Odd Ball HCR2034 - 511R - H Ver of HCR2034

House Engrossed

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-first Legislature

First Regular Session

2013

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 2034

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

commemorating the sesquicentennial of the organization of the arizona territory.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Whereas, the rich history of Arizona includes the genealogy of the Native American peoples hundreds of years before the time of Christ; and

Whereas, the beauty and grandeur of Arizona was written about by Spanish conquistadors and padres eighty years before the Pilgrims landed on the East Coast; and

Whereas, on February 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo granted the area to the United States government following the War with Mexico, making Arizona part of the New Mexico Territory; and

Whereas, the Gadsden Purchase of 1854 added the area south of the Gila River to the New Mexico Territory; and

Whereas, this land, now known as Arizona, was made separate from the New Mexico Territory along the 34^th parallel with Arizona occupying the southern half of the divide; and

Whereas, from 1850-1860, ten bills supporting separation of territories failed in the Congress of the United States; and

Whereas, Arizona was added as a county of New Mexico with the seat in Tucson in 1860; and

Whereas, on February 14, 1862, Arizona became a territory of the Confederate States of America; and

Whereas, in June 1862, Union soldiers captured Tucson and claimed the territory for the United States of America; and

Whereas, when H.R. 357 passed the United States House of Representatives on May 8, 1862, our great nation was engulfed in a horrendous civil war; and

Whereas, this land, now known as Arizona, was made separate from the New Mexico Territory by this bill, dividing Arizona and New Mexico into separate territories along the 109^th meridian; and

Whereas, this Act forbade slavery or forced servitude in this territory and in all territories that may follow thereafter; and

Whereas, more commonly known as the Organic Act, this bill, when signed into law, provided for the organization of territorial republic governance of executive, legislative and judicial powers; and

Whereas, the Organic Act provided for the creation of the State of Arizona under the provisions of the United States Constitution; and

Whereas, President Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States, signed the Organic Act into law on February 24, 1863, creating the Territory of Arizona and establishing Prescott as the Capitol.

Therefore

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring:

1. That the Members of the Legislature celebrate the 150^th year anniversary of the passage of the enabling legislation on February 24, 1863 that established the Territory of Arizona.

2. That the Members of the Legislature encourage the citizens of the State of Arizona to take special pride in knowing that personal liberty, individual rights and fair government are imbued in this historic Act that gave birth to the Grand Canyon State of Arizona.