2nd Arizona Territorial Legislature

The 2nd Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly was a session of the Arizona Territorial Legislature which began on December 6, 1865, in Prescott, Arizona, and ran for 24 days. The sessions chief accomplishments were creation of Pah-Ute County and establishing Arizona as a community property jurisdiction.

At the time the 2nd legislature met, Arizona Territory was only two years old and still in the process of setting up basic government services. The American Civil War was still in progress and military troops to deal with Apache and other tribes hostile to white settlement was limited. Establishment of the Colorado River Indian Reservation had however greatly reduced conflict with the Mohave.

Mail service was a major concern in the territory. As Territorial Secretary Richard C. McCormick stated, "The hostile Indian is scarcely more inimical to the progress and prosperity of a new country than the mail contractor who by his faithlessness interrupts the business and social intercourse of the people, and deprives them of their only means of communication with the outer world." The previous year had seen the establishment of the territory's first mail route, connecting Prescott with Los Angeles, California, Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory, and Tubac. To this route McCormick wished to see restoration of the old Butterfield route along with a new route serving settlers along the Colorado River.

The period since the previous legislative session had also seen the territory's second elections held in September 1865. During the elections, Governor John N. Goodwin had defeated Charles D. Poston for Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. As a result, Secretary McCormick was left as Acting Governor.

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