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| Affiliation | Republican |
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| Name | Nathan Oakes Murphy |
| Address |
Prescott, Arizona , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
October 14, 1849
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| Died | August 22, 1908
(58 years)
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | Thomas Walker
Dec 14, 2005 04:55pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | Nathan Oakes Murphy has the distinction of being the only Governor of the Arizona Territory appointed on two non-consecutive occasions. He served from 1892-1893 and then from 1898-1902. His administration made some of the greatest accomplishments for the territory, and would eventually help its statehood bid. It included the development of the Arizona Rangers, which brought law and order to the territory, and the opening of a Normal School in Flagstaff, establishing the last of Arizona's college triumvirate.
Born in Lincoln County, Maine on October 14, 1849 to Benjamin F. Murphy and Lucy Oakes Murphy. He was educated at local public schools in Wisconsin after his family moved there from Maine in 1856. He taught school there from 1866-1869 as well and later practiced law. Always involved in mining and railroads, his brother owned the Santa Fe, Prescott, and Phoenix Railroad. Murphy later moved to California and then to Prescott, Arizona where he was a land agent for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in 1887. He married Sarah E. Banghart on August 6, 1884. He was appointed as Secretary of Arizona from 1889-1892 and succeeded the governorship after the departure of Governor Wolfley. As secretary under Governor Irwin, he supported the development of the Salt River Bridge, the restriction of gambling in the territory, the secret ballot, and the enactment of usury laws. He also supported the end to Mexican Fiestas. As Secretary of Arizona, he also asked for the resignation of Governor Wolfley when his stay out of the territory was deemed too long. He was appointed to the Governorship himself on May 11, 1892.
He was one of the few governors who was not against Mormon Settlers and praised them for their hard work. A very thorough governor, his Annual Reports on the territory were some of the most detailed. He was a strong supporter of statehood and wanted more institutions that would bring more businessmen to develop Arizona. He felt that Arizona had come of age and that statehood would bring it federal funds and more public lands. He wanted the reduction of the Indian Reservations so that more immigrants and new mining operations could develop. He wanted the regulation of liquor, the enfranchisement of women, the end of vagrancy, the prohibition of armed Indians, a reform school for Flagstaff, a territorial library in Phoenix, and a museum at the University of Arizona. He was forced to relinquish his office for his first term due to the election of President Cleveland, a democrat, a different governor was appointed to the post as a result.
After his first term, he was an active member in the Republican party both for the state and nationally. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention from Arizona in 1892 and was a delegate in the US Congress representing Arizona from 1895-1897. On August 1, 1898 he was re-appointed to the governorship and had more accomplishments during his second tenure in office. He created a normal school in Flagstaff on September 11, 1899 (now Northern Arizona University), he also created the now famous Arizona Rangers (1901-1909) to help establish law in the territory. No single act did more to help the cause for statehood than the Arizona Rangers. He was the first governor to occupy the new capitol building. His fatal flaw in his second administration was the fact that he opposed the Newlands Act of 1902. This act would help revitalize Arizona and protect it from floods, as well as supply it with water, energy, and countless other desperately needed developments in Arizona. As a result of his opposition to the bill, he was asked to resign by President Roosevelt on April 21, 1902.
While Governor he was admitted to practice law in the Territory in February of 1901. After his administration, he traveled through Europe and the United States. He was a guest at Castle Hot Springs, Arizona in the summer of 1908 and also vacationed at the Hotel del Coronado in California that same summer. He died suddenly at that hotel on August 22, 1908. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in San Diego, California. He was re-interred in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington D.C. in December of 1909.
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