Editing Nevada Territory (section)

==History==
{{Historical populations
|type= USA
|1860|6857
|footnote=Source: 1860;<ref>{{cite report|editor-last=Forstall|editor-first=Richard L.|title=Population of the States and Counties of the United States: 1790–1990|page=3|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/PopulationofStatesandCountiesoftheUnitedStates1790-1990.pdf|access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref>
}}

The eastern boundary of Nevada Territory had been defined as the [[39th meridian west from Washington]], but when gold discoveries were made to the east the Nevada territorial delegation to Congress requested the boundary be moved east to the [[38th meridian west from Washington|38th meridian]], which Congress granted in 1862. The border was shifted further east, to the [[37th meridian west from Washington|37th meridian]], in 1866, in part due to the discovery of more gold deposits. These eastward shifts took land away from [[Utah Territory]]. The southern border of Nevada Territory had been defined as the [[37th parallel north|37th parallel]], but in 1866 Nevada asked Congress to move the border south to the Colorado River. Congress granted the request in 1867, giving Nevada all of the western end of [[Arizona Territory]]. Arizona strongly protested, but found little sympathy in Congress due in part to Arizona having aligned with the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Stein |first= Mark |title= How the States Got Their Shapes |year= 2008 |publisher= HarperCollins |isbn= 978-0-06-143138-8 |pages= 176–177}}</ref>

The exact location of the due north-south California–[[Nevada]] border, between [[Lake Tahoe]] and the intersection with the southern boundary of [[Oregon]] at the [[42nd parallel north|42nd parallel]], was contentious and was surveyed and re-surveyed well into the 20th century.<ref>{{cite news |first=Henry |last=Brean |title=Four Corners mistake recalls long border feud between Nevada, California |url=http://www.lvrj.com/news/43760307.html |work=[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]] |date=April 27, 2009 |access-date=2009-04-27 }}</ref>

Congress transferred some of the lands west of the Colorado River including [[Pah-Ute County, Arizona]] Territory to the State of Nevada on May 5, 1866. Part of this southern tip of Nevada was established as [[Clark County, Nevada|Clark County]] in 1909 and contains the city of [[Las Vegas]].

The territorial capital was moved from the provisional capital of [[Genoa, Nevada|Genoa]] to [[Carson City, Nevada|Carson City]]. [[James Warren Nye]] succeeded [[Isaac Roop]], the first provisional territorial governor, and became the only territorial governor. The secretary of the territory was [[Orion Clemens]] (older brother of Samuel Clemens, also known as [[Mark Twain]]), who more or less served as governor in Nye's constant absence.