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Gillette, 1911
Robert Campbell emigrated to the United States from Northern Ireland in 1824 and was advised to seek mountain air as a cure for his tuberculosis. Thus, he joined Ashley's fur trading company and by 1826 was in charge of the various trapping parties. He became a partner of William Sublette and was present at the Battle of Pierre's Hole. In 1835 the business was sold to Fontenelle, Fitzpatrick & Company. Campbell was one of the few white men trusted by the Indians and participated in the negotiation of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1869. Both Campbell and Ashley served as co-executors of the estate of Jedediah Smith.
John Allen Campbell, a brevet brigadier general during the Civil War, was appointed territorial governor by President Grant and served between 1869 and 1875. Although he is most noted for signing in 1869 legislation providing for the first universal sufferage in the United States,
Gov. Campbell may also be regarded as the father of the Wyoming National Guard. At his urging the Legislature in 1870 authorized the formation of volunteer militia units. As a result several short lived units were formed in the Territory including the Cheyenne Rangers in 1873, the Wyoming Home Guard in Laramie and Cheyenne in 1874, and the Wyoming Rangers in Lander. Following his service as governor, Campbell served as an assistant secretary of state and as American consul in Basel, Switzerland.
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