James Halley II

James Halley II (January 7, 1854 – February 28, 1920) was a Scottish-born American politician. He was affiliated with the Republican Party and served as mayor of Rapid City from 1884 to 1886. He served as a member of the final Dakota Territorial Legislature convened in 1889, before Dakota Territory was split and admitted to the Union as two states.

Early life and telegraphy career Halley was born on January 7, 1854, in Stirling. The Halley family moved to Washington, D.C. when James was two years old. Halley's education there included training in telegraphy, and he moved throughout the southern United States at the age of sixteen, returning to Washington at the end of the year. For the following three years, Halley worked as a chief telegraph operator in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. Halley subsequently moved to the West Coast, then to Omaha, Nebraska, before returning to Cheyenne in a matter of months. Halley was then hired by a private company. In 1876, he established a private telegraph line for this company between Cheyenne and the Black Hills, including Custer and Deadwood, Dakota Territory.

Halley Park, named for James Halley II, was established west of Rapid City in 1915. Eleven years later, Alice Gossage supported an effort to repair and move the Pap Madison Cabin to Halley Park. The city government acquired new land for the park in 1939.