Russell Thorp, Jr., was a prominent Wyoming cattleman. Born in 1877, he was raised on a ranch in Rawhide Buttes. His father operated the Cheyenne-Black Hills Stage Line and a hotel in Edgemont, South Dakota before turning the ranching business full-time. Russell attended the University of Nebraska and graduated in 1898. Afterwards, he returned to ranching, and by the 1920s became well established in Montana and Wyoming, with extensive personal connections and holdings in land and cattle. In the 1931, he was a field secretary for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, and until 1949, was an influential voice for Wyoming agriculture. In 1949, he resigned and became a field representative for the American National Cattlemen's Association, in which he continued to be a prominent advocate for agricultural interests, but now on a national scale.
During his life, Thorp served on many Wyoming boards and commissions, including the State Fair, the Historical Landmarks Commission, and the Wyoming Emergency Relief Commission. In the latter part of his life, he became interested in Wyoming, and was a member of the Wyoming Historical Society and founding member of the Wyoming Pioneer Association.
From the guide to the Russell L. Thorp, Jr. Papers, 1874 - 1967, (Wyoming State Archives)
