The Notorious Thieving 13th

The “Notorious” 13^th Territorial Legislature met in Prescott in January 1885. It was marked by a fight between Julius A. Brown and Lafayette P. Nash; A monkey wrench; a bull whip; and a duel.

One version of the duel has Clay Beauford, a former scout for the Army changed his name to back to his real name, Wilford C. Bridwell.  A local lobbyist for the Arizona Copper Company named Arnold, took exception to Beauford, claiming he was denying his French heritage and chastised him. The ex-scout punched him, bloodying his nose and breaking his glasses. A challenge for a duel ensued.  Clay chose Colts but Frenchman insisted on French sabers, knowing there were none for 2,000 miles. Cooler heads prevailed and they all went to Whiskey Row and bellied up to the bar.

Some Tucson businessmen gave Bob Leatherwood a satchel containing $4,000 with orders to bring the capitol back to the Old Pueblo. It was a rainy winter and when they arrived in Tempe the Salt River was flooding so they took the stage back to Maricopa, then caught the Southern Pacific to Los Angeles. They took the Santa Fe to Ash Fork, caught the stagecoach to Prescott. The stage was delayed at Hell Canyon, south of Ash Fork, so Leatherwood mounted a mule with his money and rode furiously to Prescott. The delegates were being paid mileage. Each delegate claimed $330 each for 2,200 miles from Tucson to Prescott and back. The satchel full of money was not a bribe, it was to woo the other delegates with “wine, women and song.”

Unfortunately, Leatherwood arrived too late, and the other counties had divvied up the goods. Florence got a bridge across the Gila River. No sooner had the bridge been dedicated when the fickled Gila carved itself a new channel and left the bridge by its lonesome.

The delegates of Pima County weren’t the only ones to inflate their travel. Frank Ainsworth of Yavapai County charged $225. in travel charges. He believed he could claim any point in the vast county when he resided just down the street from the session.

Phoenix got the insane asylum and Tempe, a normal school. Prescott retained the capitol. The absent delegates from Tucson were handed the only award left on the table, a university. Little did the Tucsonans realize at the time what a treasure they had received. When the news reached them one businessman, a saloonkeeper, complained, “What do we need with a university? Those kids won’t patronize my business.

Budget called for $4,000 in expenditures and they exceeded that by $46,745, much of it going into the pockets of the house and council members. It was an issue of mileage, paying clerks that did no work and also overcharging for printing costs and mailing.

Thus they became known as the “Thieving Thirteenth”. Two years later only one of the 32 was re-elected.

Actually, the Thirteenth Legislature accomplished some important things including the establishment of the University of Arizona and the Tempe Normal School (now ASU) along with authorizing bonds for a railroad connecting Prescott to Ash Fork on the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (Santa Fe) and a line from Phoenix to the Southern Pacific RR at Maricopa.