In the summer of 1863, as Civil War battles raged across the American South, a wagon train of federal officials bounced along the dusty trails toward a remote military outpost in central Arizona Territory. Their mission: establish a government seat for the newly created territory in a place so isolated that mail took months to arrive from Washington. What followed was a 26-year odyssey that would see Arizona’s capital move four times before finally settling in the desert valley that would become Phoenix—a journey that mirrors the territory’s own transformation from frontier outpost to modern state.
The Unlikely Beginning: Fort Whipple and Chino Valley
The story begins not in any town, but at Fort Whipple, a hastily constructed military post near present-day Chino Valley. When President Abraham Lincoln signed the Arizona Organic Act on February 24, 1863, creating Arizona Territory from the western half of New Mexico Territory, the immediate challenge was finding a suitable location for the government. The original plan called for establishing the capital along the Colorado River, but Confederate sympathizers in the region and ongoing Apache conflicts made this impractical.
The First Territorial Government
Governor John Noble Goodwin and his party of territorial officials arrived at Fort Whipple in December 1863, establishing what locals called “the capital in the pines.” The choice was strategic rather than practical—the fort offered military protection in a region where Yavapai and Apache peoples fiercely resisted American encroachment on their ancestral lands. For several months, the territorial government operated from tents and log buildings, with Secretary Richard McCormick famously conducting official business from a pine desk he fashioned himself.
The Chino Valley period was brief but significant. Here, on December 29, 1863, Governor Goodwin took his oath of office in a ceremony that territorial judge William T. Howell described as “democracy flowering in the wilderness.” The government’s presence, though temporary, established American civil authority in a region previously governed by military rule and marked the beginning of systematic American colonization of central Arizona.
Prescott: The Wilderness Capital (1864-1867)
By May 1864, the discomforts of governing from a military camp prompted the move to a new townsite along Granite Creek, just 20 miles south. Named Prescott after historian William Hickling Prescott, this planned capital represented Arizona’s first attempt at creating a “proper” territorial seat. The town’s founders, capitalizing on nearby gold discoveries in the Bradshaw Mountains, envisioned a New England-style community in the Arizona pines.
The First Territorial Capitol
Prescott’s wooden Governor’s Mansion, completed in 1864, stands today as Arizona’s oldest surviving territorial building. From this modest structure, governors including Goodwin and his successor, Richard McCormick, wrestled with the enormous challenges of organizing a territory larger than all of New England. The First Territorial Legislature convened here in September 1864, meeting in a two-room log building where legislators drafted Arizona’s first legal code while sitting on wooden planks supported by sawhorses.
Political Culture and Challenges
The Prescott years established traditions that would shape Arizona’s political culture. The territorial legislature created the territory’s first public school system, established counties, and began the complex process of negotiating water rights—issues that remain central to Arizona politics today. The town’s Whiskey Row, where legislators famously conducted as much business in saloons as in the statehouse, became legendary for its rough-and-tumble political culture.
However, Prescott’s isolation proved problematic. Located in mountainous terrain far from the territory’s population centers, the capital was difficult to reach, especially during winter months. Southern Arizona legislators, who controlled valuable mining interests around Tucson, increasingly resented traveling hundreds of miles through Apache territory to attend legislative sessions.
Tucson: The Ancient Pueblo Becomes Capital (1867-1877)
The Fourth Territorial Legislature’s decision to move the capital to Tucson in 1867 represented a dramatic shift in Arizona’s political geography. Unlike Prescott, a town barely three years old, Tucson traced its origins to the O’odham village of Stjukshon, established centuries before Spanish colonization. The Spanish presidio of San Agustín del Tucsón, founded in 1775, had evolved into a thriving Mexican town that became part of the United States through the 1854 Gadsden Purchase.
