The family that made The Des Moines Register “the newspaper Iowa depends upon” — and launched Look magazine.
Gardner Cowles Sr. (1861–1946), a former schoolteacher and banker, bought the Des Moines Register and Leader in 1903 and built it into one of the most respected newspapers in the Midwest.
His sons carried the family into national media: John Cowles Sr. led the Minneapolis papers, while Gardner “Mike” Cowles Jr. founded the picture magazine Look in 1937. The Register became famous for its statewide reach and its Pulitzer-winning journalism.
Under the Cowles family the Register won numerous Pulitzer Prizes and became a rare newspaper read across an entire state. Its political coverage helped make the Iowa Caucuses a national event, and the RAGBRAI bike ride began as a Register staff idea in 1973.
The family's philanthropy endures across Des Moines in institutions and gifts that still carry the Cowles name.
The Cowles family is based in Des Moines, Iowa. Built a national media company; the Register (sold to Gannett in 1985) remains Iowa's paper of record
1903.
Gardner Cowles Sr. (1861–1946) — bought the Register in 1903 and built the family media empire
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