James W. (James William) Foley

Born in 1874, James W. Foley became known as an American poet, journalist, and newspaper editor closely associated with North Dakota. Sources describe him as a contemporary of Theodore Roosevelt in the Dakota badlands, and his writing often drew on western life, local character, and the landscape of the northern plains.

He worked in journalism and was remembered in North Dakota literary history as a state poet laureate figure. Archival and library records also connect him with works such as Prairie Breezes, Tales of the Trail, and The Voices of Song, showing the range of his poetry and prose.

Foley died in 1939, but his work remained tied to North Dakota's cultural memory. He is also remembered for writing the words to the official state song, the "North Dakota Hymn," a lasting sign of how strongly his writing was linked to the place he called home.