A Bicultural Capital
Tucson in 1867 was Arizona’s largest settlement, with a population exceeding 3,000—mostly Mexican and Mexican-American residents who had called the region home for generations. The adobe buildings clustered around the old presidio presented a stark contrast to Prescott’s wooden frontier architecture. As territorial secretary John Wasson observed, “We have exchanged the pine forests for the desert, American whiskey for Mexican mescal, and frame buildings for adobe—but the politics remain equally spirited.”
The capital occupied several buildings during its Tucson decade, including the Ochoa House on Main Street and various rented adobes near the presidio. The territorial legislature’s sessions reflected Tucson’s bicultural character, with proceedings occasionally switching between English and Spanish, and Mexican legal traditions influencing territorial law. This period saw the establishment of Arizona’s public land policies and mining codes that would govern the territory’s economic development for decades.
Conflict and Change
Tucson’s decade as capital coincided with the arrival of more American settlers and the gradual displacement of traditional Mexican political power. The period also witnessed increased violence as Apache leaders, including Cochise and Geronimo, fought to defend their territories against American expansion. The Camp Grant Massacre of 1871, where a Tucson-based vigilante group killed more than 140 Apache people, mostly women and children, cast a dark shadow over the capital years.
By 1877, northern Arizona legislators, allied with powerful mining interests in Yavapai County, successfully maneuvered to return the capital to Prescott. The “Thieving Thirteenth” Legislature, as Tucson newspapers branded it, voted for the move in a session marked by alleged bribery and backroom deals—a fitting end to Tucson’s tumultuous capital era.
Back to Prescott: The Interim Years (1877-1889)
Prescott’s second term as capital, from 1877 to 1889, coincided with Arizona’s transformation from frontier territory to proto-modern society. The arrival of the railroad in 1887 ended the town’s isolation, while the territorial prison in Yuma and the university in Tucson (consolation prizes for losing the capital) represented growing institutional sophistication.
Political Maturation
During these years, Prescott’s political culture matured. The territorial capitol building, constructed in 1878, provided the first purpose-built government facility. The legislature professionalized, establishing modern committees and procedures. Women’s suffrage advocates, led by Josephine Brawley Hughes, began organizing in Prescott, laying groundwork for Arizona’s later progressive politics.
Yet even as Prescott prospered, a new power center was emerging in the Salt River Valley. Phoenix, incorporated in 1881, was growing rapidly thanks to modern irrigation systems that revived ancient Hohokam canal routes. By 1885, Phoenix boosters were actively campaigning to capture the capital, promising a modern city with better climate, transportation, and facilities.
Phoenix: The Final Capital (1889-Present)
The Fifteenth Territorial Legislature’s decision to move the capital to Phoenix in 1889 proved permanent, though it took a controversial special election and allegations of vote manipulation to seal the deal. Phoenix had offered an irresistible package: donation of 10 acres of land and $100,000 for capitol construction—an enormous sum that reflected the valley’s agricultural prosperity.
The Modern Capital
When the territorial government officially relocated on February 4, 1889, Phoenix was barely eight years old but already boasted 3,000 residents, electric lights, and a streetcar system. The new capitol building, completed in 1901, featured modern amenities unimaginable in the earlier capitals: electric lights, running water, and eventually, air conditioning that would make Phoenix’s brutal summers bearable for government workers.
Statehood and Beyond
The Phoenix years saw Arizona’s final territorial phase and its transformation into the 48th state on February 14, 1912. The copper dome atop the capitol, added for statehood, contained copper from every major mine in Arizona—a symbol of the industry that drove the state’s early economy. From this building, governors including George W.P. Hunt, Arizona’s first state governor who served seven terms, shaped modern Arizona’s progressive constitution and pioneering social policies.
Phoenix’s selection as permanent capital proved prescient. The city’s location in the geographic center of Arizona, combined with its agricultural wealth and eventual development into a major metropolitan area, validated the 1889 decision. The completion of Roosevelt Dam in 1911 secured the valley’s water supply, enabling the explosive growth that would transform Phoenix from territorial capital to America’s fifth-largest city.
