RILAND, James L., b. 1857: 1905 Bio, Rio Blanco County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/rioblanco/bios/rilandjl.txt --------------------------------------- Donated August 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- James L. Riland Thrown on his own resources at the age of thirteen years, and since then accepting his opportunities with alacrity and using them with industry and good judgment, James L. Riland, editor and publisher of the White River Review, at Meeker in this state, is living a useful life, and, although denied all but the most meager educational advantages, has through his own efforts and the lessons of experience become a well-informed man and capable force in directing and disseminating the best public opinion in his portion of the state. He first saw the light of this world at Pine Grove, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, on May 5, 1857, and in 1870 assumed the burden of providing for himself as a farm hand in Iowa, where his parents settled in 1858. Soon afterward he learned to weave wire cloth, which was then done by hand, and from the time when he was sixteen years of age he earned good wages at this work until his skill and that of others in the same line was superseded by machinery driven by steam. When the change came he was working at Dubuque, Iowa, and he then entered the office of the Dubuque Herald to learn the trade of a printer. After two years' service at his apprenticeship there his health failed, and for its improvement he came to live in Colorado, locating in Summit county in 1876. For a year he followed mining, then moved to Colorado Springs and until 1879 worked as a compositor on the Gazette of that city. Then changing his headquarters to Leadville, he served as foreman and a reporter for the Leadville Herald and also the Democrat at that place and also worked on other papers at various places on the Western slope until 1885. During this period he grub-staked many prospectors on shares and by means of this generosity he secured a number of mining claims of more or less value. In 1885 he established at Glenwood Springs the Echo, the first newspaper in Garfield county, and managed it for B. Clark Wheeler. On February 22, 1901, he founded the White River Review at Meeker. Since then he has been in active ownership and management of this paper, and by intimate knowledge of his business and close attention to its requirements as well as to popular taste and the needs of the county, he has built up a large patronage and fixed his enterprise on a firm foundation financially and in popular esteem. He is always a great booster of the interests of the county in his columns, and uses every proper means to make its resources and business opportunities known to the public. He is an ardent supporter of the principles of the Republican party and his paper is a party organ in his section of the state. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World and their auxiliary organizations. His press is in continual demand for job work, which he does in good style, at the same time raising the standard of taste in the community in this line of work and meeting its most exacting requirements. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.