Governor of the Montana Territory. He gained a place in American history by being the acting Governor of the Montana Territory for eight months. Born in Illinois, Wiley Scribner moved to Wisconsin when he was nine-years-old. While a young man, he was employed as a merchant and was appointed as the postmaster of the town of Fair Play. He studied law and was admitted to the Bar in 1861. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Scribner enlisted in the United States Army on November 23, 1861 and served throughout the war with Company I, 16th Wisconsin Infantry. He saw action in the battles at Shiloh, Corinth, Colliersville, and the sieges of Atlanta and Vicksburg. At the rank of 1st Lieutenant, he was mustered out on July 12, 1865. Following the war’s end, he returned home and was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1866. After his term in office, he traveled to the Montana Territory, having been offered the job of a newspaper editor for the “Helena Herald.” In 1868 he served as an officer with the local militia protecting the community from raids of the Crow Indians. He received the commission of colonel by Governor Smith. Soon thereafter, he was appointed as the Territorial Secretary. Following the removal of Governor James Ashley from his executive office by United States President Grant in December of 1869, he became the acting Territorial Governor of Montana, serving until August of 1870. At that point, he returned to the newspaper business, sold furs, and ran a cattle ranch. He returned east in 1872 with his wife to Wisconsin. The next year, the couple relocated to Chicago, Illinois where he practiced law, worked as a court clerk, and was elected as the Recorder of Deeds for Cook County, serving until his death. According to his obituary, he had been weak and bedridden for weeks before an aneurysm in his heart ruptured.