The 8th 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 from January 4, 1875, till February 12, 1875, in Tucson, Arizona Territory.

Background

The

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

continued throughout the territory, but General

George Crook George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. During the 1880s, the Apache nicknamed Crook ''Nantan ...

's strategies were showing clear progress. Beginning in April 1873, a majority of the territory's

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

population began converging on

Camp Verde Camp Verde ( yuf-x-yav, ʼMatthi:wa; Western Apache: Gambúdih) is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town is 10,873. The town hosts an annual corn festival in July, sponsored and orga ...

to seek amnesty. In exchange for food and protection, the surrendering Apache agreed to live on reservations and follow the instructions of

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...

s. A secondary benefit of the military action was that the General had ordered his

scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpack ...

to map the trails they discovered. As a result, many areas previously unknown to American settlers were mapped. While the 5th Arizona Territorial Legislature had approved building a prison near Phoenix, no funds had been appropriated for its construction. As a result, the territory still lacked a place to incarcerate convicted criminals.

Legislative session

The legislative session began on January 4, 1875.

Governor's address

Governor Anson P.K. Safford gave his address to the session on January 6, 1875. As with his previous addresses, he gave an overview of the Indian Wars within the territory. Thanking the area military commander for his progress in this conflict, the Governor said, "General Crook, in the subjugation of the Apache, has sustained his former well earned military reputation and deserves the lasting gratitude of our people." Economically, Safford reported the territory's mines were doing well but that low prices for grain was constraining the prosperity of area farmers. As there was a persistent shortage of qualified candidates willing to work for the offered salary, the Governor recommended doing away with the position

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. Finally he requested creation of

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The r ...

laws and creation of a territorial

insane asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

to remove the need of contracting with California to handle the territory's

mentally ill A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

Legislation

Representative Granville H. Oury, representing

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 ...

, seeking to rectify an oversight by a previous session, introduced a bill to finance the previously authorized prison in Phoenix. He was outmaneuvered by José M. Redondo, a prominent cattle rancher and irrigation pioneer, and Representative R. B. Kelly, both from Yuma County, who managed to amend the bill to replace "Phoenix" with "Yuma." Thus the resulting US$25,000

bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...

authorization resulted in the territorial prison being built in Yuma. In other action, the session permanently located the territorial capital in Tucson, imposed a bullion tax on mined minerals, and created

Pinal County Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...

from sections of Pima, Maricopa, and Yavapai counties.

Members

References