Warren A. Morton
Encyclopedia
Warren Allen Morton was a Casper
Casper, Wyoming
Casper is the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States.. Casper is the second-largest city in Wyoming , according to the 2010 census, with a population of 55,316...

 oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

man and engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 who served as Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...

 of the Wyoming House of Representatives
Wyoming House of Representatives
The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 60 Representatives in the House, representing an equal amount of single-member constituent districts across the state, each with a population of at least 9,000. The House convenes at the Wyoming...

 from 1979 to 1980, prior to mounting a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

  gubernatorial campaign in 1982. He served in the Wyoming House from Natrona County from January 1, 1967, to December 31, 1980. Morton was the managing partner of MKM Oil Company in Casper, the seat of Natrona County in eastern Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

 and the second largest city in the state.

Early years, education, family, military

Morton was born in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

, the seat of Jefferson County
Jefferson County, Alabama
Jefferson County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, with its county seat being located in Birmingham.As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Jefferson County was 658,466...

 and the largest city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, to Lindley C. Morton of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and the former Ruth Goddard, a native of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. Lindley and Ruth moved to Alabama because of his job with Portland Cement Company. The Mortons returned to California and reared their family of three sons and a daughter. Morton's brothers were Robert Morton and Coleman Morton (1919–2006), both of Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

; his surviving sister is Sylvia Morton Kingsley of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

.

Morton graduated from the Hotchkiss School
Hotchkiss School
The Hotchkiss School is an independent, coeducational American college preparatory boarding school located in Lakeville, Connecticut. Founded in 1891, the school enrolls students in grades 9 through 12 and a small number of postgraduates...

, a boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...

 for boys, since coeducational, located in Lakeville
Lakeville, Connecticut
Lakeville is a village and census-designated place in the town of Salisbury in Litchfield County, Connecticut, on Lake Wononskopomuc. The village includes Lakeville Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The district represents about of the village center...

, a village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in Litchfield County
Litchfield County, Connecticut
Litchfield County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut but is geographically the state's largest county. As of 2010 the population was 189,927...

, Connecticut. He then attended Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 in New Haven
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...

, from which he graduated in the field of engineering in 1945. Thereafter, from 1945 to 1947, he was an ensign
Ensign
An ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...

 in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, having been commissioned through Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. In 1948, he married the former Katharine Hancock "Kathy" Allen (born 1926), the daughter of Robert Gray Allen
Robert G. Allen
Robert Gray Allen was an American businessman and a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.-Biography:...

, a former Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 U.S. representative from Greensburg
Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city is named after Nathanael Greene, a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War...

 in western Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

.

In 1952, Warren and Kathy Morton moved to Casper from Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

, California, where Morton had been a petroleum engineer. They had four sons. Frederick Lee "Ted" Morton
Ted Morton
Frederick Lee Morton , known commonly as Ted Morton, is a Canadian politician and Minister of Energy for the Province of Alberta. As a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta he represents the constituency of Foothills-Rocky View as a Progressive Conservative...

 (born 1949 in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

) is a political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 professor on extended leave from the University of Calgary
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...

 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...

. Allen Morton (born 1951) is a mergers and acquisitions specialist for Royal Bank in San Francisco. Robert C. "Bob" Morton (born 1953) is an attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

. Warren Goddard Morton (born 1957) is a Landman for True Oil Company and resides in Casper.

Morton as House Speaker

The fiscally conservative Morton, who was a director of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association, was not otherwise a typical Wyoming Republican. He supported a woman's right to procure an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...

 and gun control
Gun control
Gun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens...

 laws, particularly opposed by his state's large community of hunters. As House Speaker, his colleagues considered him strict, smart, and fair. Tom Stroock, a former state senator from Casper and a United States Ambassador to Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, described the former Speaker as "brilliant. . . Warren had an important part to play in the history of Wyoming in the 1970s and 1980s. He was clearly an outstanding Speaker and an excellent legislator," though Stroock said that he did not always agree with Morton's political positions.

Marlene Simons of Beulah
Beulah, Wyoming
Beulah is an unincorporated community in eastern Crook County, Wyoming, United States, along a tributary of the Belle Fourche River. It lies along local roads near Interstate 90, northeast of the town of Sundance, the county seat of Crook County. Its elevation is 3,520 feet , and it is...

, who was a freshman representative when Morton was Speaker, said that he had been a mentor to beginning legislators, seating them among the more experienced lawmakers. "He ran a tight ship. He was a kind, gentle man, but he was stern."

Gubernatorial campaign

Morton easily won the GOP
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

 to challenge two-term Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 Edgar Herschler
Edgar Herschler
Edgar Jacob Herschler , popularly known as "Gov. Ed", was the 28th Governor of Wyoming from 1975 to 1987. Herschler built a personal appeal to voters based on charisma, a small-town background, and shrewd political maneuvering to such an extent that he was the only three-term governor in Wyoming...

 of Kemmerer
Kemmerer, Wyoming
Kemmerer is both the largest city and the county seat of Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 2,651 at the 2000 census. It dubs itself the "The Fossil Fish Capital of the World" and the "Gateway to the West." As the county seat of Lincoln County, Kemmerer is the location of...

 in Lincoln County. He polled 52,536 votes (74.3 percent). Rex G. Welty (1921–1992) of Afton
Afton, Wyoming
Afton is a town in Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,818 at the 2000 census.Afton is home to the world's largest elk horn arch...

 in Lincoln County received 9,106 ballots (12.9), and Earl A. Johnson drew 9,025 (12.8 percent). Nels J. Smith of Sundance
Sundance, Wyoming
Sundance is a town in Crook County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,161 at the 2000 census. The town is named for the Sun Dance ceremony practiced by several North American Indian Nations.-Sundance in popular culture:...

 in northeastern Wyoming, who had been Morton's predecessor as House Speaker, filed for governor but withdrew before the primary. In a nationally Democratic year, Herschler charged that Morton was a tool of the energy interests. Morton was active in the Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association, having been the president of the interest group from 1963 to 1965. In addition to his own MKM company, Morton was a director of the American Petroleum Institute and was the Wyoming representative on the Interstate Oil Compact Commission from 1962 to 1972.

