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Arizona's Ordinance of Secession & the Act Establishing the Territory
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ARIZONA ORDINANCE OF SECESSION
Passed by the People of Arizona in Convention Assembled at La Mesilla, Arizona Territory, March 16, 1861
 
WHEREAS, a sectional party of the North has disregarded the Constitution of the United States, violated the rights of the Southern States, and heaped wrongs and indignities upon their people; and
WHEREAS, the Government of the United States has heretofore failed to give us adequate protection against the savages within our midst and has denied us an administration of the laws, and that security for life, liberty, and property which is due from all governments to the people; and
WHEREAS, it is an inherent, inalienable right in all people to modify, alter, or
abolish their form of government whenever it fails in the legitimate objects of
its institution, or when it is subversive thereof; and
WHEREAS, in a government of federated, sovereign States, each State has a right to withdraw from the confederacy whenever the treaty by which the league is formed, is broken; and
WHEREAS, the Territories belonging to said league in common should be divided when the league is broken, and should be attached to the separating States according to their geographical position and political identity; and
WHEREAS, Arizona naturally belongs to the Confederate States of America (who have rightfully and lawfully withdrawn from said league), both geographically and politically, by ties of a common interest and a common cause; and
WHEREAS we, the citizens of that part of New Mexico called Arizona, in the present distracted state of political affairs between the North and the South, deem it our duty as citizens of the United States to make known our opinions and intentions; therefore be it...
RESOLVED, That our feelings and interests are with the Southern States , and that although we deplore the division of the Union, yet we cordially indorse the course pursued by the seceded Southern States.
RESOLVED, That geographically and naturally we are bound to the South, and to her we look for protection; and as the Southern States have formed a
Confederacy, it is our earnest desire to be attached to that Confederacy as a
Territory.
RESOLVED, That we do not desire to be attached as a Territory to any State seceding separately from the Union, but to and under the protection of a
Confederacy of the Southern States.
RESOLVED, That the recent enactment of the Federal Congress, removing the mail service from the Atlantic to the Pacific States from the Southern to the Central or Northern route, is another powerful reason for us to ask the Southern Confederate States of America for a continuation of the postal service over the Butterfield or El Paso route, at the earliest period.
RESOLVED, That it shall be the duty of the President of this Convention to order an election for a delegate to the Congress of the Confederate States of America, when he is informed that the States composing said Confederacy have ordered an election for members of Congress.
RESOLVED, That we will not recognize the present Black Republican
Administration, and that we will resist any officers appointed to this Territory
by said Administration with whatever means in our power.
RESOLVED, That the citizens residing in the western portion of this Territory are invited to join us in this movement.
RESOLVED, That the proceedings of this Convention be published in the Mesilla Times, and that a copy thereof be forwarded to the President of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, with the request that the same be laid before Congress."
 

PROCLAMATION

ESTABLISHING THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT OF THE

TERRITORY OF ARIZONA

 

To the People of the Territory of Arizona:

The social and political condition of Arizona being little short of general anarchy, and the people being literally destitute of law, order, and protection, the said Territory, from the date hereof, is hereby declared temporarily organized as a military government until such time as Congress may otherwise provide.

I, John R. Baylor, lieutenant-colonel, commanding the Confederate Army in the Territory of Arizona, hereby take possession of the said Territory in the name and behalf of the Confederate States of America.

For all the purposes herein specified, and until otherwise decreed or provided, the Territory of Arizona shall comprise all that portion of New Mexico lying south of the thirty-fourth parallel of north latitude.

All offices, both civil and military, heretofore existing in this Territory, either under the laws of the late United States or the Territory of New Mexico, are hereby declared vacant, and from the date hereof shall forever cease to exist.

That the people of this Territory may enjoy the full benefits of law, order, and protection, and, as far as possible, the blessings and advantages of a free government, it is hereby decreed that the laws and enactments existing in this Territory prior to the date of this proclamation, and consistent with the Constitution and laws of the Confederate States of America and the provisions of this decree, shall continue in full force and effect, without interruption, until such time as the Confederate Congress may otherwise provide.

The said Territory of Arizona from the date hereof is hereby temporarily organized under a military government until such time as Congress may otherwise provide. The said government shall be divided into two separate and distinct departments, to wit: the executive and judicial. The executive authority of this Territory shall be vested in the commandant of the Confederate Army in Arizona. The judicial power of this Territory shall be vested in a supreme court, two district courts, two probate courts, and a justice of the peace, together with such municipal and other inferior courts as the wants of the people may from time to time require. The two district judges shall constitute the Supreme Court, each of whom shall determine all appeals, exceptions, and writs of error removed from the district court wherein the other presides. One of the said judges shall be designated as the chief justice of the Supreme Court. There shall be but one session each year, which shall be held at the seat of government. The district judges shall hold two terms of court every year in their respective judicial districts. They may likewise hold special terms whenever in their opinion the ends of public justice require it.

