,” Ben Fosland said. “Up here, whether people still lived here or moved away, a lot of people still got their Leaders. There was a lot of grassroots support for the event, and that was what made it such a success.”
The celebration was, in many ways, a final thankyou from Scobey to a newspaper that had spent 104 years saying thank you, congratulations, welcome, farewell and simply, “here’s what’s happening in our community.”
Although The Leader is no longer publishing, its 104 years of stories and community history will remain an important part of Scobey’s history for generations to come.
