Lester C. Hunt was born on July 8, 1892 in Isabel, Illinois. The family later moved to Atlanta, Illinois. While playing semi-professional baseball in Peoria, he was recruited to play professional ball in Lander in 1911. He furthered his education at Illinois Wesleyan University in 1912-1913 and in 1914 enrolled in the school of dentistry at St. Louis University. He graduated in the spring of 1917 and moved to Lander in July 1917. During World War I, he served in the Dental Corps and was discharged with the rank of major in May 1919. After the war, he took postgraduate work in dentistry at Northwestern University and upon completion in 1920, returned to Lander.

Hunt was active in the school board, chamber of commerce, and boy scouts as well as county and state medical and dental organizations. He was elected as a state representative in 1932, secretary of state in 1934 and 1938, and governor in 1942 and 1946. In 1948 re-ran for the US Senate and defeated the incumbent E.V. Robertson. He died in Washington, D.C., on June 19, 1954, and was buried in Cheyenne.

While serving as Secretary of State, Hunt came up with the idea of adding a logo to the license plate. He commissioned Denver artist Allen True to draw a cowboy riding a bucking horse. The now iconic bucking horse first appeared on the 1930 license plate. According to Hunt, the rider was inspired by Stub Farlow, but neither the horse nor the rider was modeled by anyone in particular. Hunt also proposed the idea of presenting a statue of Esther Morris to be added the to National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.

Hunt married Emily Nathelle Higby on February 3, 1918. They had two children (Elise and Lester, Jr.)

The Governor Lester C. Hunt Collection

The records of Governor Hunt's term in office include:

• General Records
• Western Governors' Conference
• Administrative Records
• Reports
• Financial Records

Quotations

In compliance with the mandate of our state constitution, and in accordance with the custom of all free people, we meet today to begin the consideration of problems affecting the welfare of Wyoming and the well-being of its citizens, and we behold a strange spectacle, a complex phenomenon, for millions of men and machines are busily engaged in the practice of destruction. The United States of America is playing a major part in this global war. It is our war. It is Wyoming's war, and the vast changes that have taken place since you assembled here two years ago will probably pale into invisibility beside the upheavals of the next two years." -- Message to the Legislature, 1943.

Additional Resources

• Lester C. Hunt papers, 1889-1954 (bulk 1925-1954), Collection Number 00270, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming