Page Scribner Bunker was born in Menomonie, Wisconsin in 1875 the son of Oscar Albion and Lois Evangeline (Harris) Bunker. He spent his childhood years in Menomonie, and was educated in local public schools. He enlisted with the Wisconsin National Guard in 1894 and served during the Spanish-American War. He served in Cuba and was later part of the Army of Puerto Rican Occupation. He returned to the United States in 1899 and attended the University of Wisconsin, the University of Chicago and eventually graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Montana in 1904. After graduation he worked for the United States Forest Service and in 1914 was appointed municipal forester of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, the first such office in the United States. He returned to active duty during World War I, where he was promoted to captain in the United States Army and retired as colonel in 1919. In 1920 he was appointed to the Land Appraisal Service, United States Interstate Commerce Commission which took him to several states doing land appraisals. After graduate work at the state forestry office at Texas A and M, he was appointed as the first State Forester of Alabama in 1924, a position he held until 1938.