USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. IV > Part 11
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THE SECOND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.
"Doubt has been expressed as to the legality of the provision of the mining law requiring the setting aside of the Territorial claims, and in some instances parties have refused to recognize them, which has depreciated their value and in- terfered with the sales made by the Territorial treasurer. In the opinion of the Attorney-gen- eral of the Territory, the provision is strictly legal, and the titles given by the treasurer are, in every particular, valid. I have instructed the Attorney-general to bring suits against all per- sons attempting in any way to deprive the terri- tory of the benefit of these claims."
Under the provision mentioned by Mr. McCor- mick in reference to territorial claims, it might be mentioned that the Howell Code made provi- sion that wherever a discoverer of a mine located a claim for himself, he was required to locate an adjoining claim for the territory.
The first act of this Legislature was one creat- ing the county of Pah-Ute, the boundaries of which are shown by the map which forms the frontispiece of this volume.
The following laws were also enacted by this Legislature :
Setting the date for the holding of the Su- preme Court of the Territory at Prescott for the fourth day of December, 1865.
Providing that all fees of public officers should be paid in currency, treasury, or legal tender notes of the United States, and providing a pen- alty for any officer who should demand or exact his fees in coin, gold, or silver.
Giving jurisdiction to justices of the peace of all civil claims not exceeding one hundred dollars in value, where the title to real property was not
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
in question; petty larceny, assault and battery not charged to have been committed upon a pub- lic officer in the discharge of his duties, or with intent to kill; breaches of the peace, riots, affrays, and all misdemeanors punishable by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprison- ment not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Creating a board of supervisors in the several counties of the territory. Under this law a board of supervisors consisting of three members who were to be elected in the same manner as other county officers, was provided for each county ; the board was given power and jurisdic- tion in their respective counties of such scope as to give them entire control of the affairs of their counties. Among the powers conferred upon them was the power to cause to be erected and furnished a courthouse, jail, and such other pub- lic buildings as might be necessary. This act contained the following provisions :
"The board of supervisors shall also act as a board of canvassers and declare the election re- turns, and cause a certificate of election to be given by the Clerk to any person whom they shall find to have been legally elected to any county or township office within the county; provided that the Probate Judge shall canvass the election returns as to Supervisors, and shall cause the Clerk to give to each person elected to the office of supervisor a certificate of election."
The act also provided that the board of super- visors should act as a Board of Equalization in their respective counties. The individual ac- counts of the board of supervisors against the county were to be audited and allowed by the
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THE SECOND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.
Probate Judges of the respective counties. The Governor was required to appoint the first board of supervisors in each county.
According to the "Miner," under this law George Coulter, James Grant and W. J. Berry were appointed for Yavapai County; William Forest, Robt. A. Rose and John Pearson for Mo- have County ; Thos. S. Smith, E. Billingsly and E. S. McGinnis for Pah-Ute County. No ap- pointments were made at that time for Yuma and Pima Counties, and I can find no record that any were ever made.
Other laws passed were:
Providing for liens of mechanics, laborers and others.
Giving jurisdiction to the district courts in all mining cases.
Amending section 19 of chapter 33 of the How- ell Code so that the same read as follows:
"An annual ad valorem tax of twenty-five cents upon each one hundred dollars value of tax- able property is hereby levied and directed to be collected and paid for Territorial purposes upon the assessed value of all property in this Terri- tory, not by this act exempt from taxation; and upon the same property the board of supervisors of each county is also hereby authorized and em- powered annually to levy and collect a tax for county expenditures not exceeding one dollar and fifty cents upon each one hundred dollars of taxa- ble property in such county ; and upon the same property the board of supervisors of each county is hereby authorized and empowered annually to levy and collect such additional or special taxes as the laws of this Territory may authorize or require them to levy and collect; provided, how-
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
ever, that whenever the board of supervisors levy any tax they shall cause such levy to be en- tered on the record of their proceedings, and shall direct their clerk to deliver a certified copy thereof to the sheriff and treasurer of the county, each of whom shall file said copy in his office, and on the first Monday in July in each year, the board of supervisors shall proceed to estimate and to ascertain the amount of taxes necessary to be assessed upon the taxable prop- erty of the county for the year next ensuing, not exceeding for all purposes one dollar and seventy-five cents upon each one hundred dollars of the value of the taxable property in such
county. In such estimate they shall specify the amount to be raised for each particular purpose. If for any cause said board shall not meet on the day above specified, they may meet for such pur- pose at any time within ten days thereafter."
There was also levied a poll tax of three dollars upon all citizens of the territory, except negroes and Indians, to be divided equally between the county and the territory.
A law was also passed regulating marriages; defining the blood degree in which marriages could be celebrated and prohibiting all marriages of white persons with negroes, mulattoes, In- dians and Mongolians. Any judge, justice of the peace, or minister of the gospel, was author- ized to perform the marriage ceremony. The rights of married women were defined; the wife to hold any property which she possessed before her marriage in severalty, and the husband the same. A married woman could carry on busi- ness on her own account, but all property accumulated during marriage, was common
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THE SECOND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.
property. The courts were given jurisdiction in all divorce cases.
By joint resolution the acting governor was authorized to procure a thousand dollars' worth of law books for the Territorial Library, pay- ment for the same to be made out of the congres- sional appropriation to the library fund of the Territory.
The Legislature passed the following concur- rent resolution regarding the death of Abraham Lincoln :
"WHEREAS, There has to this time been no formal expression of regret on the part of the people of Arizona, over the untimely and lament- able death of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States; therefore
"RESOLVED, By the House of Representatives, the Council concurring, that we record our abhorrence of the dastardly act which deprived the nation of the valuable life of Abraham Lin- coln, when his great statesmanship and noble character had won the confidence and applause of the civilized world; and the wisdom of his administration of public affairs, at the most critical period in the life of the American peo- ple, was universally conceded.
"RESOLVED, That here, where civil law was first established by the generous consideration of his administration, as elsewhere upon the continent, which owes so much to his honest and persistent devotion to liberty, to justice, and to the government of the people, his name is hon- ored and revered as that of a true patriot, a pro- found ruler, and a magnanimous and unselfish man, whose highest motive was the public good, and whose consistent career has elevated the
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
dignity, brightened the renown, and enriched the history of the republic.
"RESOLVED, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the family of the illustrious dead, and to the present President of the United States; also that they be published in the ‘Ari- zona Miner' and in the principal journals of the Pacific and Atlantic States."
This Legislature also passed a concurrent resolution regarding national affairs as follows:
"WHEREAS, Loyalty, fidelity and steadfast obedience to the laws are cardinal principles with every good citizen, and a faithful support of those in authority in all lawful actions is the duty of everyone; and
"WHEREAS, Notwithstanding the bloody civil war which has so long desolated our land and carried mourning into every house is now hap- pily terminated by the complete triumph of the Federal arms, and the acknowledgment of the Federal authority throughout our common coun- try, yet many serious and perplexing questions arise as to the proper settlement of the diffi- culties between the different sections of the country ; and
"WHEREAS, His Excellency, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, has given every evidence of his loyalty and fidelity to the Con- stitution of the United States, and of his deter- mination to stand by its landmarks amid the difficulties that surround him; therefore,
"RESOLVED by the Council, the House of Representatives concurring, that we take this opportunity to express, in common with the bal- ance of our countrymen, our joy at the success- ful termination of the war, our sympathy with
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THE SECOND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.
those whose homes have been made desolate, and our gratitude to Almighty God for his protec- tion in the trying hour.
"RESOLVED, That in the present Executive of the United States we recognize the patriot and the statesman-one worthy to occupy the high position once filled by the Father of his Coun- try, and we pledge to him a faithful and unswerving support in the plan of reconstruc- tion so successfully inaugurated by him in the southern States.
"RESOLVED, That we see exemplified in Lieu- tenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, the highest type of the heroic soldier, the patriot and gentle- man-one upon whose brow may justly rest the palm of virtue, entwined with the laurel wreath, and that we claim, with grateful pride, our share of the glory which he has shed upon the Ameri- can arms.
"RESOLVED, That to the gallant soldiers who have so nobly and gloriously fought in defense of their country and its liberties, in the trying contest just ended, we tender our grateful admiration and praise, and bespeak for them honorable distinction in the walks of civil life.
"RESOLVED, That these resolutions be spread upon the journals of both houses, and that copies thereof be sent, one to the President of the United States, one to Lieutenant-Colonel Ulysses S. Grant, and one to each House of Con- gress of the United States."
A resolution was also passed thanking the Honorable Samuel Adams, and Captain Thomas Trueworthy for the energy displayed by them in opening up the navigation of the Colorado River.
11
162
HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
Among the Memorials to Congress was one asking for an appropriation to improve the navigation of the Colorado River; one asking Congress to give a land grant to the La Paz and Prescott Railway Company to assist that com- pany in the construction of a railroad from La Paz on the Colorado River to Prescott, the capi- tol of the Territory; one asking that the benefit of the act of Congress approved July 2nd, 1862, in reference to the agricultural and mechanical colleges be extended to Arizona and other terri- tories of the United States; one asking that a separate land district be created for the Terri- tory of Arizona; that the office of surveyor- general be created, and that a survey of the public land of the territory be made; one asking that a reservation for the Yavapai, Pah-Ute and Wallapai Indians, and for the friendly Apaches, be fixed upon the lower Gila, and that the military force in the territory be increased.
On the authority of Judge E. W. Wells, of Prescott, the statement is made that after the organization of the territory in 1863, and the appointment of the territorial treasurer, the settlers and residents in and around Prescott made a list of their taxable property and its value, upon which they paid taxes. The first instance I know of where taxpayers, outside of corporations, were permitted to place a valua- tion upon their holdings and pay the taxes thereon. Arizonans, however, at that time, were patriotic, and were pleased with the pros- pect of having some semblance of civil govern- ment, so it can be stated, I think very truthfully, that there was no disposition on the part of
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THE SECOND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.
those of American birth to in any way evade the payment of taxes.
In November, 1865, John T. Alsap, first treasurer of the territory, made his report to the Governor, in which he stated that two hundred and seventy-four dollars of taxes had been paid by Pima County ; forty dollars paid by Mohave county; nothing paid by Yuma county, and eight hundred and forty-one dollars paid by Yavapai county. Pima county had the largest population. Yuma county had La Paz, the principal town in the territory, with large com- mercial establishments, etc. The treasurer, under date of February, 1866, issued a circular to county treasurers urging prompt payment of territorial taxes, and, in default thereof, threat- ened to commence legal proceedings, which probably had the effect of increasing the reve- nues of the territory, and also of the counties. It is a remarkable fact that the Second Legis- lature passed no appropriation bill, its expenses being limited to the appropriation made by Congress.
In 1866 a census was made of the Territory and reported to the Governor. According to the "Miner," of June 27th, 1866, the population of the Territory, by counties, was as follows:
Pima County 2115
Yuma County 810
Mohave County 448
Pah-Ute County 541
Yavapai County 1612
Total, 5526.
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
CHAPTER IX.
THE THIRD LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.
ELECTION OF DELEGATE TO CONGRESS AND MEMBERS OF TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE - MEMBERS OF THIRD LEGISLATURE - RESIG- NATION OF MARSHALL DUFFIELD-HIS REC- ORD-MESSAGE OF THE GOVERNOR TO THE LEGISLATURE-DELEGATE GOODWIN'S ACTIV- ITIES IN CONGRESS-HIS SPEECH IN CON- GRESS ON THE ANNEXATION OF THE COUNTY OF PAH-UTE TO NEVADA-MEASURES PASSED BY THE THIRD LEGISLATURE-RESOLUTION ADOPTED AUTHORIZING ATTORNEY GENERAL TO SETTLE WITH W. S. OURY FOR ARMS PRESUMABLY TURNED OVER TO MEXICANS- CAPTAIN CALDERWOOD'S STORY-LEGISLA- TURE ADOPTS RESOLUTION THANKING ARI- ZONA VOLUNTEERS FOR SERVICES-MEMORI- ALIZES CONGRESS TO REPEAL ACT GIVING NEVADA THE COUNTY OF PAH-UTE AND PART OF COUNTY OF MOHAVE-PETITION CONGRESS FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF MAIL ROUTES-WHAT THE THIRTY-NINTH CON- GRESS DID FOR AND AGAINST THE TERRITORY OF ARIZONA-ATTEMPT OF UTAH TO SECURE POSSESSION OF PART OF ARIZONA-CONTRO- VERSY WITH CALIFORNIA OVER POSSESSION OF YUMA.
The following September an election was held for delegate to Congress and for county officers and members of the Legislature. The candi- dates for Delegate to Congress were Coles Bashford, Charles D. Poston, and Samuel Adams. Bashford received one thousand and nine votes; Poston five hundred and eighteen votes, and Adams one hundred and sixty-eight votes.
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THE THIRD LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.
To the Third Legislature, which convened at Prescott on the third day of October, 1866, the following were elected :
COUNCIL.
Name.
Residence.
Occupation.
Age. Where Born.
Yavapai County : John W. Simmons, Daniel S. Lount,
Prescott
Farmer
55 Tennessee.
Miner
46 Canada West.
Lewis A. Stevens,
14
Farmer
51 Mississippi.
Mohave County :
William H. Hardy,
Hardyville,
Merchant
44 New York.
Pah-nte County :
Octavius D. Gass,
Callville,
Ranchero,
38 Ohio.
Yuma County :
La Paz,
Miner,
39 Kentucky.
Alexander McKey, Pima County : Mark Aldrich,
Tucson, :
Merchant
64 New York.
Mortimer R. Platt, *Henry Jenkins,
Tubac,
Farmer
53
*Did not attend the Session.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Residence.
Occupation.
Age. Where Born.
Yavapai County : John B. Slack,
Turkey Creek, Miner
46
Kentucky.
Daniel Ellis,
Postle's Ranch,
Farmer
28
Hannibal Sypert,
Prescott,
Miner
32
14
William S. Little,
Underwood C. Bar- nett,
Walnut Grove,
Ranchero
34 Arkansas.
Mohave County :
Alonzo E. Davis,
Hardyville,
Miner
26 New York.
Pah-ute County :
*Royal J. Cutler, Yuma County :
Mill Point,
Farmer
28
Marcus D. Dobbins,
La Paz,
Miner
39 Pennsylvania.
Robert F. Piatt,
Planet Mine,
Miner
38
*Wm. H. Thomas, Pima County :
Arizona City,
Clerk
26 Maryland.
Granville H. Oury,
Tucson,
Lawyer
42 Virginia.
William J. Osborn,
Tubac,
Farmer
32 New York.
Henry McC. Ward,
Babacomori,
Contractor
29 Maryland.
James S. Douglass,
Tucson,
Miner
38 New York.
Oscar Buckalew,
Calabasas,
Farmer
23 Pennsylvania.
Michael McKenna, *Solomon W. Cham- bers,
Tubac,
Farmer
44 Ohio.
*Thomas D. Hutton,
Huababi
16
40 Tennessee.
*Did not attend the Session.
Tucson,
Miner
29 Louisiana.
44
38
Maryland.
Name.
Lawyer
30
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
Richard C. McCormick had been appointed Governor of the Territory in April, 1866. James P. T. Carter, of Tennessee, was appointed to the position which McCormick previously held, that of Secretary of the Territory. Mar- shal Milton B. Duffield resigned in the year 1865, and was succeeded by Edward Phelps of Vermont.
Milton B. Duffield, according to Captain Bourke in his work, "On the Border with Crook," was appointed Marshal by President Lincoln because of the courage he displayed in one of the New York riots during the early stage of the Civil War. After his term of office expired he lived in Tucson, where he be- came quite a bully and killed several men. It has been said that he was the only man in Arizona who dared wear a plug hat, as the roughs would shoot them off the heads of per- sons who wore them. He held the position of mail inspector for a time, which he discharged in a commendable as well as in a western style, the offender generally leaving for other parts when told to by Duffield. He was a tall, power- ful man, and a crack shot. He was killed at Tombstone by a young man named Holmes, who had taken up a claim in which Duffield asserted an interest.
The part of the foregoing account of Mar- shal Duffield relating to his killing, is, accord- ing to C. E. Duffield, a nephew of the Marshal, incorrect. Mr. C. E. Duffield's account of the killing of Marshal Duffield is as follows: "He had gone to one of his mining properties 'about four days' drive from Tucson,' so it was not in a street fight at Tombstone. It was in 1872,
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THE THIRD LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.
and the man Holmes afterwards confessed that he had shot him when Mr. Duffield had laid his gun down and walked away some distance, thinking no one was in that locality seeking his life, although he knew every desperado was after him. Holmes, it is stated, said that he received two thousand dollars for doing it. It was subsequently brought out that many of the officials were implicated in the murder, and that Holmes never was prosecuted. He said at the time that the motive was money more than revenge. Many had tried to kill Mr. Duffield on account of their crooked trans- actions, which seemed not to escape his close watch, and it demonstrated that the higher ups, as well as the lower downs, were after him, and got him in the end, as was usually the case in the early days of the west." Captain Bourke says that he met the ex-Marshal in Tucson about the year 1872 or 1873.
