Pah-Ute County is a former

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the northwest corner of

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the 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 ...

that existed from 1865 until 1871, at which point most of the area was transferred to

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. The remainder was merged into

Mohave County Mohave County occupies the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 counties in the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is th ...

. The majority of the territory is now in

Clark County, Nevada Clark County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nevada with 2,265,461 residents as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county is the location of the state's three largest cities, Las Vegas (t ...

, which includes the city of

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. Due to the transfer of most of the county's land to Nevada, Pah-Ute is sometimes referred to as Arizona's "Lost County". Pah-Ute is a historic spelling of the

tribal name A tribal name is a name of an ethnic tribe —usually of ancient origin, which represented its self-identity. Studies of Native American tribal names show that most had an original meaning comparable to "human," "people" "us"—the "triba ...

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and th ...

History

Pah-Ute county was created on December 22, 1865, by an act of the

2nd Arizona Territorial Legislature The 2nd Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly was a session of the Arizona Territorial Legislature which began on December 6, 1865, in Prescott, Arizona, and ran for 24 days. The sessions chief accomplishments were creation of Pah-Ute Count ...

from the northern part of

following the sponsorship of Representative Octavius Gass. Created to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population of farmers along the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

, the county seat was initially Callville. The county seat was moved to the

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

community of St. Thomas on October 1, 1867. (Both communities are now located at the bottom of

Lake Mead Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. L ...

.) Initial boundaries of the county were those parts of Arizona Territory north of the Roaring Rapids on the Colorado River and west of 113° 20” west longitude. On May 5, 1866, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

approved legislation transferring the portions of Pah-Ute and Mohave counties west of the

and west of 114 degrees west longitude to the state of Nevada. The assignment took effect on January 18, 1867. The Arizona Territory lodged multiple protests with Congress and attempted for several years to have the transfer reversed, but was unable to overturn the change of possession. During this time, Pah-Ute county continued to have representation in 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 l ...

through 1868. Official dissolution of Pah-Ute county occurred on February 18, 1871, when the

6th Arizona Territorial Legislature The 6th Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly was a session of the Arizona Territorial Legislature which met in Tucson beginning on January 11, 1871, and ran until February 14, 1871. Background Arizona Territory's sixth legislative session w ...

rescinded the act that created the county and restored the remaining portion to

References

External links

Official Map of the Territory Of Arizona, With All the Recent Explorations. Compiled by Richard Gird C.E. Commissioner. Approved By John N. Goodwin, Governor. In Accordance With an Act of the Legislature, Approved Oct. 23d. 1864. We hereby certify that this is the Official Map of the Territory of Arizona, and approve the same. Prescott October 12th 1865. (with signed seal dated 1863). Published By A. Gensoul, Pacific Map Depot. No. 511 Montgomery St. San Francisco. Lith. Britton & Co. San Francisco. Accessed from www.davidrumsey.com, May 24, 2015.
Shows boundaries of Pah-Ute County, location of Callville, the Pah-Ute County seat, and other landings, settlements, mining districts and counties of Arizona Territory in 1865.
Arizona State Facts
{{coord, 36.46, -115.09, display=title,source:MB, region:US-AZ_type:adm2nd Former counties of the United States Arizona Territory History of Arizona by location History of Nevada by location] 1865 establishments in Arizona Territory 1871 disestablishments in Arizona Territory Pre-statehood history of Arizona

History

See also

References

External links