In the march of American civilization and in its development wonders seem never to cease and surprised in the progress of events as compared with those of other countries are so numerous so great and so continual that they seldom attract more than a passing notice. Where yesterday the prairie bloomed in its virgin beauty or the forest towered in the stateliness it had exhibited for countless generations of men today exist fine farms of generous fruitfulness or mighty cities humming with every productive activity. Within the memory of men now living what was once the far western frontier has become a part of the populous East and what was then known as the untrodden waste or the unbroken wilderness of the remote and almost inaccessible West, the “Great American Desert,” now produces in abundance every fruit of the most cultivated and elevated civilization and abundance of nutritious grasses and prolific yields of grains and vegetables. Mark H. Warner a progressive and successful stock grower and farmer of the Bighorn basin, Wyoming has seen something of this wonderful advance of the all conquering of this wonderful advance of the all conquering army of our people. His life began on May 6, 1851 in Michigan then not far past her assumption of the official robes and dignities of statehood having yet much of her soil as virgin as when it first became a part of this continent. He settled in Wyoming when the section of country in which he now lives was in much the same condition as that of Michigan and he has seen and helped it grow into its present state of progress and development. His parents were Ezra B. and Frances (Clark) Warner, natives of New York and Early settlers in Michigan in which state he grew to man’s estate and was educated. When he reached his majority in 1872 he sought opportunity and a home in Nebraska locating a homestead neat Red Cloud in Webster County. On this he lived worked and prospered for twenty years engaged in the peaceful occupation of a farmer. In 1892 he sold his interest and came to Wyoming. For a year he lived in Sheridan County then removing to Bighorn he located on the place which he now occupies and started his flourishing and well-established stock business. His ranch contains 240 acres of superior land and he has good herds of cattle and horses. In matters affecting the welfare and advancement of the community he has ever been deeply and intelligently interested. He was one of the original promoters of the telephone company in Tensleep being now one of its directors. In politics he is an active Republican and gives to the affairs of his party careful and effective attention serving both as a private in the ranks and in official station. He was for years a justice of the peace while in 1902 he was elected a county commissioner for a term of four years. He was married at Red Cloud, Nebraska in 1876 to Miss Sarah A. Munsell, a native of Wisconsin. They have five children, Fannie F., wife of George Sutherland of near Tensleep of whom more extended mention is made elsewhere in this work; Della, Burchard, Laird and Adene. Mrs. Warner’s father Lafayette Munsell was a soldier in the Mexican War and valiantly sustained the reputation of the family in many of its battles. He was also a member of the Eighth Wisconsin Infantry in the Civil War with which organization he served throughout the war.