I give the following from Bourke's "On the Border with Crook," in reference to the ex- Marshal, which account, according to my recol- lection, is substantially correct :
"Who Duffield was before coming out to Ari- zona I never could learn to my own satisfaction. Indeed, I do not remember ever having any but the most languid interest in that part of his career, because he kept us so fully occupied in keeping track of his escapades in Arizona that there was very little time left for investi- gations into his earlier movements. Yet I do recall the whispered story that he had been one of President Lincoln's discoveries, and that the reason for his appointment lay in the courage Duffield had displayed in the New York
168
HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
riots during the war. It seems-and I tell the tale with many misgivings, as my memory does not retain all the circumstances-that Duf- field was passing along one of the streets in which the rioters were having things their own way, and there he saw a poor devil of a colored man fleeing from some drunken pursuers, who were bent on hanging him to the nearest lamp- post. Duffield allowed the black man to pass him, and then, as the mob approached on a hot scent, he levelled his pistol-his constant com- panion-and blew out the brains of the one in advance, and, as the story goes, hit two others as fast as he could draw bead on them, for I must take care to let my readers know that my friend was one of the crack shots of America, and was wont while he lived in Tucson to drive a ten-penny nail into an adobe wall every day before he would go into the house to eat his evening meal. At the present moment (in 1872) he was living at the 'Shoo Fly,' and was one of the most highly respected members of the mess that gathered there. He stood not less than six feet three in his stockings, was ex- tremely broad-shouldered, powerful, muscular, and finely knit; dark complexion, black hair, eyes keen as briars and black as jet, fists as big as any two fists to be seen in the course of a day disputatious, somewhat quarrelsome, but not without very amiable qualities. His bravery, at least, was never called in question. He was no longer United States marshal, but was holding the position of Mail Inspector, and the manner in which he discharged his delicate and dangerous duties was always commendable and very often amusing.
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THE THIRD LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.
" 'You see, it's jest like this,' he once remarked to the postmaster of one of the smallest stations in his jurisdiction, and in speaking the in- spector's voice did not show the slightest sign of anger or excitement-'you see, the post- master general is growling at me because there is so much thieving going on along this line, so that I'm gitting kind of tired 'n' must git th' whole bizz off me mind; 'n 'ez I've looked in- to the whole thing and feel satisfied that you're the thief, I think you'd better be pilin' out o' here without any more nonsense.'
"The postmaster was gone inside of twelve hours, and there was no more stealing on that line while Duffield held his position. Either the rest of the twelve dollars per annum post- masters were an extremely honest set, or else they were scared by the mere presence of Duf- field. He used to be very fond of showing his powerful muscle, and would often seize one of the heavy oak chairs in the 'Congress Hall' bar- room in one hand, and lift it out at arm's length ; or take some of the people who stood near him and lift them up, catching hold of the feet only. "How well I remember the excitement which arose in Tucson the day that 'Waco Bill' arrived in town with a wagon train on its way to Los Angeles. Mr. 'Waco Bill' was a tough in the truest sense of the term, and being from half to three-quarters full of the worst liquor to be found in Tucson-and I hope I am violating no confidence when I say that some of the vilest coffin varnish on the mundane sphere was to be found there by those who tried diligently-was anxious to meet and subdue this Duffield, of
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
whom such exaggerated praise was sounding in his ears.
" 'Whar's Duffer ?' he cried, or hiccoughed, as he approached the little group of which Duf- field was the central figure. 'I want Duffer (hic) ; he's my meat. Whoop.'
"The words had hardly left his mouth, be- fore something shot out from Duffield's right shoulder. It was that awful fist, which could, upon emergency, have felled an ox, and down went our Texan sprawling upon the ground. No sooner had he touched Mother Earth than, true to his Texan instincts, his hand sought his revolver, and partly drew it out of the holster. Duffield retained his preternatural calmness, and did not raise his voice above a whisper the whole time that his drunken opponent was hurl- ing all kinds of anathemas at him; but now he saw that something must be done. In Arizona it was not customary to pull a pistol upon a man; that was regarded as an act both unchris- tianlike and wasteful of time-Arizonans nearly always shot out of the pocket without drawing their weapons at all, and into Mr. 'Waco Bill's' groin went the sure bullet of the man who, local wits used to say, wore crape upon his hat in memory of his departed virtues.
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