The judicial districts of this Territory shall be divided as follows: The first judicial district shall comprise all the portion of Arizona lying east of the Apache Pass, the district and probate courts whereof shall be held at La Mesilla. The second judicial district shall comprise the remainder of the Territory. The district and probate courts shall be held at Tucson. The governor shall likewise appoint one probate judge and sheriff and the necessary justices of the peace in and for each judicial district. The constables shall be appointed by the respective justices of the peace.

Each district judge shall appoint his own clerk, who shall be ex officio clerk of the probate court within such district. The district and probate courts of the two districts shall be held at such times as heretofore provided by the legislature of New Mexico for the counties of Doņa Aņa and Arizona.

All suits and other business now pending in any of the late courts of New Mexico within this Territory shall be immediately transferred to the corresponding courts of this Territory, as herein established. The style of all process shall be the Territory of Arizona, and all prosecutions shall be carried on in the name of the Territory of Arizona.

There shall likewise be appointed by the governor an attorney-general, secretary of the Territory, treasurer, and marshal, whose duty and compensation shall be the same as heretofore under the laws of New Mexico.

The city of Mesilla is hereby designated as the seat of government of this Territory.

All Territorial officers shall hold their respective terms of office until otherwise provided by Congress, unless sooner removed by the power appointing them.

The salaries, fees, and compensation of all Territorial officers shall remain the same as heretofore in the Territory of New Mexico.

The treasurer, marshal, sheriffs, and constables, before acting as such, shall execute to the Territory a bond, with good and sufficient securities, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their official duties, in the same manner as heretofore provided under the laws of New Mexico.

All Territorial officers, before entering upon their official duties, shall take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution and laws of the Confederate States and of this Territory and faithfully to discharge all duties incumbent upon them.

The bill of rights of the Territory of New Mexico, so far as consistent with the Constitution and laws of the Confederate States and the provisions of this decree, are hereby declared in full force and effect in the Territory of Arizona.

 

Given under my hand at Mesilla this 1st day of August, 1861.

//signed//

JOHN R. BAYLOR,

Gov. and Lieut. Col., Comdg. Mounted Rifles, C. S. Army

 

 

Reference:  Official Records of the War of the Rebellion.-- SERIES I--VOLUME IV [S# 4] CHAPTER XI.

JULY 25-27, 1861.--Skirmish at Mesilla
No. 8. -- Reports of Lieut. Col. John R. Baylor, (C. S. Army, of skirmish at Mesilla, and surrender of
Union troops at San Augustine Springs, and subsequent operations

An Act of the Senate and House of Representatives

 

Be it enacted by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, that all that part of the present Territory of New Mexico included with the following limits, to wit:  Beginning on the Colorado River at the parallel of north latitude thirty four degrees, thence with said parallel to the eastern boundary of New Mexico; thence south with said boundary until it intersects the line of Texas; and thence with said line to the Rio Grande, and so on to the line of Mexico, on said river, as fixed by the treaty of eighteen hundred and fifty-four; thence with the boundary line established by said treaty between the late United States and Mexico to the Colorado River, thence up the Colorado to the place of beginning, be and the same is hereby, created into a temporary government by the name of the Territory of Arizona; and nothing in this act shall be so construed as to inhibit the Government of the Confederate States from dividing said Territory into two or more Territories, in such manner and at such times as the Congress shall deem convenient and proper, or from attaching any portion of said Territory to any other State or Territory of the Confederate States:  Provided, that when admitted as a State, the said Territory or any portion of the same shall be received into the Union of the Confederate States with a constitution providing for the full, adequate and perpetual maintenance of slavery therein; and that, in the meantime, the institution of slavery in said Territory shall receive all necessary protection, both from the Territorial legislature and the Congress of the Confederate States:  Provided also, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to impair the rights of persons or property now pertaining to the Pimos and Maricopas Indians on the Gila River; or the right or claim of the Confederate States to the remainder of the Territory of New Mexico, or to any other territory north of the line of thirty-four degrees north latitude.

 

//signed//

Jefferson F. Davis

14 February 1862

 

(Note--it is no coincidence that Arizona was admitted to the Union as the 48th state exactly 50 years later--14 February 1912.)

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