In 1955 in Indian Hills, the need for a source of information for a growing mountain community gave rise to a monthly newspaper called Smoke Signals. Backed financially by the Indian Hills Fire Department, Smoke Signals started on a shoestring but grew steadily along with the community. Within six months of the paper’s creation, the Inter-Canyon and Idledale departments were also pitching in, and
advertising revenues began to grow. In October 1958, under editor and publisher Vern Manning, Smoke Signals became the Canyon Courier, an independent weekly newspaper. The Courier started with an ambitious goal: covering all news “from U.S. 40 on the north to Bailey and beyond on the south, and from Mount Evans to the east Jefferson County line.”
No one could have predicted in the late ’50s how Evergreen and that entire area would grow in population, until finally many mountain communities had distinct identities and sizable populations of their own. Today, the Courier focuses more tightly on the Evergreen area, which has grown to become a large, thriving and economically diverse community. Our three sister newspapers — the High Timber Times (Conifer), the Clear Creek Courant (Clear Creek County) and the Columbine Courier (South Jeffco) — now report on many of the areas that the original Canyon Courier sought to cover. Our goal as newspapers remains the same, however: unite our communities with a reliable and local source of information, advertising and — now — online content.
