The year before Domesday Book #13 ran part one of Dave Arneson's article "Points of Interest about Black Moor," Arneson circulated a one-page campaign newsletter called the Blackmoor Gazette and Rumormonger. Like "Points of Interest," the BMG&R does not tell us a great deal about the system of Blackmoor, but it does give significant insight into the setting and the state of the campaign at the time of its publication.
At this early date, the form "Black Moor" is more common than "Blackmoor," though the condensed form does appear in the title of the campaign newsletter. The BMG&R circulated under the imprint of the MMSA, whose address given here was Arneson's home at the time. The only internal dating evidence is the setting year 1071 AC, and references to events at All Hallow's Eve. Considering these in light of some external sources, it seems safe to accept 1071 as 1971, and that the events described probably correspond to the state of the campaign late in the fall of that year.
We see mentions here of several well-known early Blackmoor characters: the Wizard of the Wood (Pete Gaylord), John of Snyder (Snider), Baron (Dave) Fant and Baron (Duane) Jenkins. Baron Fant at the time clearly controls Black Moor Castle, whereas Baron Jenkins ordinarily controlled northern territories that served as a buffer between Blackmoor and the Egg of Coot. We can see some evidence of the wargame campaign component of Blackmoor, in that "several thousand enemy troops" have driven Jenkins south for the winter. Curiously, DB #13 will later demote Baron Jenkins to Sir Jenkins.
Economics play a large role in the events described. Inspector General John of Snyder comes to collect taxes. The Wizard pays restitution for damages caused by his dragon's mischievous offspring. Gypsy fortune telling will be familiar to readers of the First Fantasy Campaign, though it sounds from the description as if "private performances by individual female members of the troop" were equally popular - both surely involved money changing hands. Baron Jenkins has "all but ruined the tavern," and that too sounds like an expensive error on his part. It is furthermore clear from these sorts of developments that Blackmoor was far more open-ended than a mere wargame, and that a significant amount of role-playing antics factored into the campaign.
Finally, there are a number of references to fantastic elements of the setting: most notably dragons "of various sizes, shapes and colors," but also a more oblique reference to "evil creatures overrunning the region." Curiously, however, we see no reference to dungeons. This is especially noteworthy as the next issue of the BMG&R (which seems to date from the following year) talks about little other than dungeons. We might recklessly infer from the final news bulletin here, regarding the earthquake that rendered Black Moor Castle "some dozens of feet lower," that interesting things were already underfoot - however, it is unlikely that dungeon adventures played a significant role in the campaign at this time.