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Robert William Sawyer was a prominent figure in Oregon politics and a nationally respected conservationist. He was born in Bangor, Maine on May 12, 1880 and was educated and trained in law at Harvard. In 1912 he moved west to Bend, Oregon where he first worked as a lumber piler at the Bend Co. mill. He became acquainted with George Palmer Putnam, publisher of the Bend Bulletin, in 1913 and soon thereafter became a news writer for the Bulletin.

Sawyer purchased Putnam's interest in the Bulletin after Putnam became secretary to Governor James Withycombe, and in 1919 assumed the role of editor. During his years in this post, Sawyer became one of the state's leading newspapermen. From 1927 to 1929 he served as president of the Oregon State Editorial Association. He remained editor until 1953 when the Bulletin was sold to Robert W. Chandler.

For many years Sawyer was a leading figure in Northwest politics, serving as a member or leader of numerous governmental organizations. He was involved in the creation of Deschutes County from Crook County in 1917 and served as Deschutes County judge from 1920-1927. In 1929 Sawyer was president of the Bend Chamber of Commerce. From 1927 to 1930 he was a member of the Oregon State Highway Commission. He was elected president of the Oregon Reclamation Congress, serving from 1931-1937 and was also elected Oregon Director of the National Reclamation Association in 1935. After the Oregon capitol building was destroyed by fire in 1935, Sawyer was chosen to serve on the advisory board for reconstruction. After serving on the reconstruction commission from 1935-1939, he became chairman of the Capitol Planning Commission. During World War II Sawyer was involved in the building of Camp Abbot, naming it for the early engineer-explorer Henry L. Abbot. He held the position of Oregon Director of the N. R. A. until 1948, serving also as President of the National Rifle Association in 1946-1947. From 1945 to 1951 Sawyer served as vice-chairman of the Oregon Statuary Hall commission.

An avid outdoorsman, Sawyer served, in his later years, as a director of the American Forestry Association and on the Pacific Northwest Regional Forestry Advisory Council. In the 1950s He was a member of the important Hoover Commission Task Force on Water Resources and Power. Other significant activities included Sawyer's leading role in the Oregon Historical Society and key role in the building of St. Charles Memorial Hospital in Bend.

It was at the St. Charles Hospital that Robert W. Sawyer died shortly after suffering a heart attack on October 13, 1959. Today, an Oregon state park near Bend is named for him.