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Pah-Ute County

Chronology:

In 1864, the First Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Arizona created the four original counties of Arizona:  Mohave, Pima, Yavapai and Yuma (2 HC 1864).  At that time, Mohave County included the triangular section of land bounded by 37 degrees north latitude and running to the California border which now forms the southern tip of Nevada where Las Vegas is located.

William B. Hartley's map of Arizona from the collections of the Library of Congress shows the original boundaries of the Territory of Arizona.

December 22, 1865, the Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly split Mohave County in half creating a fifth county, Pah-Ute, out of the northern half.

May 5, 1866, an act of Congress (14 Stat. 43) offered the State of Nevada land from the territories of Utah and Arizona that bordered Nevada on the east and south.  James Warren Nye who served as Governor and then as U.S. Senator from the State of Nevada, served on the Committee on Territories which recommended passage of S. 155 (39th Congress, 1st Session) which took land from both Mohave and Pah-Ute counties in the Territory of Arizona.

1867, the additional land was accepted by the Third Session of the Nevada State Legislature.

February 18, 1871, the Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly repealed the Act creating Pah-Ute County and the Pah-Ute County land that remained after the Nevada annexation was returned to Mohave County.

Sources:

• Howell Code Chap. II, p. 24
• Arizona Laws 1865, p. 19
• 14 U.S. Statutes at Large 43
• Laws of Nevada 1867, p. 57
• Arizona Laws 1871, p. 87

See also:

• Angel, Myron.  Reproduction of Thompson and West's History of Nevada, 1881, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers.  Berkeley, CA:  Howell-North, 1958.   The portion of the Arizona territory ceded to Nevada is on p. 102.
• Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records History and Archives Division Record Group 115.
• Elmer, Carlos.  "One of our Counties is Missing."  Arizona Highways, vol. 53, no. 1 (January 1977), pp. 39-45.  There is also a small map on p. 34.
• "The First 100-Part I-The Early Years:  O. D. Gass (1827-1924):  At the Right Place at the Right Time-Almost."  Las Vegas Review Journal.
• Nevada Secretary of State.   Political History of Nevada, 1996   see:  Historical and Political Data:  Additions of Territory to Nevada after Statehood and Map 18 showing Pah-Ute County with an outline overlay of the current State of Nevada.

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