Archives West Finding Aid

Francis E. Warren, a Massachusetts native, emigrated to Wyoming in 1868. He began work in the mercantile business, soon becoming a partner and then owner of several businesses and ranching properties. While increasing his business holdings, Warren became involved in politics and government. He was a governor of the Wyoming Territory and the first governor of the state of Wyoming. He stepped down as governor after being elected one of Wyoming's first United States senators. Warren was a leader in Wyoming politics and business and in the U.S. Senate until his death in 1929.

Francis Emroy Warren was born in Hinsdale, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on June 20, 1844. He attended public schools and Hinsdale Academy. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in Company C, Forty-ninth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and served as a private and non-commissioned officer. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor "for gallantry on the battlefield at the siege of Port Hudson".

In 1868 Warren emigrated to Wyoming, which was then a part of the Dakota Territory, where he worked in a furniture store for another Massachusetts native, A. R. Converse. By 1871 he became a partner, with the firm's name changing to Converse and Warren. In 1877 he bought Converse out and changed the company's name to F. E. Warren and Company, later Warren Mercantile Company.

In 1883 Warren formed the Warren Live Stock Company which grew to be one of the most important ranching operations in the state, encompassing some 150,000 deeded acres. Warren owned several parcels of real estate in Wyoming and a number of other companies including the Cheyenne and Northern Railroad and the Brush-Swan Electric Company, which provided the first electric power to Cheyenne.

In addition to his business interests, Warren was active in politics. He was a member of the Cheyenne City Council from 1873 to 1874 and was instrumental in securing the first lighting system for Cheyenne. In 1873 he was elected to the Council of the Territorial Assembly, where he served from 1873 to 1874 and from 1884 to 1885. He was council president during his first term.

Warren served as territorial treasurer in 1876, 1879, 1882, and 1884, and as chairman of the Republican Territorial Central Committee. He was elected mayor of Cheyenne in 1885 and was appointed territorial governor of Wyoming by President Chester A. Arthur to fill the unexpired term of William Hale. He took the oath of office February 28, 1885.

During his tenure Warren called for federal troops to protect Chinese workers during the riots in Rock Springs, Wyoming, on September 2, 1885. He also instituted a quarantine on cattle from all states and territories in which a pleuro-pneumonia was thought to have existed. He served as governor until November 11, 1886, when he was removed from office by President Grover Cleveland.

Warren was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1888. He was appointed territorial governor for a second time by President Benjamin Harrison, taking the oath of office April 9, 1889, and serving until October 11, 1890, when he was elected the first governor of the State of Wyoming. He took office on October 11, 1890, and resigned November 24, 1890, after having been elected by the State Legislature as one of the first two U.S. Senators from Wyoming. He served until 1893 and was reelected in 1895 and served until his death in 1929.

From his first term in the Senate, Warren was one of its leaders. Between 1891 and 1893 and 1895 and 1899 he served as chair of the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation of Public Lands. He worked closely with Wyoming's other senator, Joseph M. Carey, in supporting the Carey Act for the reclamation of public land. Following the passage of this act, Wyoming was the first state to begin the reclamation of arid land. In 1896 Warren offered an amendment to the rivers and harbors bill which provided funding for a survey of rivers in Wyoming and Colorado to determine reservoir sites. Along with Carey, Warren was known as a founding father of irrigation in the West.

Warren served as chair of the Military Affairs Committee from 1905 to 1911. During that period he worked with Secretary of War Elihu Root to reorganize the army, raise military pay, and establish a General Staff. As the ranking minority member prior to World War I, he supported the national defense and the selective service acts.

From 1921 until 1929, Senator Warren was chairman of the Appropriations Committee, one of the most important Senate committees. Here he supported reduced government expenditures and stiffer tariffs, especially those which protected the farm and livestock industries.

At his death on November 24, 1929, in Washington, D.C., Warren had served as Senator for thirty-seven years, the longest service record in the United States Senate to that time.

Francis E. Warren married Helen M. Smith on January 26, 1871, and before her death in 1902 they had two children, Helen Frances (Frankie) and Frederick Emroy. Senator Warren was remarried on June 28, 1911, to Clara LeBaron Morgan.

Helen married General John J. Pershing. Fred E. Warren became vice-president of Warren Live Stock Company in 1913 and replaced his father as president upon his death in 1929. He retained this position until his own death in 1949. Fred Warren was followed by his son Francis Emroy.

To maintain control of his many business interests while away from home, Warren relied heavily on two men. W.W. Gleason was general manager of Warren Live Stock and ran the operation while Warren was in Washington, D.C. Hiram Sapp was Warren's executive secretary and served as liaison between Warren and his companies and acted as a troubleshooter while Warren attended the Senate.