The Living Legacy
Today, each former capital preserves unique aspects of Arizona’s territorial heritage. Fort Whipple, now part of the Prescott VA Medical Center, maintains its original parade ground where Governor Goodwin took his oath. Chino Valley’s Old Home Manor Museum, housed in an 1880s building, preserves artifacts from the region’s territorial period.
Prescott’s Heritage
Prescott’s downtown historic district, centered on Courthouse Plaza, remains remarkably intact. The Sharlot Hall Museum complex includes the original Governor’s Mansion and offers the most comprehensive collection of territorial government artifacts. Whiskey Row, rebuilt after a 1900 fire, continues to serve drinks to legislators—now state rather than territorial—when they visit from Phoenix.
Tucson’s Preserved History
Tucson’s Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón has been partially reconstructed, offering visitors a glimpse of the adobe capital. The Arizona History Museum features extensive exhibits on the territorial period, including furniture from the legislative chambers and personal items from territorial governors. The Sosa-Carrillo House, an 1880s adobe, provides an authentic example of the architecture that characterized Tucson’s capital years.
Phoenix’s Capitol Complex
Phoenix preserves the most complete capital complex. The restored 1901 Capitol building now serves as a museum, with legislative chambers and governor’s office furnished as they appeared at statehood. The adjacent Capitol Museum explores Arizona’s journey from territory to state, while the modern legislative and executive buildings surrounding Capitol Mall continue the work of government begun in that military camp 160 years ago.
Historical Significance
The story of Arizona’s wandering capital reflects broader themes in the state’s history: the tension between north and south, the evolution from frontier to modern society, and the ongoing negotiation between Arizona’s diverse communities. Each capital represented different visions for Arizona’s future—Prescott’s Anglo-American frontier ideal, Tucson’s multicultural heritage, and Phoenix’s promise of modern prosperity through technology and growth.
For visitors tracing this capital trail today, the journey offers more than historical curiosity. It provides a tangible connection to the struggles and aspirations of those who shaped Arizona from a remote territory into a dynamic state. From the pine forests of Prescott to the desert valleys of Phoenix, each stop reveals how geography, politics, and human ambition combined to create the Arizona we know today.
Visit the History
Historic Capital Sites and Museums
📍 Arizona Capitol Museum
- Address: 1700 W Washington St, Phoenix, AZ 85007
- 📞 Phone: (602) 926-3620
- 🌐 Website: azlibrary.gov/azcm
- 🕒 Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 AM – 4 PM, Saturday 10 AM – 2 PM (September-May)
- 💰 Admission: Free
- ♿ Accessibility: Fully wheelchair accessible with elevator access to all floors
📍 Sharlot Hall Museum
- Address: 415 W Gurley St, Prescott, AZ 86301
- 📞 Phone: (928) 445-3122
- 🌐 Website: sharlothallmuseum.org
- 🕒 Hours: Monday-Saturday 10 AM – 5 PM, Sunday 12 PM – 4 PM
- 💰 Admission: $14 adults, $12 seniors, $8 students, free for children under 12
- ♿ Accessibility: Most buildings and grounds are wheelchair accessible
📍 Arizona History Museum
- Address: 949 E 2nd St, Tucson, AZ 85719
- 📞 Phone: (520) 628-5774
- 🌐 Website: arizonahistoricalsociety.org
- 🕒 Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10 AM – 4 PM
- 💰 Admission: $10 adults, $8 seniors/students, free for children under 6
- ♿ Accessibility: Fully accessible facilities with designated parking
Additional Resources
📚 Further Research: For those seeking deeper exploration of Arizona’s capital history, the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records in Phoenix maintains extensive territorial government documents. The book “Arizona’s Capitols” by historian Jay Mark provides comprehensive coverage of each capital period, while the Arizona Historical Society’s quarterly journal regularly publishes new research on territorial politics and society.
