page_title: Ralph H. Cameron
section_title: Coconino County
hierarchical_section_title: Ralph H. Cameron / Coconino County
caption_attribution_description: Ida May Spaulding Cameron, wife of Senator Ralph H. Cameron of Arizona, with daughter Catherine
context_page_description: Ralph Henry Cameron was an American businessman, prospector and politician who served as both Arizona Territory's Delegate to Congress and as an Arizona United States Senator. As a Territorial delegate, he saw Arizona achieve statehood in 1912. Cameron's greatest achievement in the US Senate was authorization for the Coolidge Dam.
  On the business front, Cameron was active early in efforts to develop the Grand Canyon. Toward this end he often used his political influence to help his business interests. Popular among residents of northern Arizona for much of his political career, his fortunes changed after he reached the U.S. Senate and voters began to view his actions as self-serving.
context_section_description: In 1889, Cameron became a leader in the efforts to create Coconino County from northern Yavapai County after becoming upset about having to travel to Prescott for jury duty and only receiving $2/day for the time and effort. When the new county was formed in 1891, Governor John N. Irwin appointed Cameron as the county's first sheriff. He served in the position for three terms, winning reelection in 1894 and 1896. He was a McKinley delegate during the 1896 Republican National Convention. Cameron married Ida May Spaulding in Flagstaff on November 25, 1895. The couple had two children: Ralph Jr. and Catherine.
  When Cameron attempted to obtain patents for several of his mining claims, the Santa Fe Railroad contested the claims and sued to block the patents on the basis the claims did not have any valuable minerals. The Gold Eagle and Cape Horn also partially overlapped the railroad station grounds. As the 1898 Congressional grant authorizing the railroad station predated Cameron's 1902 claim application, the railroad maintained control of its grounds and right of way but in 1906, Judge Richard E. Sloan found sufficient evidence of mineral deposits for Cameron to keep his mining claim after adjusting its boundaries.
  As the 1906 expiration of his franchise on the Bright Angel trail approached, Cameron began looking for new ways to extend his control of the trail. He was elected to the Coconino County Board of supervisors in 1904. A year later he became the board's chairman. When the 24th Arizona Territorial Legislature convened, he lobbied the session to pass the "Cameron bill" which required counties to give preference to the prior owner of a toll road when awarding the operating contract after a franchise on a road expired. Interior Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock sent a telegram protesting the bill, prompting Governor Joseph H. Kibbey to veto the legislation. The legislature overrode the veto and passed the bill on March 18, 1907. When Cameron's franchise expired, the Santa Fe railroad offered to pay 70% of all collected tolls to the county in exchange for the contract to operate the Bright Angel trail. The county board rejected the railroad's offer and awarded a five-year contract to Cameron in 1907.
  The Santa Fe railroad appealed the decision on Cameron's mining claims to Land Office Commissioner Richard A. Ballinger. Following a common pattern where local land office officials who had ruled in Cameron's favor were overruled by their Washington superiors, Ballinger rejected Cameron's patent applications. Cameron then appealed to Interior Secretary James R. Garfield. Garfield initially found some pertinent information had not been included in the initial investigation and in August 1907 ordered a new investigation into Cameron's claims. Garfield issued a decision in February 1909 which found the disputed claims did not "possess such mineral character and values as to justify the land department in awarding the desired patent".
caption: Ida May Spaulding Cameron with daughter Catherine (c. 1921)
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