George W. P. Hunt

George Wylie Paul Hunt, the first governor of the State of Arizona was born November 1, 1859 in Huntsville, Missouri. His parents were George Washington Hunt and Sarah Elizabeth Yates. He was a grandson of Daniel Hunt for whom Huntsville was named. He left home on March 3, 1878 at four in the morning. For three years his family thought he was dead, but the entire time he was wandering through Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico prospecting for gold and precious minerals. At one point he rafted down the Rio Grande.

In 1881 he arrived in Globe, Arizona, and got work as a waiter at the Pasco Café. He then worked as a clerk for a general store and when that store was bought out by the Old Dominion Commercial Company he drove delivery wagons for them. In ten years he worked his way up to secretary and then president of the company. From there he branched out into banking and ranching. Once Globe was incorporated he was elected its first mayor. In 1892 he was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives. He was reelected again in 1894. He then ran for a seat on the Territorial Council in 1896 and won. He was reelected again in 1898, but left politics in 1900. and did not return until 1904. He married Helen Duett Ellison a rancher's daughter on February 24, 1904.

He ran again for the Arizona Territorial Council in 1904, and had terms in 1906 and 1908. In 1905 and 1908 he served as its president. He presided over the Arizona Constitutional Convention in 1910 that eventually led to statehood. On October 24, 1911 he was elected Arizona's first governor, sworn in when Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912. He was elected to that office six times, so many that with his fifth term folks referred to him as "George V," and with the sixth term he was called "George VI." Will Rodgers asked if he would adopt him so he could become heir to the "hereditary governorship." He nearly lost with his third term. It was declared his opponent Thomas Campbell had won by thirty votes. Hunt challenged the results saying several precincts had fraudulent voting. At first Hunt refused to leave office, but on January 27, 1917 the Arizona Supreme Court declared Campbell governor. Eventually, though Hunt won his fight with a court ruling he had won by forty-three votes. He resumed office, but decided not to run again in 1918.

In 1920, Hunt was appointed Minister to Siam by President Woodrow Wilson. It was said this was done to keep Hunt from running against United States Senator Mark Smith for one of Arizona's Senate seats. Hunt served in this capacity until October 4, 1921 when President Harding had him replaced. Hunt then ran for his fourth term as governor in 1922. He ran again in 1924 and 1926 winning closely contested races both times. He lost his 1928 bid for governor, but ran again in 1930 and won. He did not get his party's nomination in 1932 and failed again in 1934. He died on December 24. 1934, and was interred in a pyramid in Papago Park Cemetery in Phoenix alongside his wife who had passed on April 18, 1931.

George Wylie Paul Hunt was a colorful figure standing at five foot nine inches and over 300 pounds with a large mustache. He was sometimes called the "Old Walrus." In his time though he advocated woman's suffrage, the income tax, a pension for teachers, prohibition, laws for worker's compensation, laws restricting child labor, a law requiring newspapers to disclose ownership, as well as laws restricting lobbying. During his time in office the Arizona Highway Patrol was established as well as the Arizona Bureau of Mines and Bureau of Statistics. Hunt perhaps had a greater impact on the politics of Arizona in its first 50 years than any other politician.