William Bright

Born in Alexandria, VA, Bright moved out West after the Civil War, working as a saloon keeper. In 1869, Bright was elected to the first Territorial Assembly for Wyoming. There he introduced a bill providing for women’s suffrage, which became the first law of its kind in the United States. There are conflicting accounts about why Bright supported suffrage. Some say his wife made him. Some say he and the democratic leadership thought women would vote Democrat, so they wanted to increase their support. This theory is supported by the fact that the Democratic legislature tried to repeal suffrage two years later, when they realized lots of women voted Republican, but the repeal failed. But the most popular legend includes a woman named Esther Morris, of Illinois, who had come out to the Wyoming frontier with her husband and sons. Morris had been inspired by a speech by Susan B. Anthony. When she realized Wyoming would elect a territorial Assembly, Morris invited 20 prominent South Pass City residents to dinner. She gave a stirring pro-suffrage speech, and by the end of dinner, all the men promised that if they were elected to the Assembly, they would include suffrage in the laws of the Wyoming Tales and Trailsnew territory. When Bright was elected, he kept his promise.