He joined the 39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment of the Union Army as a sergeant and served from 1864 to 1865.

[1] Congress investigated Story in 1874 for, among other things, inordinately large undocumented court expenditures and for allowing bail for persons convicted of capital crimes while they were awaiting sentence.

[Note 1][3][4] The House committee found that Story's testimony was “lame, disconnected and unsatisfactory.”[Note 1][3] Within the month after publication of the committee investigation and report in the Arkansas Gazette, Story resigned and moved to Denver, Colorado.

[citation needed] He had other interests in mining, banking, building of roads and railroads (Rio Grande Southern).

[1] In 1913, he moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he established a law practice, Story & Steigmeyer.