Following the expansion of the New Mexico Territory in 1853, as a result of the
Gadsden Purchase, there were several proposals for the organization of a separate Territory of Arizona. 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. At a conference held in
Tucson on August 29, 1856, an initial petition was issued to the U.S. Congress, signed by 256 people, requesting organization of the territory and elected
Nathan P. Cook as the
territorial delegate to Congress. In January 1857, the bill for the organization of the territory was introduced into the
House of Representatives; the proposal was defeated on the grounds that the population of the proposed territory was too small.
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 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 at Mesilla in the eastern part of the territory. After the fort was abandoned by the
Union 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. Baylor's subsequent dismantling of the existing Union forts in the territory left the white settlers at the mercy of the
Apache, 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 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 denied 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 on February 24, the date of the official organization of the U.S. Arizona Territory. ==Capital==