Editing Confederate Arizona (section)

== Background ==
{{further|Arizona Organic Act|History of slavery in New Mexico}}
Before the start of the war, the land of the current states of New Mexico and Arizona was part of the New Mexico Territory and the [[Gadsden Purchase]], which ran parallel to [[William Walker (filibuster)|William Walker's]] [[Republic of Sonora|Republics of ''Lower California'' and ''Sonora'']]. As early as 1856, the territorial government in [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] had raised concerns about being able to effectively govern the southern part of the territory. It was separated from the rest by the [[Jornada del Muerto]], a difficult stretch of [[desert]].

In February 1858, the New Mexico territorial legislature adopted a resolution in favor of the creation of the Arizona Territory. The border was to be defined along the [[32nd meridian west from Washington]]. The legislature proposed that all the Indians of New Mexico would be [[Indian removal|removed]] to northern Arizona.

In April 1860, impatient for Congress to act, the territory called a convention and 31 delegates met in [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]]. In July 1860, the convention drafted a constitution for a "Territory of Arizona" to be organized out of the New Mexico Territory south of [[34th parallel north]]. The convention elected [[Lewis S. Owings]] as the Territorial Governor, and elected a delegate to [[United States Congress|Congress]].

Anti-slavery Representatives opposed creating a new territory, as they feared it had the potential to become a [[Slave states and free states|slave state]]. Many people in the area were pro-slavery, with business connections in southern states, from which some had migrated. In addition, all of this new territory lay below the old [[Parallel 36°30′ north|Missouri Compromise line]] of demarcation between slave and free states.

Since the proceedings of the Tucson convention were never ratified by the United States Congress, the Provisional Territory was not considered a legal entity. For a time it operated as a ''de facto'', if not ''de jure'', government for the intended Arizona Territory. Lewis S. Owings, Governor of the Provisional Territory, appointed [[James Henry Tevis]] to raise the first Territorial Militia. This comprised three companies of [[Arizona Rangers]] for the protection of the Territory from marauding Apaches and bandits.<ref>''Hayden Pioneer Biographies Collection'', biography of James Henry Tevis, p. 1, Arizona State University Library</ref> Two companies were raised in the [[Pinos Altos, New Mexico|Pinos Altos]] mining camp, and another at Mesilla.