Nels Hansen Smith (August 27, 1884 – July 5, 1976) was an American politician who served as the 18th Governor of Wyoming from 1939 until 1943. He was a Republican.
He was elected governor in 1938, defeating incumbent Governor Leslie A. Miller.[3]
In 1942, when it was proposed Japanese-Americans be relocated to Wyoming Governor Smith told Milton Eisenhower, “If you bring any Japs into my state they will be hanging from every tree.”[4]
Smith's granddaughter Connie Smith, 10 years old, disappeared in Lakeville, Connecticut (a part of Salisbury, Connecticut) while attending summer camp in 1952. He and his son, Connie's father, exhausted all resources trying to find her, but to no avail. She has never been found.[5]