James W. (James William) Foley

Born in St. Louis in 1874 and raised largely in North Dakota, he grew up around Fort Abraham Lincoln, Bismarck, and Medora. As a teenager he graduated from Bismarck High School unusually young, later spent time in the Dakota badlands, and taught school in Medora before building a broader career as a writer.

Alongside his poetry, he worked for many years with the Bismarck Tribune, wrote for national publications including the New York Times and the Saturday Evening Post, and served in political roles such as secretary to Governor E. Y. Sarles and later to the North Dakota state senate. His first book, A Little Book of Prairie Breezes, appeared in 1902, and he went on to publish more than a dozen poetry collections.

He was also known for his connection to Theodore Roosevelt, who had met him in the Dakota badlands and later remained part of his story. After leaving North Dakota in 1913, he settled in California, but his reputation stayed closely tied to the state; in 1926 he was invited to write the words for the “North Dakota Hymn,” sealing his place in North Dakota literary history.