The first Lander man to die in combat was Don Stough, who died on a battlefield in France. Stough was the son of Charles Stough who served two terms as Fremont County Sheriff, and had a ranch on the Sweetwater. Don graduated from the Lander High School in 1915. Stough joined the service in 1918. He had wanted to join the aviation corps, but was assigned to the infantry instead.

His last letter to his family stated he was in France training, but expected to see combat soon.

Don was a beloved member of the community, and hundreds of mourners filled the Trinity Church for his memorial. The Lander Journal reported that: “But as the news comes to our peaceful little town of the fatalities, one by one, it seems the pall is closing around us to and we are brought closer to the battlefields where exists so much suffering and death. And now the horror of this great world war is being realized at home.”

Don was buried in the U.S. Army Cemetery at Chateau Thierry. Another of the Stough boys, Laurence, had died in 1914 working in the Philippines. Both the of the Stough boys are buried overseas, but a granite headstone stands in Lander’s Mt. Hope Cemetery to commemorate them.

Don Stough was also honored for his service by the American Legion. When a Post was created in Lander it was named The Don Stough Post.