James H. Walton: Cheyenne Rotary's First President

James H. Walton was born in Steuben County, New York in 1874.  He grew up on a grain and cattle farm.  He graduated from the Geneseo State Teacher’s College near Rochester, New York in 1898.  Thereafter, he moved to Warren, Ohio to teach grammar school.  During the summers of 1901 and 1902, Walton traveled to Cheyenne to work for the Wyoming Tribune selling subscriptions.  In 1903, Walton moved to Cheyenne permanently to become the advertising manager of the Wyoming Tribune.  He traveled by horse across southeast Wyoming selling advertisements.

Walton was married in 1910 to Louise Burrage, a Cheyenne school teacher.  In 1912, Walton accepted a position as Vice-President of Stockgrowers National Bank.  In 1921, Walton left the Stockgrowers Bank to acquire and operate the local Ford dealership.  Walton Motor Company grew into one of Wyoming’s largest automobile deaerships.

Walton was an active civic leader in Cheyenne.  He was on the Cheyenne Frontier Days Committee, served as a director of the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce and was a longtime member of the Young Men’s Literary Club.  He was “the backbone of the Cheyenne Rotary Club” according to Fred Baggs. 

In 1917, he joined approximately 30 other business and professional men in founding the Cheyenne Lions Club.  Following irreconcilable difference with the national organization, Walton and the other members organized the Cheyenne Rotary Club in August 1918.  After the Club received its charter on November 1, 1918, Walton served as the Club’s first president from 1918 through June 1920.  Walton also served as Rotary District Governor in 1922-23.