African-American History in Wyoming: Pioneers

(B-916/988 OR 989)

DeMarge Tolliver is reportedly the first Black child born on record in the Wyoming Territory. She was heavily involved in Cheyenne's Black community and was a charter member of the Searchlight Club.

(SUB NEG 23527 left to right is Buck Rhone, Noelle Smith, and Jim Byrd)

Noelle Smith was born in a tent on his parent's ranch in Chugwater. He was valedictorian of his 1907 Cheyenne High School class. He received a scholarship to play football for the University of Nebraska where he earned an engineering degree. He took a job in Hawaii where he learned Hawaiian and served in the House of Representatives, later he worked in the State Department for the United States Government.

H2001-58-- Smith, Noelle

1. Sommers, Jonita. "Breaking a Sterotype: Black Rancher Alonzo Stepp." Wyohistory.org, 2019. 
2. Wallace, Eunice E. "Wyoming's Own." "The Stepp Story". Joslyn and Rentschler Lithoprinters, 1976. pg 357-361. 

Federal Census Records population statistics compiled by ProQuest African American Heritage. Census records are a great way to track people and populations as they change through the years.

1870 -- 145

1880 -- 307

1900 -- 588

1910 -- 1721

1920 -- 909

Empire was an all-Black town located about 10 miles northeast of Torrington on the border of Nebraska. Empire was founded in 1908 by African-American families from Nebraska who came to Wyoming to build a racially self-sufficient, politically autonomous community. The town lasted two decades before droughts, farm economics of the 1920s, and racial injustice swept Empire off the prairie. 

1. Galbreth, Robert. "Making a Home in Empire, Wyoming." Wyohistory.org, 2016. 
2. Guenther, Todd. “The Empire Builders, an African American Odyssey in Nebraska and Wyoming.” Nebraska Historical, vol. 89, no. No.4, 2008.

In the 1930s the Works Progress Administration worked to collect stories from Wyoming's pioneers. The following list are stories from some of Wyoming's Black pioneers.

• America Kittrell and Mrs. Alice Ritchie -- Bio 548
• Bunk Haynes -- Bio 1600
• Charles Tolson – Bio 961
• Chester J. Powell -- Bio 2084
• James Simpson -- Bio 2050
• Matthew Campfield -- Bio 2149
• Nancy Phillips -- Bio 1185
• Pioneer Life -- Subject 116

1. Anderson, Martha.  "Black Pioneers of the Northwest 1800-1918." Chapter 8: Wyoming. Pioneer Publishing, 1980. pg. 201-210
2. Ball, Wilbur P. "Black Pioneers of the Prairie." PAM920B34
3. "Black Men in Cattle Country." The Westerner’s Brand Book, Chicago, Sept/October, 1981
4. "Blacks Played Major Role in Settling the West." Gillette News Record, May 31, 1984
5. "Blacks in the Equality State Topic for Talk by: Lee Bachlet." Laramie Boomerang, July 10, 1988
6. Collins, Dabney O. "The Black who Became an Indian." Empire Magazine, Part I, Nov. 29, 1970, Pages 44-50 
7. Collins, Dabney O. "The Black who Became an Indian." Empire Magazine, Part II Dec 6, 1970, Pages 48-52
8. Glasrud, Bruce A., and Charles A. Braithwaite, editors. African Americans on the Great Plains: An Anthology. The University of Nebraska Press, 2009.
9. Guenther, Todd. “Could These Bones Be from a Negro? Oregon-California Trail.” Overland Journal, vol. 19, no. No.2, 2001.
10. Guenther, Todd. "Lucretia Marchbanks: A Black Woman in the Black Hills." South Dakota History Journal, vol. 31, no. 1;
11. Phillip St . Laurent- Guidon Vol. 4 No. 3 July-Sept, 1976 1-3 Part 2 Vol. 4 No. 4
12. Rea, Tom. "Matthew Campfield: Barber, Coroner, and Pioneer Survivor." Wyohistory.org, January, 2016. 
13. Seawright, Julian. "Recognizing Wyomng's Pioneers for the Black Community." Channel 5 Wyoming News Now, 2021.
14. Tanksley, Brenda. "Mrs. Williams—Manuscript." Wyo. Hist. 360 D. U.W. 1980 2 pages—H81-57
15. "The Black Frontier a Land of Opportunity and Danger." Jackson Hole Guide, Feb. 20, 1991