In the Second Legislature, at Prescott, in 1865, at the time of the
creation of Pah-ute County, northwest Arizona, or Mohave County, was
represented in the Council by W. H. Hardy of Hardyville and in the House
by Octavius D. Gass of Callville. In the Third Legislature, which met at
Prescott, October 3, 1866, Pah-ute was represented in the Council by
Gass, who was honored by election as president of the body, in which he
also served as translator and interpreter. He was described as a very
able man, though rough of speech. He explored many miles of the lower
Grand Canyon. He was not a Mormon, but evidently was held in high esteem
by his constituents, who elected him to office in Arizona as long as they
had part in its politics. Royal J. Cutler of Mill Point represented the
county in the House of Representatives.
In the Fourth Legislature, which met at Prescott, September 4, 1867,
Gass, who had moved to Las Vegas, was returned to the Council where again
he was chosen president, and Cutler, who had moved to St. Joseph, again
was in the House. On the record of the Legislature's proceedings, Gass is
styled "ranchero" and Cutler "farmer."
Though most of the area of Pah-ute County already had been wiped out by
congressional enactment and given to Nevada, Gass again was in the
Legislature in 1868, in the fifth session, which met in Tucson, December
10. The House member was Andrew S. Gibbons of St. Thomas, a senior member
of a family that since has had much to do with the development of
northeastern Arizona. A very interesting feature in connection with this
final service in the Legislature, was the fact that Gass and Gibbons
floated down the Colorado River to Yuma and thence took conveyance to
Tucson. They were in a fourteen-foot boat that had been built at St.
Thomas by James Leithead. Gibbons' son, William H. (now resident at St.
Johns), hauled the craft to Callville, twenty miles, and there sped the
legislators.
At the outset, there was necessity for the voyageurs to pass through the
rapids of Black Canyon, an exciting experience, not unmixed with danger.
Gibbons knew something of boating and so was at the oars. Gass, seated
astern, firmly grabbed the gunwales, shut his eyes and trusted himself in
the rapids to providence and his stout companion, with at least one
fervent admonition, "For God's sake, Andy, keep her pointed down stream."
The passage was made in safety, though both men were soaked by the
dashing spray.
The start was made November 1. By day all possible progress was made, the
boat being kept in midstream and away from bushes, for fear of ambush by
Indians. At night a place for camp would be selected in a secluded spot
and a fire would be lighted only when safety seemed assured.
There was some delay in securing transportation eastward from Fort Yuma.
Indians had been active along the stage route and had just waylaid a
coach and killed its driver. Thus it came that the members from Pah-ute
were six days late in their taking seats in the territorial assembly.
At the close of the legislative session, Gibbons journeyed home on
horseback, for much of the way through districts infested by wild Indians
of several tribes, a trip of at least 500 miles. Gass went to California
before returning home. Such a return journey is not mentioned, however,
in an interesting record, furnished the Author by A.V., Richard and Wm.
H. Gibbons, sons of the pioneer.
Royal J. Cutler, on April 3, 1869, came again into official notice as
clerk of the Probate and County Court of Rio Virgen County, which had
been created out of the western part of Washington County, Utah, by the
Utah Legislature. The first session of the court was at St. Joseph, with
Joseph W. Young as magistrate. This county organization is not
understood, even under the hypothesis that Utah claimed a sixty-mile
strip of Nevada, for St. Joseph, on the Muddy, lies a considerable
distance south of the extension of the southern Utah line, the 37th
parallel.
A tax was levied of one-half of 1 per cent, this later increased to
three-quarters of 1 per cent. Direct taxes in 1869 had been received of
$156.19, and the amount transferred from Pah-ute County was $24.10, a
total of $180.29, which hardly could be considered an onerous levy or fat
treasury for the support of a political subdivision. The treasurer had on
hand $28.55 in cash, $20 in flour and $12.45 in wheat.