Ralph H. Cameron

Ralph Henry Cameron ( born October 21, 1863 in Southport, Lincoln County, Maine, † 12 February 1953 in Washington DC ) was an American politician ( Republican), who represented the state of Arizona in the U.S. Senate.

Hailing originally from New England, Cameron moved at an early age in the western United States, where he worked in the mining and cattle raising. He was also involved in the creation of the Bright Angel Trail, a hiking trail in Grand Canyon National Park. In 1883 he moved to Arizona Territory, where he served in 1891 as sheriff of Coconino County; 1894 to 1898, he held that post again. From 1905 to 1907 he was the Board of Supervisors before, the government of the county.

As a delegate of the territory Cameron was in 1908 elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he remained until 1912, when Arizona was a state. Subsequently he engaged for eight years back in the mining industry before he applied for one of the two Senate seats in Arizona. He won against the Democratic incumbent Marcus A. Smith, and remained until 1927 in the Senate before he was defeated by Democrat Carl Hayden.

After an unsuccessful attempt to return to the Senate, Ralph Cameron concentrated on his business interests. He died in 1953 while on a business trip when he was in Washington, and was buried in the cemetery of the American Legion in Grand Canyon National Park.