The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a
territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
of the
United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was
admitted to the Union as the
state of
Arizona. It was created from the western half of the
New Mexico Territory
The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomin ...
during the
American Civil War.
History
Following the expansion of the New Mexico Territory in 1853, as a result of the
Gadsden Purchase, several proposals for a division of the territory and the organization of a separate Territory of Arizona in the southern half of the territory were advanced as early as 1856. These proposals arose from concerns about the ability of the territorial government in
Santa Fe to effectively administer the newly acquired southern portions of the territory.
The first proposal dates from a conference held in
Tucson that convened on August 29, 1856. The conference issued a petition to the U.S. Congress, signed by 256 people, requesting organization of the territory and elected
Nathan P. Cook
Nathan or Natan may refer to:
People
*Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
*Nathan (surname)
* Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible
* Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David a ...
as the
territorial delegate to Congress
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
. In January 1857, the bill for the organization of the territory was introduced into the
House of Representatives, but the proposal was defeated on the grounds that the population of the proposed territory was yet too small. Later, a similar proposal was defeated in the
Senate. The proposal for creation of the territory was controversial in part because of the perception that the New Mexico Territory was under the influence of southern sympathizers who were highly desirous of expanding
slavery into the southwest.
In February 1858, the New Mexico territorial legislature adopted a resolution in favor of the creation of the Arizona territory, but with a north–south border along the
109th meridian, with the additional stipulation that all the
Indians of New Mexico would be removed to northern Arizona.
In April 1860, impatient for Congress to act, a convention of 31 delegates met in Tucson and adopted a constitution for a provisional territorial government of the area south of 34°N. The delegates elected Dr.
Lewis S. Owings
Dr. Lewis S. Owings (September 6, 1820 – August 20, 1875) was an American politician, physician, and businessman from Tennessee who served as the 2nd Governor of Arizona Territory ( Confederate), in exile, from 1862 to 1865. He had prev ...
as provisional governor.
American Civil War
At the outbreak of the Civil War, sentiment in the territory was in favor of the
Confederacy. Territorial
secession conventions called at
Mesilla and Tucson in March 1861 adopted an ordinance of secession, established a provisional
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...
with Owings as its governor, and petitioned the Confederate Congress for admission.
The Confederacy regarded the territory as a valuable route for possible access to the
Pacific Ocean, with the specific intention of capturing
California. In July 1861, a small Confederate force of Texans under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
John R. Baylor assaulted
Fort Fillmore
Fort Fillmore, located at 32°13′30″N 106°42′52″W, was a United States military fortification established by Colonel Edwin Vose Sumner in September 1851 near Mesilla in what is now New Mexico, primarily for the purpose of protecting sett ...
at Mesilla in the eastern part of the territory. After the fort was abandoned by the
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''U ...
garrison, Baylor's force cut off the fleeing Union troops and forced them to surrender. On August 1, 1861, Baylor issued a "Proclamation to the People of the Territory of Arizona", taking possession of the territory for the Confederacy, with Mesilla as the capital and himself as the governor, establishing
Confederate Arizona
Arizona Territory, colloquially referred to as Confederate Arizona, was an organized incorporated territory of the Confederate States that existed from August 1, 1861 to May 26, 1865, when the Confederate States Army Trans-Mississippi Depar ...
. Baylor's subsequent dismantling of the existing Union forts in the territory left the white settlers at the mercy of the
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 and ...
, who quickly gained control of the area and forced many of the white settlers to seek refuge in Tucson.
On August 28, a convention met again in Tucson and declared that the territory formed the previous year was part of the Confederacy.
Granville H. Oury
Granville Henderson Oury (March 12, 1825 – January 11, 1891) was a nineteenth-century American politician, lawyer, judge, soldier, and miner.
Early life
Born in Abingdon, Virginia; Granville Henderson Oury and his family moved to Bowling Gre ...
was elected as delegate to the Confederate Congress. Oury drafted legislation authorizing the organization of the Confederate Territory of Arizona. The legislation passed on January 13, 1862, and the territory was officially created by proclamation of
President Jefferson Davis on February 14.
The following month, in March 1862, the U.S. House of Representatives, now devoid of the southern delegates and controlled by Republicans, passed a bill to create the United States Arizona Territory using the north–south border of the 109th meridian. The use of a north–south border rather than an east–west one had the effect of denying a ''de facto'' ratification of the Confederate Arizona Territory. The house bill stipulated that Tucson was to be the capital. The final bill passed the Senate in February 1863 without the Tucson-as-capital stipulation, and was signed into law by
President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
on February 24, the date of the official organization of the US Arizona Territory.
Capital
The first capital was established in 1864 at
Prescott, in the northern Union-controlled area. The capital was moved to
Tucson in 1868, and back to Prescott in 1877.
The capital was finally moved to
Phoenix on February 4, 1889.
Boundary
The boundaries for the original territory, if they had kept their same size, would have made present-day
Las Vegas part of Arizona. In 1867, though, Congress transferred the Arizona Territory's northwestern corner, specifically most of its land west of the Colorado River, to the state of
Nevada.
This reduced the territory to its current area.
Statehood
The territory was admitted to the Union as the 48th state on February 14, 1912.
Territorial proclamation
Proclamation to the People of Arizona.
[Wagoner pp. 32–33 & front piece]
See also
*
American Civil War, 1861–1865
**
Territory of Arizona (Confederate States)
Arizona Territory, colloquially referred to as Confederate Arizona, was an organized incorporated territory of the Confederate States that existed from August 1, 1861 to May 26, 1865, when the Confederate States Army Trans-Mississippi Depar ...
, 1861–1862
*
Apache Wars
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. After the Mexica ...
, 1851–1886
*
Pah-Ute County
Pah-Ute County is a former county in the northwest corner of Arizona Territory that existed from 1865 until 1871, at which point most of the area was transferred to Nevada. The remainder was merged into Mohave County. The majority of the territ ...
, "Arizona's Lost County" 1865–1871
*
Camp Grant Massacre, 1871
*
Gadsden Purchase, 1853
*
Governors of the Territory of Arizona
*
History of Arizona
The history of Arizona encompasses the Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Post-Archaic, Spanish, Mexican, and American periods. About 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, Paleo-Indians settled in what is now Arizona. A few thousand years ago, the Ancestral Puebl ...
*
James Reavis
James Addison Reavis (May 10, 1843November 27, 1914), later using the name James Addison Peralta-Reavis, the so-called Baron of Arizona, was an American forger and fraudster. He is best known in association with the Peralta land grant, also kno ...
, The "Baron of Arizona"
*
Mexican–American War, 1846–1848
**
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848
*
Navajo Wars
The term Navajo Wars covers at least three distinct periods of conflict in the American West: the Navajo against the Spanish (late 16th century through 1821); the Navajo against the Mexican government (1821 through 1848); and the Navajo agains ...
, 1846–1865
*
Territorial evolution of the United States
References
Notes
Further reading
* Cheek, Lawrence W. (1995). ''Arizona''. Oakland, CA: Compass American Guides. .
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External links
Compiled Laws And Revised Statutes Of Arizona Territory
{{coord, 34.05, -111.09, type:adm1st_globe:earth_region:US-AZ, display=title
*
Former organized territories of the United States
History of Arizona
History of the American West
New Mexico Territory
Utah Territory
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1863 establishments in New Mexico Territory
*
States and territories established in 1863
States and territories disestablished in 1912
Cochise County conflict