SCVGS is celebrating Arizona’s Centennial with a social following the meeting, Feb. 14, 2012. Please plan to stay, enjoy some refreshments, and especially take time to meet new members, share family stories and have fun! How about wearing nametags to make it easier to get acquainted? See you there.

Why Feb. 14, 1912? Two reasons – 1) it was the 50^th anniversary of the date, Feb. 14, 1862, of the proclamation of Arizona as a Confederate state by Jefferson Davis, and 2) Pres. Taft out-of-town on Feb. 12, 1912 considered the 13th as a poor choice for the proclamation. Hence February 14, 1912. Within one hour of Taft’s proclamation Governor George Wylie Paul Hunt and his Cabinet (already elected) walked to the Capitol to formally announce statehood for Arizona and be sworn into office.

Governor Hunt was born in Huntsville, MO to a well-to-do family who lost their fortune in the Civil War. Hunt ran away and for three years his family believed that he had been killed by Indians. He arrived, however, in Globe, AZ with two burros needing a job. He worked as a waiter, mucker in a mine, on a cattle ranch, and clerk at a general store. The store was purchased by a large concern, and Hunt advanced to president of Old Dominion Commercial Company – a poor boy made good. Gov. Hunt’s story probably reflects that of many of the citizens of Arizona in 1912.