By Al Bates

This article is one of a series that will appear in this space during this year on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory’s Sesquicentennial and the founding and establishment of Prescott as the Territory’s first capital.

With completion of the special territorial census in May 1864, the final impediment to the first territorial election was removed.  Details were set and the election date of July 18 was announced.  Up for grabs were seats in the bicameral legislature plus the big prize, selection of the territorial delegate to Congress.

The first important detail was the allocation of seats in the Council and House for each of the three districts.  The first district (Tucson and vicinity), having the largest population, was assigned the highest representation in both the Council and the House.  Those elected to the Council from District Three (Prescott area) were Henry A. Bigelow, Robert W. Groom and King S. Woolsey.  Elected to the house were John M. Boggs, James Garvin, James S. Giles, and Jackson McCrackin.

The only territory-wide contest was that for the non-voting delegate to the U.S. Congress, and that turned out predictably.  Charles D. Poston, who had been running for the position from the moment he arrived in the new territory, gave the most speeches, had the most advertising in the Arizona Miner and defeated the closest of four rivals, Charles Lieb, 514 to 226.  He soon left for Washington, D.C., but neglected to return to Arizona to campaign for the 1865 election and lost his bid for reelection to Governor Goodwin, an unexpected opponent.

Final canvas of the election results and announcement of where the legislature would meet would not come for a month, but those were formalities and attention had to be placed on new logistical challenges.  Two concerns led the list: In what building could the legislature meet and where would they room and board while in session?

Judge William T. Howell, shown here, penned Arizona Territory’s first legal code with the assistance of Coles Bashford (Photo Courtesy of Sharlot Hall Museum – Call Number: PO-2045p).

The first question proved easier to answer.  The July 20, 1864, issue of the Arizona Miner reported that, “As it is now known that the Governor will convene the Legislature at Prescott, much has been said about the erection of public buildings.  The following is, we believe, a correct statement of the steps taken by Secretary [and Miner owner] McCormick to whom the preparations for the accommodation of the Legislature are by law entrusted.”

The article went on to explain that, since Congress had not appropriated money for public buildings, Secretary Richard McCormick could pay no more for a place for the legislature to meet than the rent for a building that would exist at an “old settlement.”  There was nothing suitable among the buildings then under construction in the Prescott townsite and the Secretary was stumped until Van C. Smith—one of those prominent in getting the town started—stepped up.  Mr. Smith proposed to put up a structure that would be ready to rent in time for the first legislative session, and the Secretary’s problem was solved.

The Miner article described the log building to be built on Gurley Street across from the Plaza as, “plain but extensive and comfortable, and if the weather is as pleasant as at present our Legislators will be likely to have an agreeable session.”  Alas, it was not to be, for the November weather turned bitter and the legislature had to abandon the hall temporarily while a cast iron stove was constructed on site.

The problem of where members of the legislature would bed and board was left to each individual to solve, although some of them would be given brief lodging in the Governor’s Mansion.  There followed much grumbling about the meager individual allowance for legislators versus the cost of living in such an isolated spot.  What was worse, payment was in heavily discounted greenbacks, not gold.

That same issue of the Miner let a secret out of the bag in an editorial piece slamming the laws of New Mexico Territory—still in effect for Arizona—as, “crude and incongruous in the extreme.”  After calling for prompt rejection of those laws by the legislature, the piece casually went on, “ . . . the code carefully prepared by Judge [William T.] Howell . . . will be a vast improvement upon these blind and inconsistent statutes.”  This acknowledgement of work quietly being done by Judge William T. Howell and Coles Bashford helps explain how an entire judicial code appeared to be created over a single weekend during the first legislative session.

“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners, International (www.prescottcorral.org). The public is encouraged to submit articles for consideration.  Please contact SHM Library & Archives reference desk at 928-445-3122 Ext. 14, or via email at dayspastprescott@gmail.com for information.