L.L. Newton papers, 1837-1953

Len L. Newton was a Wyoming newspaperman and historian of the Fremont County area. He was born in Wyanet, Illinois, in 1877 and came to Cody, Wyoming, in 1901 to work as a printer on the Cody Enterprise. Later, in association with his father, he established the Northern Wyoming Herald which eventually consolidated with the Cody Enterprise. In 1924 he sold his interest in the Enterprise and bought the Wyoming State Journal located in Lander, Wyoming. He was appointed by Governor Robert Carey to supervise the first bond issue for the state highway system. Governor Frank Emerson appointed him director of the Wyoming State Department of Commerce and Industry in 1929. Newton sold the Wyoming State Journal to his son, Ernest L. Newton, in 1938. During World War II he worked as editor of the Alliance, Nebraska, Times Herald. Newton took great interest in the early history of Wyoming, particularly the Lander and Fremont County area. He was active in Republican politics and outspoken on controversial questions of his time. L.L. Newton died in Lander at the age of 76 on July 20, 1954.