Nels Hansen Smith (27 August 1884-5 July 1976) was the Republican Governor of Wyoming from 2 January 1939 to 4 January 1943, succeeding Leslie A. Miller and preceding Lester C. Hunt.
Biography[]
Nels Hansen Smith was born in Gayville, South Dakota in 1884 to Danish immigrant parents, and he moved to Wyoming in 1907 and settled in Crook County. He served as a state legislator before serving as Governor from 1939 to 1943; he opposed the relocation of interned Japanese-Americans to his state lest they be lynched. He lost re-election in 1942 and died in Spearfish, South Dakota in 1976.