George W. Baxter was born in Sewanee, Tennessee on January 7, 1855. He graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1877 and went on to served three years in the Third United States Cavalry. In 1881, he came to Wyoming, resigned his commission, and entered the cattle business. President Cleveland appointed him Territorial Governor in November 1886 but Baxter resigned in December 1886 due to a scandal involving purported illegal fencing of government land. Baxter was later acquitted of the charges. He was a delegate to the Wyoming Constitutional Convention in 1889 and made an unsuccessful run for governor in 1890. In 1892, he moved to Knoxville, Tennessee where he entered the banking and cotton business. George W. Baxter died in December 1929 in New York City.

He married Margaret White McGhee on January 7, 1880.

The George W. Baxter Collection

Governor Baxter's brief term in office left the following record series:

• General Records
• Property Inventory
• Administrative Records
• General Correspondence
• Appointment Records
• Proclamations
• Petitions for Pardons

Additional Resources

• "Don't Fence Me In: A Baxter Sets the Records Straight", Wyoming State Archives blog piece (accessed May 2015)