Biographies
Nellie T Bush
"Waves sometimes would be 8 feet high. Often when we were caught on
the river in a storm, we'd have to throw overboard some of the ore. Many a
time when the sailing was dangerous and I thought about my baby in the pilot
house, I've uttered a little prayer. 'Now if you'll just let me et this kid
off here alive, I'll never bring him back on board again. But you forgot
about that after the danger had passed."
- Nellie T. Bush describing her experience as a river boat
pilot on the Colorado
"As she prepared to take her seat in the Arizona Legislature in 1922, Nellie
T. Bush told a reporter: "Certainly I believe that a woman can be a success,
both as a politician and a mother. I'm here to prove it. "I have a husband
and a big five-year old son, yet I do not feel that they are being neglected
because of my work. My folks take good care of the boy while I'm here, and
my husband is right back of me in my public career. I am looking forward to
the opening of the legislature, and expect to have a good time at the
capital. I am a firm believer in women going into politics -- the more the
better. They simply have to eliminate some of their old-fashioned ideas
regarding the difference in sexes. With me, I expect nothing more from a man
in politics than he gives another man. If he wants to smoke, I say 'Go ahead
and smoke.' And if he wants to swear, I'll sit by and enjoy hearing him do
it. If it doesn't hurt him, it certainly isn't going to hurt me."
No matter what Mrs. Bush accomplished in her life, she seemed to approach it
with a certain matter-of-factness, and if anyone asked her why she was doing
it, we can almost hear her say, "Why not?" She was a schoolteacher, school
principal, businesswoman, mother, ferryboat pilot, justice of the peace,
coroner, legislator, lawyer, airplane pilot, state official and leader in
women's club activities. Born Nellie May Trent on November 29, 1888, in
Cedar County, Missouri, she was only five years old when her parents came to
Arizona. She received her early education in Mesa schools and at Tempe
Normal School (now Arizona State University), where she was awarded a life
teacher's DIPLOMA. She taught in Glendale and Mesa schools until her
marriage in 1912 to Joe Bush.
The couple moved to Parker in 1915 after Mr. Bush, an electrical engineer,
bought the ferry business across the Colorado River. The business consisted
of one stern-wheeler and one flat tunnel propeller boat. Mrs. Bush obtained
her riverboat license and worked as a pilot for 17 years. For $3.50
travelers going between California and Arizona via the Needles-Parker
highway could have their car ferried across the Colorado. The "Nellie T," as
the ferry was named, could carry either six cars or 20 tons of copper ore,
gold, or manganese. During her first year in Parker, Mrs. Bush often visited
Phoenix. One incident that happened while she was making the long drive
along reveals both her resourcefulness and her common-sense approach to
life. Her car broke down and she found herself stranded on the dusty, desert
road. Tinkering with the motor, she determined that the spring in the timer
was broken. Undaunted, she took a spring from her corset, fixed the timer,
and went on her way.
In 1918 Bush became justice of the peace in Parker, a position she held for
six years. In 1920, she was elected to the state legislature, serving a
total of 16 years, 14 years as a representative and two as a senator. Mrs.
Bush entry into law came about partly because of an incident in which she
felt she had been cheated by a banker. He had accepted her money the day
before the bank closed. Angry over her lack of recourse, she began to study
law through a correspondence course. Later, she enrolled at the University
of Arizona, where she studied from 1921-1924. Describing her years at the U
of A, Mrs. Bush said: "We lived two blocks from the university campus, and
two blocks away from Wesley's (her son's) school. We would part each
morning, my son going in one direction and I in the other. He used to tell
people, 'Mother and I are both in the first grade.'"
While at the U of A, Mrs. Bush had some classes with Lorna Lockwood. On some
occasions, the two women were asked to leave the classroom because "certain
cases involving bad women" were being discussed. "They wanted to keep women
out of the classes when they discussed rape cases." Mrs. Bush said. "I asked
if they had ever heard of a rape case that didn't involve a woman. They let
us in after that." During the summer, Mrs. Bush took law courses at the
University of California. After being admitted to the bar in both states,
she worked in Parker as the attorney for the Sante Fe Railroad and, in
addition, managed her own private practice. In 1931, Mrs. Bush took up
flying when her son Wesley, who was 16, became interested in airplanes. "I
realized that as a mother I could retain my son's interest only as long as I
could speak his language," she said. "When he became interested in flying, I
knew I had to know something about aviation. So we both took up the
fascinating study." They both obtained private licenses, and since the
Bushes were the first to own an airplane in Parker, they built the town's
first airport. Mrs. Bush would draw up legal papers in her Parker office and
then fly to Yuma or Phoenix to handle business.
In 1932, Mrs. Bush was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention that
nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt for president. Active in the state debate
over water rights, she served as a member of the Arizona Colorado River
Water Commission, forerunner of the state Interstate Stream Commission.
Later she served as a member of the Colorado River Basin States Committee, a
seven-state policy group that helped advance many basin projects. In the
1930s, she was named the "Admiral of Arizona's Navy" by Governor Benjamin B.
Moeur after the Arizona National Guard used her boats in a fight with
Colorado over Colorado River water rights. Of course, the navy consisted of
two boats operated by the Bushes. She was also interested in women's issues
and organized the Glendale Woman's Club and the Paker Woman's Club. She was
president of the Arizona Federation of Women's Clubs in 1955. In 1936, she
ran for congress, but was defeated. Of that experience and others in her
life, she once said: "I haven't always won. I was defeated for U.S. Congress
when I wouldn't go along with the Townsend Plan (an old age pension PROGRAM)
people, and I have been defeated several times for the state Legislature
race, but I always bounced back." Mrs. Bush died at age 75 on October 27,
1963. "
Excerpt from Arizona Women Hall of Fame 1987: Tod, Diane and Crowe, Rosalie.
Arizona Women's Hall of Fame 1987. Arizona Historical Society, Central
Arizona Division Phoenix, Ariz. : pp. 82-83