John Howard Pyle was an American broadcaster and politician who served as the ninth governor of the U.S. state of Arizona from 1951 to 1955. An opponent of polygamy, he authorized a raid on a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound. As a member of the Republican Party, Pyle also served as an official in the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The Short Creek raid was an Arizona Department of Public Safety and Arizona National Guard action against Mormon fundamentalists that took place on the morning of July 26, 1953, at Short Creek, Arizona. The Short Creek raid was the largest mass arrest of polygamists in American history.