Wyllys Anderson Hedges was born in Independence, Iowa on July 3, 1857, the first of eight children born to Cornelius and Edna Smith Hedges. Cornelius was a Yale educated attorney and prominent early Montana pioneer. Wyllys moved with his family to Montana Territory in 1867, arriving in Fort Benton via steamboat and then overland to Helena where Cornelius established a law practice and took an active role in local politics. Wyllys grew up in Helena and became the city's second librarian in 1869. He returned to New England as a young man to attend high school and Yale University, but he returned to Montana before completing his college studies. Wyllys first filed on a claim in Cascade County where the future city of Great Falls would be located and began raising sheep. In 1881 he moved to Wheatland County where he again operated a sheep ranch and, in 1884, married Ida S. Beach of Southington, Connecticut. They had four daughters, none of whom survived childhood. The couple moved once more in 1906 to Lewistown, Fergus County, where Wyllys served as receiver of the U.S. Land Office. Like his father, Wyllys was an enthusiastic member of the Masonic fraternity and took an active interest in the history of Montana. He served as a state representative for three terms, and during the session of 1904-1905 was elected speaker of the house. He was also on the board of trustees for the Montana Historical Society, president of the Society of Montana Pioneers, and president of the Montana chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. Wyllys Hedges died in Lewistown on November 24, 1929.
From the guide to the Wyllys A. Hedges Papers, 1885-1967, (Montana State University-Bozeman Library, Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections)
