The Arizona Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans held provisional status until
the chartering of the Confederate Secret Service Camp 1710 on 6 April 1995. Camp 1710 joined the Colonel Sherod Hunter
Camp 1525, the Confederates of La Paz Camp 1572, the Captain Robert Rodes Nelson Camp 1647 and the Captain Granville Henderson
Oury Camp 1708 to make a full five Camp division. The first Division Convention and Reunion was held in Phoenix in June,
1995. Reunions have since been held in Tucson, Sierra Vista, Tombstone, Payson, Prescott, Chandler and Apache Junction
as well as returning to Phoenix.
In 1997, members of the Confederate Secret Service Camp 1710 who lived in Tucson rechartered
Arizona's original SCV Camp, Captain Hunter's Arizona Rangers Camp 1202. Camp 1202 had been organized in the 1930s but
became inactive in the 1970s. In an effort led by Compatriots Bobby Morris and James Gooden, Camp 1202 became the Division's
sixth Camp.
In 1998, Division Commander Robert Perkins led an effort to reorganize the division.
It was decided that the division would consist of two brigades, the boundary between them being the Gila River. Camps
north of the Gila (1525, 1647, 1708) would make up the Salt River Brigade and those to the south (1202, 1572, 1710) would
make up the Gadsden Brigade. Unfortunately, Camp 1572 became inactive this same year. The following year, members
of the Salt River Brigade voted to change the brigade's name to the Jefferson Davis Brigade.
In the fall of 2004, led by Past Arizona Division Commander Glenn Meek, Past Camp 1710
Commander John Mangum and Camp 1710 members Tim Payne, Steve Morris and Dave Hawkins, a sixth Camp, the Texas John H. Slaughter
Camp 2074, was organized and chartered. Headquarted in Tombstone, the "Town Too Tough to Die," Camp 2074 adds to the
stature and strength of the Arizona Division.
On 27 August, 2005, members of Camp 1710 and 1647 living in the Gila Valley (Graham and
Greenlee Counties) met in Safford to organize the Pvt. Nathan Terry Wanslee Camp 2096, bringing the total of Arizona Camps
to seven. Recruiting additional new members, Commander Clyde England and Adjutant Dick Prina applied for an SCV Charter
and brought the new Camp into the ranks of the Arizona Division.
In May, 2007, Camp 2074 member David L. Barton spearheaded an effort to organize and
charter a new Camp, the Army of Trans-Mississippi Artillery Camp 2127. Recruiting eight members from an artillery
reenactment unit, Compatriot Barton met the requirements for a charter and submitted the request through the Division Commander
to General Headquarters. The new Camp is headquartered in Tucson. In June, 2008, Camp 2127 reoranized, elected
new officers and voted to change its name to the Major Samuel H. Drachman Camp. Major Drachman was a Confederate veteran
and Tucson pioneer. There is a street named after him in the City of Tucson.
In the Spring of 2007, members of Camp 1647 met and voted to change the name of the Camp
to the Private Peter Hail Camp 1647. Members conducting research discovered that "Captain" Robert Rodes Nelson never
held that rank and that, in fact, he purchased a substitute to evade his enlistment responsibilities. They chose Private
Hail, who was killed in action at the Battle of Glorieta Pass, as a better example of our ancestors' dedication to the Cause.
In January, 2009, 24 members of the Colonel C.L. Pyron Camp 2144 of Albuquerque, New
Mexico, petitioned the Arizona Division for permission to charter a new Camp in Yavapai County. Permission was granted
and Camp Commander Ken Garrison and Ajutant Chris Mathis initiated the charter application process. The Pvt. C.W.
Lucas--Forrest's Escort Camp 2316 became the Division's ninth Camp on 14 February 2009, the 147th anniversary of the creation
of the Arizona Territory CSA and the 97th anniversary of Arizona's statehood.
In its short existence, the Arizona Division has grown from a single Camp of 20 some
members to nine Camps with nearly 200 full, associate and corporate members.
