PLATTE COUNTY –  Wyoming Newspapers, Inc. hired a new face for the Platte County Record-Times and Guernsey Gazette. Staff writer Marie Hamilton joins the team to continue to provide local news to residents of Platte County.
Marie Hamilton is an award-winning journalist and recognized by her industry peers to be a stickler for accurate reporting. She has earned the nickname “Little Miss Fact-Checker” by her peers at the Wyoming Press Association (WPA) conventions for always providing clarifying and enriching accurate information about various news topics in our state.
Hamilton previously worked for Wyoming Newspapers, Inc. at the Torrington Telegram and has over 25 years of experience in journalism. She obtained both her Bachelors and Masters in Journalism from Arizona State University and is currently seeking to complete her Juris Doctorate at the University of Wyoming.
From radio to print, Hamilton has worked for organizations like USA Today, NPR, iHeartRadio and other local Wyoming news organizations. She specializes in investigative, data and historical reporting, but loves to cover the local boards and events to be more connected with her community.
Although Hamilton was not born in Wyoming due to her parents’ and grandparents’ military careers, her home and roots have always been considered mostly in Wyoming. She moved back to Wyoming in 2021 with her husband of 25 years and their three sons. Her roots run deep in Platte, Goshen, Sheridan and Laramie counties, as a number of her ancestors were born here and moved here before, during and after the Civil War – many of whom served at Fort Laramie.

“It’s hard to say I have ‘roots’ anywhere due to my parents and grandparents all being active career military members,” Hamilton said, “however, I consider both Wyoming and Arizona my home simply because I was raised between the two states. I spent summers and school breaks in Platte County helping my grandparents, and the school year in Arizona at Luke Air Force Base where my parents were at.”
On the weekends and during her free time, you can catch Hamilton out riding her horse, Betty White, on one of Wyoming’s amazing trails, or fishing with her husband and children at one of the numerous watering holes around the state. She and her family love the Wyoming great outdoors and spend much of their summers camping around the state and their winters, skiing.
You can almost count on seeing her at one of the numerous rodeos and auctions in Wyoming during rodeo season. Hamilton grew up on a horse ranch and her grandparents from both sides were well-known horse breeders, trainers, lodgers and sellers throughout the entire Mountain West and Western Plains areas, from Wyoming and Montana to Colorado and Arizona. In her youth, she participated in and won several rodeo titles as a barrel racer. Her uncles were cattle ranchers and she loved helping with the cattle from time-to-time. Her agricultural roots and knowledge runs deep and she has a keen interest in reporting what is happening in agriculture today due to her generational farming lineages.
“I think one of the under-reported areas today in news is agricultural news,” Hamilton said. “As journalists, we must do a better job at authentically reporting what is happening in the agricultural world, especially here in Wyoming, because many of our families are here thanks to land grants post-Civil War, and we made our living off of farming and ranching in the Wyoming Territory.”
She believes accurate reporting of agriculture issues today can lead to a better understanding for residents and law-makers alike when they make decisions. Her passion is covering rural and hyper-local news topics because she believes that makes the most impact in her community.
An avid researcher, Hamilton loves to dig into genealogy and historical events and has recently become a Daughter of the American Revolution (DAR) as well as a Daughter of the Union Veterans of the Civil War (DUVCW) and United Confederacy Daughters (UCD) through her ancestral lineages.
“Researching historical documents teaches us many things we did not learn in school and things you cannot find in history books or on a Google search,” Hamilton said. “It may not seem like it, but researching history and historical documents gives us a greater understanding of current times and events, especially here in Wyoming.”
Welcome to the Wyoming Newspapers, Inc. team, reporter Marie Hamilton! If you have story ideas, tips or general requests, please feel free to reach out to Hamilton at the Platte County Record-Times office by visiting, calling, or emailing mhamilton@pcrecordtimes.com.