Archives on the Air 285: Dedicated Public Servant - Lester C. Hunt papers

By Wyoming Public Media

Published January 27, 2023 at 12:12 PM MST

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Image 1: “This Week in the Senate” article by Lester C. Hunt in the Laramie Daily Bulletin, March 24, 1953. Box 45, Lester C. Hunt papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

American Heritage Center

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Image 2: Senate Bill number 2466, introduced by Lester Hunt, July 24, 1953. Box 19, Lester C. Hunt papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

American Heritage Center

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Image 3: Page from a speech delivered by Lester C. Hunt to the Freemont County Pioneer Association in Lander, Wyoming, September 3, 1952. Box 35, Lester C. Hunt papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

American Heritage Center

Lester C. Hunt may have been born in Illinois, but he spent most of his life serving the people of Wyoming. He started his career as a dentist in Lander after spending summers there pitching for the local semi-professional baseball team. Hunt practiced dentistry for sixteen years before he became a legislator in the Wyoming House of Representatives.

Politics suited him. Soon he was elected to two terms as Wyoming’s Secretary of State. While serving in that role, he supervised the design of Wyoming’s iconic “bucking horse” automobile license plate.

In 1942 he ran for governor and served two terms. Hunt was known to be a straight-forward politician – and also somewhat surprisingly, a liberal Democrat in a conservative state. He went on to be elected as one of Wyoming’s two U.S. senators.

Learn more about Lester C. Hunt’s role in Wyoming politics by reading his papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.