Harold T. Lewis papers, 1916-1965

Harold T. “Slim” Lewis (1894-1965) was an aviation pioneer and veteran airlines pilot. Lewis launched his aviation career in 1916 at age 22. He became one of the first half dozen licensed pilots in the United States. By 1918, he was a flight instructor in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and was testing De Havilland DH-4 aircraft for the U.S. Army in Dayton, Ohio. In 1919, he signed on with the U.S. Air Mail Service. On July 1, 1924, he flew the first regular night mail flight between Omaha, Nebraska, and Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 1927, when the U.S. Post Office contracted airmail to private carriers, Lewis joined Boeing Air Transport (later United Airlines). In 1934, after becoming United's Chief Pilot he was transferred to Oakland, California, in the same position. In 1937 Lewis and his friend Philip G. Johnson formed Trans-Canada Airlines. Lewis was stationed at Winnipeg in charge of flight personnel. By 1939 Lewis returned to Boeing as chief pilot, testing B-17 and B-29 bombers. He retired from aviation in 1947 to his cattle ranch north of Cheyenne. He died in Cheyenne in 1965.