Some of the most celebrated and hated content in a newspaper doesn't include text or photographs.

For centuries, political cartoons have challenged beliefs, poked fun at world leaders and affected elections. Political cartooning also is credited with popularizing the elephant and donkey as symbols for the Republican and Democratic parties.

In North Dakota, the heyday of political cartooning came during the early 1900s, according to Jim Davis, head of reference services for the North Dakota Historical Society.

One of the most notable political cartoonists in North Dakota was John Miller Baer, who helped illustrate the Nonpartisan League's agenda in North Dakota during the party's rise in 1915 and 1916. Baer was a staunch supporter of farmers, and many of his cartoons depicted farmers battling the Legislature, big business and the railroad. Baer cartooned for the Nonpartisan Press and eventually won a seat in Congress, serving from 1917 to 1921. After losing a bid for re-election, Baer resumed work as a political cartoonist. He died in Maryland in 1970.

Many political cartoons appeared in political publications of the time.

According to an article written by Bill G. Reid that appeared in the winter 1977 issue of North Dakota History: Journal of the Plains, the NPL hated the press as an extension of big business, so it started its own. According to Reid's article, the NPL League Press became involved in a war of propaganda with its conservative opposition, a publication known as the Red Flame, which was published by State Auditor Carl Kositzky, possibly with the help of Attorney General William Langer. Langer, who later became governor, was himself the subject of many political cartoons.

Langer served from 1933 to 1934, when he was removed from office after being found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct federal relief legislation by soliciting campaign contributions from federal employees. He was eventually acquitted of the charges and served as governor again from 1937 to 1939 and later in the United States Senate.

Some people might think modern political cartoons are antagonizing, but according to Ross Collins, associate professor of communications at North Dakota State University, they are nothing like they used to be.

"I think people are more uncomfortable with the biting satire that political cartoons used to have," Collins said.

Tom Dennis, editorial page editor at the Grand Forks Herald, said that when the paper receives input from readers about cartoons, most of the time it's because they take offense to them.

Dennis said he doesn't run cartoons with stereotypes that are completely unfair and over the top.

"I don't mind some political satire, but it has to have some basis to it," Dennis said.

Dave Bundy, editor of the Tribune, said political cartoons create more of a reaction from readers than even the most radical letters to the editor that are published.

"Because they jump off the page, they attract more comment than anything," Bundy said.

Bundy said cartoons that bash political leaders receive the most complaints.

The Tribune gets its political cartoons from three national syndicates that each have multiple cartoonists. Bundy said the Tribune tries to keep a good balance politically of what cartoons run, as well as rotating the topics on a regular basis.

Political cartoonists are a rare breed - at least the ones who make a living at it. In North Dakota there are only two major newspapers that run local political cartoons on a regular basis: the Herald and the Fargo Forum.

The Herald publishes one local cartoon each week from a freelance artist, while the Forum runs three a week from part-timer Trygve Olson, of Moorhead, Minn.

Roger Bailey, executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association, said local political cartoons are a luxury for a newspaper to have.

"It's a great feature for a newspaper to have if there is a talented artist in their community," Bailey said.

Bailey was not aware of any papers besides the Forum and Herald that use local cartoons.

Bundy said the main reason the Tribune doesn't run local political cartoons is that it is difficult to find an artist with the combined talents of drawing and being able to make an intelligent political commentary with their cartoons.

Olson, who has been a political cartoonist for 19 years, said he talks to the editors about what is coming up in the news, but he gets to draw what he wants.

"I have quite a bit of free rein," Olson said.

Olson originally started at the Forum drawing illustrations, and was eventually asked to try his hand at cartoons.

Olson specializes in local and regional cartoons. He likes to use farming as one of his subjects because of his farming background. He also does freelance art and teaches college classes.

"You've got to have a day job, I guess," Olson said.

Collins said newspapers that hire their own cartoonists are usually large metros, because most papers can't afford to hire someone who only draws cartoons.

"It's like being in professional sports. Everyone wants to be in it, but how many positions are available?" Collins said.

(Reach reporter Tom Rafferty at 250-8264 or tom.rafferty@bismarcktribune.com.)