Governor
George W. P. Hunt
(1912-1919, 1923-1929, 1931-1933)
"Many of George W. P. Hunt's political opponents sneered at him because of his limited education, his beginnings as a menial laborer, and unpolished speech. But the people loved him. They elected him to the Territorial Legislature, honored him with the presidency of the Arizona Constitutional Convention, and made him the easy winner in the 1911 election for Arizona's first state governor. They kept re-electing him their governor seven times, a national record.
George Wylie Paul Hunt was born at Huntsville, Missouri, November 1, 1859. After less than eight years of schooling, he went west to seek his fortune. He prospected in Colorado for a time and then came to Globe, Arizona in 1818, virtually penniless. Hunt waited tables, did common labor in the mines, drove a delivery truck, and clerked in the Old Dominion Commercial Company store in Globe. By 1900 he had moved up to president of the company. Meanwhile, he was elected as Globe's first mayor, and then as a member of the Territorial Legislature. In 1905-09 he served as president of the Council, or upper house, of the Legislature. He was president of the Constitutional Convention which hammered out the document for governing the new state.
A Democrat with populist leanings, he helped make the constitution one of the most liberal in America, with provisions for popular initiative and referendum, and recall of judges. Arizona's first governor shunned a carriage for his inauguration ride, and walked a mile to the Capitol on February 14, 1912, his way of saying he was a man of the people. Hunt's early terms were devoted primarily to placing the new state government on a firm foundation. Later he battled for abolishment of capital punishment and for Arizona's share of Colorado River water.
The portly, mustached "Old Roman" was a master politician who rewarded his friends and blasted his enemies. But Arizona's welfare was his constant goal. Defeated at last for governor, he was appointed minister to Siam by President Woodrow Wilson in 1920. He returned to run again for governor and to win, completing his seventh and final term in early 1933. On Christmas Even, 1934, he died. Governor Hunt and his wife Helen are buried under a white pyramid shaped monument in Phoenix' Papago Park."
Goff, John F. Arizona
Biographical Dictionary. Black Mountain Press. Cave Creek,
Arizona 1983.
p. 261
Website
Guide to the George W. P. Hunt (1859-1934) Collection, 1709-1955
George W. P. Hunt / by John S. Goff.
F
811.H86 G57x 1987
George W. P. Hunt (1859-1934) Collection
MS
CM MSS 48
The diary of George Wylie Paul Hunt, first governor
of state of Arizona, January 1, 1913-June 30, 1913 / [edited by] Harry
J. Kieling.
LD
179.143 1962 .K5
The autobiography of George Wylie Paul Hunt
[microform] / as told by George Wylie Paul Hunt to Sidney Kartus, 1931-1932.
FILM
9493
The decision of the Supreme Court in the Hunt-Campbell
contest. No. 1588, the Supreme Court of the state of Arizona.
KFA2912
.A52 A4x 1917
Compiled messages of Geo. W.P. Hunt and Thos.
E. Campbell, Gove[r]nors of Arizona.
GV
1.2:H 85 M 37
Governor G.W.P. Hunt and organized labor, by
Alan Vernon Johnson.
HD6517
.A7 J6x
Arizona's great progress : letter of Gov. George
W.P. Hunt of Arizona to the Popular Government League.
F811.5
.H86x
