Notice: The following is provided for informational purposes only.
This compilation incorporates sections, shown in italics, from Mulford Winsor’s Arizona’s Way to Statehood (Phoenix, AZ: n.p., 1945 (reprint, Arizona Secretary of State, n.d.); AZDocs No.: SS 1.2:S 71). The Honorable Mulford Winsor (1874-1956) was a delegate to the Arizona Constitutional Convention of 1910 and was elected to the Arizona State Senate five times. He also served as Director of the Department of Library and Archives (now Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records) from 1932-1956. Mr. Winsor noted that Arizona’s road to statehood was not an easy one:
In all, thirty-nine bills and twelve joint resolutions aimed exclusively or in conjunction with other Territories at statehood for Arizona were introduced in the two houses of Congress. Of these, twenty-nine bills and nine resolutions died in the committee of the house of origin, three bills were reported favorably but received no further consideration, four bills and one resolution passed the House of Representatives but did not reach a vote in the Senate, one bill passed both houses but died for want of agreement concerning amendments, one bill became a law but failed when its terms were rejected by the people of Arizona, one resolution passed both houses but was vetoed by the President, and one bill and one joint resolution, effecting the purpose for which they were designed, passed both houses and received the President’s approval.
Arizona is “composed of Territory ceded by Mexico; part [north of the Gila River] by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, in which 525,000 square miles were ceded to the United States, including parts of present-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah and part [south of the Gila River] by what is known as the ‘Gadsden Purchase‘”…. The Arizona Geographic Alliance http://geoalliance.asu.edu/azga_site has produced a map showing the “Historical Development of Arizona and New Mexico Boundaries” which gives an overview of the many changes that took place before Arizona achieved statehood. The following is a chronology of key documents along Arizona’s road to statehood.
A complete timeline of the path to statehood, including important documents, can be found here.
Additional Resources
The Constitution for the State of Arizona was debated, written and signed in Arizona’s Territorial Capitol in Phoenix, Arizona which is now:
- Arizona Capitol Museum
- The Road To Statehood
- Table of dates U.S. States and Territories were admitted into the Union
Arizona celebrated its Centennial on February 14, 2012. To learn more about Arizona and its history, visit:
- Arizona Memory Project
- Arizona Centennial Legacy Projects designated by the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission
- Arizona’s Constitution Timeline
The Shining S.T.A.R.L. 