15th Arizona Territorial Legislature

The first issue dealt with by the session was a proposal for the relocation of the territorial capitol.[5] A bill to relocate the territorial capital was passed in the House by a vote of 14 to 10 and by the Council on a 9 to 2 vote.[6] Legislative Act No. 1, signed by Governor Zulick on January 26, moved the capitol to Phoenix on February 4, 1889.[4]

Following passage of the bill to relocate the capitol to Phoenix, the session suspended and on January 29, 1889, began the move to the new seat of government. Instead of using stagecoaches to make the trip via the direct route, the delegates instead chose to utilize a pair of Pullman cars routed through Los Angeles;[7] the luxurious mode of transport was chosen in large part due to the railroad's practice of providing free passes to the legislators in an effort to avoid laws unfavorable to their interests.[8]

Territorial Secretary James A. Bayard was in turn left with the job of packing and transporting the session's furniture, records, and supplies.[7] By the time the furniture arrived at the new capitol it had been damaged to the point of uselessness on the rough roads between Prescott and Phoenix. The session was saved by donations from the new capitol's citizens.[9] After the journey, the legislature reconvened on February 7, 1889.[10]

Once the legislature got back to business they passed a number of measures. One that attracted significant notice was a law, based upon a similar New Mexico statute, that established the death penalty for train robbery.[11] Other laws prohibited carrying of deadly weapons inside town limits and requiring literacy in English for territorial office holders.[8]

Other actions taken by the session were transferring the northern section of the Tonto Basin from Yavapai to Gila county and establishing a $3000 subsidy encouraging development of artesian wells.[8]

As the session drew towards its conclusion, the issue of official appointments came to the forefront. President Harrison was set to be inaugurated on March 4, 1889, and by federal law the assembly was limited to a length of 60 days. The Republican majority was eager to have a governor from their own party appointed so that he could appoint his own slate of nominations of territorial officials. As former Governor Tritle noted, "The Governor has no power of removal, and when appointments have been made by the Governor, whether they shall have been confirmed or not, the incumbents will hold until the next Legislative Assembly convenes, and will also hold over thereafter until successors shall have been nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the Council."[2] It was feared that unless the new Governor arrived swiftly there would be no choice but to accept the nominations that had been made by outgoing Governor Zulick for the next two years. If was further feared that unless a Republican majority was elected to the next legislature, future legislatures could refuse to confirm any nominations from any new governor and thus keep Zulck's nominees in office till after President Harrison left office.[2]

On March 14, 1889, Lewis Wolfley was nominated as Governor of Arizona Territory, receiving Senate confirmation on March 28.[12] On March 22, the sixtieth day of the session, the Council rejected all of Governor Zulick's nominees and instead of adjourning remained in session. Governor Wolfley arrived in the territory on April 8 with his own list of nominees which the Council quickly approved, ending the session on April 11, 1889.[13]