Today marks the 112th anniversary of Wyoming's grandest occasion; the wedding of Helen Warren and John Pershing. 

The bride was the daughter of United States Senator Francis Warren, who had previously served as Wyoming's first Governor.

The groom was an accomplished Army Colonel at the time, who later commanded the Allied Forces in World War I became one of only two men to receive the rank of General of the Armies (George Washington was the other).

The couple met in Washington, where Helen had recently graduated from Wellesley College. In spite of a 22-year age difference, they fall madly in love.

The relationship was also well received by the bride's father, who knew of Pershing from his role as Chairman of the U.S. Military Appropriations Committee.

When Pershing learned he was being deployed to Tokyo to assist in the Russo-Japanese War, the couple announced their wedding, to be held in Cheyenne on January 26, 1905.

The event was a star-studded affair attended by many of Wyoming's wealthiest businessmen and prominent political leaders from across the country, including President Theodore Roosevelt.

Sadly, the union would be short lived. In 1915, Helen was tragically killed in a fire along with their three young daughters. Their only son, six-year-old Francis Warren, survived the blaze.

Pershing, who never remarried, retired from military service in the 1930s. He died in 1948, at the age of 87.

 

 

 

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