W. R. Copman, owner and manager of one of the most attractive and valuable stock ranches at Cloverly, in Bighorn County, Wyoming, and the postmaster at this place, the post office having been established through his efforts and at his earnest solicitation, has past nearly the half of his life so far in Wyoming, and, during the whole of his residence in the state, he has been actively at work as one of the builders and developers of her commercial, industrial, agricultural and political interests. He is a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born on April 15, 1850, the son of W.C. and Anna Copman, both of whom were born and reared in Saxony, Germany. He lived in his native state until he reached the age of sixteen, assisting his parents on the farm and, when he could, attending school. In 1866 he left home for Kansas, where he remained until 1877. H e then went to Oregon, Washington and to Idaho, mining at varies places and also riding the range between times. In 1880 he brought a drove of cattle to Wyoming, from the Grand Ronde Valley of Oregon, for H. C. Lovell, and thereafter remained in the territory, mining and riding the range until 1887,then locating a ranch on Shell Creek and going to work to develop on it a stock company of magnitude and profit. He remained on that ranch and carried on a good business until 1893, when he sold it and removed to the one he now occupies, which is a beautiful tract of land of 320 acres, to the natural attractiveness of which his skill and industry have made important editions, and on which he has erected good buildings and has built up a fine cattle business. He took up part of the land as a homestead, and part as a desert claim, and has responded to the bounty of the government in giving it, by diligently applying his enterprise, intelligence and systematic labor in its improvement. His stock consists of sheep, cattle and horses, sheep being the principal interest, which engages his attention, and of these he handles usually a band of about one-thousand. His cattle and horses are well selected as to breeds, and are well kept by careful attention and ample provision for their comfort. On August 22, 1900, he succeeded in having a post office established at Cloverly, and was appointed postmaster, accepting the office for the convenience of the neighborhood. He is also a school director, and has given valuable attention to the development and improvement of the school system of the district. On November 4, 1890, he was united in marriage at Billings, Montana, with Miss Elizabeth Yegen, a native of Switzerland, but for years a resident of the Northwest. They have three children, daughters, Elizabeth, Emerita and Christina. Mr. Copman has given to the people among whom he has lived in this state an example of elevated and useful citizenship, and has left his mark on the civil and educational institutions of his county in enduring form. In all the lines of active effort in which he has labored, he has performed his duties with fidelity and success, and, where ever he has halted long enough to accomplish a definite result, he has left the empress of a public-spirited, far-seeing man of enterprise and resourcefulness.