Morton received 62,128 votes (36.9 percent) to Herschler's 106,427 (63.1 percent). Morton polled only 9,592 more votes in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...

 than he had the primary. Herschler, however, received 62,031 more votes in the final round than he had in the Democratic primary against Pat McGuire. Herschler's plurality over Morton was hence almost numerically the same as Morton's total vote in the general election.

Morton ran nearly twelve percentage points behind John C. Ostlund
John C. Ostlund
John Chapman Ostlund was a diversified businessman from Gillette and Cheyenne, Wyoming, who served in the Wyoming State Senate from 1973 to 1978, when he resigned to seek the Republican gubernatorial nomination...

, a former state senator, who had lost to Herschler in 1978. Of the three Republicans who challenged Herschler, Ostlund had fared best, losing by one percentage point. While Morton lost the governorship, Republican U.S. Senator Malcolm Wallop
Malcolm Wallop
Malcolm Wallop was a Republican politician and former three-term United States Senator from Wyoming.-Early years:...

 of Sheridan
Sheridan, Wyoming
Sheridan is a city in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The 2010 census put the population at 17,444 and a Micropolitan Statistical Area of 29,116...

 defeated the Democrat former State Senator Rodger McDaniel, 57–43 percent. McDaniel had been the Wyoming state coordinator for the unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1980 of Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

.

After his gubernatorial defeat, Morton continued to support Republican candidates in Wyoming, such as U.S. Senators Craig Thomas, Alan K. Simpson
Alan K. Simpson
Alan Kooi Simpson is an American politician who served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States Senator from Wyoming as a member of the Republican Party. His father, Milward L. Simpson, was also a member of the U.S...

, Mike Enzi
Mike Enzi
Michael Bradley "Mike" Enzi is the senior U.S. Senator from Wyoming and a member of the Republican Party.Raised in Thermopolis, Wyoming, Enzi attended George Washington University and the University of Denver. He expanded his father's shoe store business in Gillette before being elected mayor of...

, and Malcolm Wallop, as well as his state's GOP organization. In 2000, he also donated to then U.S. Representative Rick Lazio
Rick Lazio
Enrico Anthony "Rick" Lazio is a former U.S. Representative from the state of New York. Lazio became well known nationally when he ran against Hillary Rodham Clinton for the U.S. Senate in New York's 2000 Senate election...

 of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 in the latter's bid against Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...

 for the U.S. Senate. In 1979, Morton contributed to the failed presidential bid of former Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 John B. Connally before switching his support to Ronald W. Reagan.

Death and legacy

Morton had struggled for four years with Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...

 and then developed Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...

. Wife Kathy recalls that Morton "had a very good sense of humor about it [Alzheimer's]. He was very open and honest." Morton died at the family's winter residence in Litchfield Park
Litchfield Park, Arizona
Litchfield Park is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. In 2010 it had a population of 5,476.-History:The town of Litchfield Park is named for its founder, Paul Weeks Litchfield...

 in Maricopa County
Maricopa County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*73.0% White*5.0% Black*2.1% Native American*3.5% Asian*0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.5% Two or more races*12.7% Other races*29.6% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

 near Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

. He was cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....

. Memorial services were held at St. Mark's Church in Casper on March 2, 2002.

Morton served on the board of trustees of the two-year Casper College
Casper College
Casper College is a public community college in Casper, Wyoming, U.S. The school was founded in 1945. It currently enrolls 4,023 students. There are approximately 250 faculty. The Tate Geological Museum is located on the south end of the campus.Warren A...

, a community college
Community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...

. He was involved in numerous community affairs, including the management of a Little League
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...

 baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 team for seven years. He was a director and past president of the Wyoming Heritage Society. He served on the boards of the United Fund, Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

, and St. Mark's Episcopal
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...

 Church.

Jim Geringer
Jim Geringer
James Edward "Jim" Geringer was the 30th Governor of Wyoming.-Early life and education:Geringer was raised on a farm in Wheatland, Wyoming. He attended Kansas State University and was a member of Triangle Fraternity, earning a degree in mechanical engineering. He served for ten years in the...

, the only Republican since 1975 to have served as governor of Wyoming (1995–2003), issued a statement on Morton's death: "I'm deeply saddened at the news of Warren Morton's passing. [First Lady] Sherri and I extend our sympathy and support to Katharine and the rest of the family. Warren set a high standard for public service with his involvement in community activities as Speaker of the House . . . , as a member of several committees and study groups, including the Tax Reform 2000 Commission, the Wyoming Futures Project, and the 1991 commission that studied judicial salaries. Warren served out of commitment and compassion. He was a true Wyoming statesman, businessman, and family man. We will certainly miss Warren."
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