William Alford Richards (March 9, 1849July 25, 1912) was an American

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ...

, rancher and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

. He was the fourth Governor of

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

from January 7, 1895 until January 2, 1899; and also served as the 30th Commissioner of the General Land Office from 1903 to 1907.

Biography

Richards was born in Hazel Green, in

Grant County, Wisconsin Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,938. Its county seat is Lancaster. The county is named after the Grant River, in turn named after a fur trader who lived in the ar ...

, and educated there and in

Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cr ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

he served as an ambulance driver for the Army of the Potomac.

Career

As a young man Richards worked on surveying missions in Nebraska, and first came to

in 1873 when his brother Alonzo V. Richards hired him as his general assistant while surveying the southern boundary of

Wyoming Territory The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital. The bou ...

. The next year they returned for the survey of the western boundary of Wyoming. Alonzo left the expedition after 99 miles, leaving William in charge of completing the survey. William moved to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, to marry Harriet Alice Hunt in 1874. The couple had three daughters. In 1885 he returned to

, homesteading a ranch in Big Horn County. In 1886, he was elected

county commissioner A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

of Johnson County, and in 1889

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...

appointed him Surveyor General for Wyoming. In 1894, Richards ran for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

on the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

ticket. He defeated William H. Holliday and Lewis C. Tidball, becoming the state's third elected governor. He served as governor from 1895 to 1899. Though he helped defuse the Jackson Hole Indian Crisis of 1895, Richards is also known for pardoning

Butch Cassidy Robert LeRoy Parker (April 13, 1866 – November 7, 1908), better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American train and bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the " Wild Bunch" in the Old West. Parker engaged in crimin ...

. Then a small-time rustler, Cassidy was serving a two-year term in the State Penitentiary for possession of a stolen horse worth only $5. Citizens of Fremont County, fearing Cassidy's return, asked the governor for a pardon in hopes it "would have much to do in causing him to become a law-abiding citizen," Richards wrote to a concerned rancher, Jay Torrey. Richards had interviewed Butch at the Penitentiary and pardoned him after hearing reassuring words from the prisoner. Cassidy "told me that he had adenough of Penitentiary life," Richards told Torrey, "and intended to conduct himself in such a way as to not again lay himself liable to arrest." What he may have meant was, he intended to not again get caught. At the conclusion of his term he was replaced by

DeForest Richards DeForest Richards (August 6, 1846April 28, 1903) was an American banker, farmer, and politician. He was the List of Governors of Wyoming, fifth Governor of the state of Wyoming, and the first to die while still in office. Biography Born in Cha ...

(a very distant cousin), also a Republican, and was appointed assistant commissioner of the General Land Office. William A. Richards opened the

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in ...

, and Wichita Indian Reservations in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

to settlement. In 1903, Richards was appointed Commissioner of the General Land Office by President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

, serving until 1907. During his tenure he helped save Indian ruins and other important monuments from damage and destruction by asking Edgar L. Hewett of New Mexico for a list of sites that should be protected. Hewett sent back a Memorandum that listed Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon and many others, and Richards had it published as a Circular. The memorandum was a step toward the passage of the Antiquites Act of 1906, which has been used by American presidents to set aside innumerable National Monuments. In 1909 Richards became the first Commissioner for Taxation for the state of

, holding the post until a change in administration a year later. In 1912, he traveled to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, to start a new life after the violent deaths of his daughter Edna and her husband, Thomas Jenkins.

Death

Richards died of a heart attack soon after his arrival in Australia, in July 1912. He had attended an honorary banquet for his old friend Elwood Mead, former State Engineer of Wyoming, who was then in charge of developing irrigation in that country. Mead accompanied Richards's body home across the ocean.Contemporary newspaper accounts Richards is interred at Lakeview Cemetery, in

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

, Wyoming.

References

External links

Wyoming Cadastral Survey Richards bio
ureau of Land Management Wyoming
State biography
yoming State Archives, ''Wyoming Blue Book Wiki'' * at Nebraska State Historical Society *
National Governors Association"A Surveyor in the Governor's Office: William A. Richards"
''Wyoming Postscripts''. March 9, 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
Governor William A. Richards papers
RG0001.14, Wyoming State Archives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, William A. 1849 births 1912 deaths Governors of Wyoming People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War People from Hazel Green, Wisconsin General Land Office Commissioners Wisconsin Republicans Republican Party governors of Wyoming 19th-century American politicians