Class of 1870

Alexander O. Brodie, Governor of the Territory of Arizona from July 1, 1902, to February 15, 1905

On February 15th, Alexander O. Brodie resigned as Governor of Arizona in order that he might proceed to Washington to take up his new duties there as Assistant Chief of the Records and Pension Bureau, with the rank of Major in the regular army, to which office he had been appointed a few days before by President Roosevelt. In the going of Governor Brodie, the people of Arizona lost a most beloved Governor. He had come to this Territory in 1870, when but twenty-one years of age, as a lieutenant of cavalry, having graduated from West Point that year. From the first he has been Arizona's staunch friend, and her supporter, becoming one of her most distinguished citizens. A broad, fair-minded man, a scholar and a gentleman; a man who has known and seen every side of life, he became at once the ideal Governor and a friend who was always ready to listen to the low as well as to the high. Alexander O. Brodie was born at Edwards, New York, in 1849, his parents being of Scottish descent. From St. Lawrence University, New York, he was appointed a cadet at West Point. After his graduation he was immediately sent to Arizona, where for four years he took part in numerous Indian fights. In 1875, he was promoted for bravery, and removed from Arizona to Washington Territory where he served until 1877, when he resigned from the army on account of his mother's ill health. After her death, the next year, he went to Kansas and there engaged in cattle raising for four years at the end of which time he sold out and came to Arizona as a civil engineer. He soon after became the superintendent and manager of the Walnut Grove Storage Reservoir Company, which company also owned the Crown Point mine, which is a good gold producer. Upon receipt of the news of the blowing up of the Maine, and after the declaration of war was declared, Governor Brodie's martial spirit returned. He at once went to Prescott and began raising a cavalry regiment to be composed of Arizona cowboys and rangers. This, however, was not to be, for the war department ordered that only 200 men should be taken from Arizona. These were the first to be enlisted that became a part of Colonel Roosevelt's famous Rough Rider regiment, Governor Brodie being appointed Major, and later, by the promotion of Colonel Roosevelt, was raised to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, serving with distinction through the war, being wounded once at the important battle of Las Guasimas. After the war Governor Brodie ran for delegate to Congress on the Republican ticket, but, like so many other good Arizona Republicans, was defeated. He resumed, for some time after this, active charge of the mine at Crown Point. On July 1st, 1902, he was appointed Governor of Arizona by President Roosevelt, which office he has filled with such good judgment and rare ability that he has won the support of every Arizonian. Governor Brodie was united in marriage with Miss Mary Louise Hanlon of Brooklyn, New York, from which union has come one son, Alexander, or "Sandy," as he is better known. Mrs. Brodie, by her goodness and her grace of manners, has endeared herself to all who know her, and, as she goes with Governor Brodie to take up those other duties, she takes with her the love and respect of every true Arizona heart.