“Willis Van Devanter” is a part of the Capitol Avenue Bronze public art collection . . donated to the City of Cheyenne by private individuals, organizations or companies. For more information about the Capitol Avenue Bronze Project, visit Deselms Fine Art at https://deselmsfineart.com

Willis Van Devanter is the only person from Wyoming to have ever served on the United States Supreme Court.

He was born on April 17, 1859, in Marion, Indiana. He received a law degree from the University of Cincinnati Law School in 1881 and joined his father’s law firm in Marion. Three years later, he moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, and established his own practice. He served, in 1887, as City Attorney of Cheyenne, and in 1888, was elected to the Territorial Legislature. He was only thirty years old when President Benjamin Harrison appointed him Chief Justice of the Wyoming Territorial Supreme Court in 1889. He resigned as Chief Justice and returned to private practice in 1890 after Wyoming was admitted to the Union as the forty-fourth State.

In 1897, President William McKinley appointed Van Devanter an Assistant Attorney General, assigned to the Interior Department. President Theodore Roosevelt thereafter appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 1903. President William H. Taft nominated him to the Supreme Court of the United States on December 12, 1910, and the Senate confirmed his appointment on December 15, 1910.

Justice Van Devanter served on the United States Supreme Court for twenty-six years, until his retirement on June 21, 1937. He died on February 8, 1941, at the age of eighty-one.

To learn more about the Capitol Avenue Bronze Project, visit this link . For more information about each artist, sponsoring a bronze, or becoming a donor/supporter at any level, please contact Harvey Deselms at Deselms Fine Art, located at 303 E. 17th Street Cheyenne. Email is [email protected] or call at 307 432 0606