James Halley II (January 7, 1854 – February 28, 1920) was a Scottish-born American politician.
Halley's education there included training in telegraphy, and he moved throughout the south 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.
In 1876, he established a private telegraph line for this company between Cheyenne and the Black Hills, including Custer and Deadwood, Dakota Territory.