The 11th Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly was a session of the

Arizona Territorial Legislature The Arizona Territorial Legislature was the legislative body of Arizona Territory. It was a bicameral legislature consisting of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Council. Created by the Arizona Organic Act, the le ...

which convened on January 3, 1881, in Prescott, Arizona Territory.

Background

Since assuming office, Governor

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

had been mostly absent from his duties. The governor had left for

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

on February 28, 1879, to lobby the territory's case in a dispute over the boundaries of the

Gila River Indian Reservation Gila River Indian Reservation was a reservation established in 1859 by the United States government in New Mexico Territory, to set aside the lands of the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and the Piipaash (Maricopa) people along the Gila River, in what i ...

. The trip was expected to take five or six weeks to complete. Frémont had not returned to the territory till August 1879. The governor had again left the territory on March 18, 1880. He did not return to Prescott till January 5, 1881. In response to these prolonged periods with no resident territorial governor, Territorial Delegate

John G. Campbell John Goulder Campbell (June 25, 1827 – December 22, 1903) was a Scottish-born American businessman and politician. He served one term as Arizona Territory's delegate in the United States House of Representatives and was elected twice, but ser ...

said "So far we cannot tell what sort of Governor he will make as he has spent most of his time in the East." While he was away, the non-partisan alliance that had controlled Arizona Territory during the McCormick and Safford administrations broke down. This allowed the territory's

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

to organize an effective opposition to the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

governor. The other signification change was the size of the legislature, which had been expanded to twelve members in the upper house and twenty-four members in the lower house.

Legislative session

The legislative session began on January 3, 1881.

Governor's address

Governor Frémont's address to the session focused upon economic development. To this end he called for

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

aid in building water storage systems within the territory and increased trade with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. To encourage additional capital investment in the territory's mines, the governor requested removal of all taxes levied on mining products. On other issues, Frémont recommended

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

s be handled by the courts. The regular address was followed on February 21, 1881, by a special message. In the message, Governor Frémont called for a 100-man force to be organized to fight banditry along and near the border with Mexico.

Legislation

The most important, and contentious action of the session was the creation of three new counties:

Cochise Cochise (; Apache: ''Shi-ka-She'' or ''A-da-tli-chi'', lit.: ''having the quality or strength of an oak''; later ''K'uu-ch'ish'' or ''Cheis'', lit. ''oak''; June 8, 1874) was leader of the Chihuicahui local group of the Chokonen and principa ...

, Gila,

Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

. Of these, Cochise County generated the most objections. Creation of the county was opposed by interests in

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

due to the diversion of tax income from their city to the new

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

. Tombstone had however managed to elect a disproportional level of representation to the session and was able to overcome the objections. The new county's name also generated opposition as Representative Sharp of

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about 6 ...

objected to the county being named for

due to the "depredation and murderous attacks of that bloodthirsty savage." The towns of

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, Prescott, and Tombstone were incorporated. A variety of

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issues were additionally authorized to fund construction of courthouses, jails, and other government buildings throughout the territory. Acting upon the governor's recommendation, the territorial bullion tax on mined products was repealed. Frémont's request for a special force to fight crime along border with Mexico was refused. The previous session's creation of a territorial lottery was repealed, and gambling by minors prohibited.

Members

References