After one month of service he was made a commissary sergeant and then he and his regiment were captured by Confederate forces at the Battle of Harpers Ferry.

[5] Due to several lawsuits at the time naming Hoyt in his official capacity as Secretary, he asked to defer his assumption of the governor's office until a replacement could take his former position and represent Arizona Territory.

He was able to help heal a bitter relationship between the territory's civilian and military leadership which had developed under Governor Safford, with General Irvin McDowell commending Hoyt on his attitude.

[9] Hoyt's term saw the opening of the Bisbee and Tombstone mining districts, construction of a dependable civilian telegraph system, and the connection of Yuma to California by the eastward building Southern Pacific Railroad.

[10] Despite the citizens of Arizona being generally happy with his performance as governor, Hoyt learned on June 12, 1878, that he had been replaced by John C.

Hoyt was also worried that the manner of his appointment and Senate confirmation would prejudice the citizens of Idaho Territory against him to the point that he could not effectively serve.

[11] After leaving office in Arizona, Hoyt traveled to Washington, D. C., and requested an appointment as a territorial chief justice.

In January 1879, he was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Washington Territory, a position Hoyt held until 1887.

Hoyt died in Seattle, Washington, on August 27, 1926, and his ashes were interred in his family plot at Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park.