It’s hard to determine the exact date the last grizzly bear was killed in Arizona…1933, 1935 or 1939.
In much written about the subject, the grizzly, Clay Thompson writing for the Arizona Republic states
“many years ago, I read that the last grizzly bear in Arizona was killed by a government tracker in 1933.
The bear was said to have been tracked more than 1,000 miles through Arizona, New Mexico and two
Mexican states before it was shot.”
Thompson goes on to say that he also read that in 1935, a hunter named Richard Miller killed the last
grizzly in Greenlee County.  Still in 1939, B.B. Ford is reported to have killed the last grizzly on the slopes
of Mount Baldy.
Due to his not being able to substantiate any of these claims he is not certain who killed the last grizzly.
Grizzly bears once roamed the United States from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean.  The present
range of grizzlies is now primarily in the area of Yellowstone National Park and maybe parts of Montana,
Idaho and Washington.
My own reading of the Ben Lilly Legend confirms the 1933 story as Ben Lilly tells of his adventure
tracking this big grizzly from New Mexico, into Mexico, back into New Mexico and into Arizona.  Online
comments from Richard Miller’s grandson confirm the statement that Richard Miller did indeed kill a
grizzly in 1935.
No matter who or when, the grizzly is no longer a part of the Arizona big game species.