Marcus A. Smith - Territorial Delegate

Territorial Delegate

The 1886 Democratic territorial convention nominated Smith for the office of Territorial Delegate over longer serving possibilities such as Peter R. Brady and Albert C. Baker. The same convention created a party platform calling for free silver, territorial home rule, opposition to Chinese immigration, granting territorial delegates the right to vote, and support of the Cleveland administration. Smith's opponent was the incumbent, Curtis C. Bean. During the campaign, Smith and his supporters focused on two issues. In the 1884 campaign, Bean promised to resign if a Democratic president was elected that year. He failed to keep the promise after Grover Cleveland was elected President. Second, when the Tres Alamos land claim in Cochise County was presented to the U.S. Congress for final confirmation, Bean had taken no action even though ratification of the claim had resulted in 300 settlers being displaced. Smith in turn had no political record to defend and won the November 2, 1886 election.

With the first session of the 50th United States Congress not beginning till December 1887, Smith remained in Arizona practicing law until August 1887. This time period also saw him become a director of Tombstone's Grand Central Mining Company. When Congress finally convened, Smith was assigned to the Committees on Mines and Mining and Private Land Claims. He additionally served as a member of the Special Committee on the Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of the First President.

During his first term, Smith introduce 41 bills. The subject of these bills included a request to grant Arizona Territory another justice for the Territorial Supreme Court, authorization for Maricopa county to issue bonds, twenty bills providing financial reimbursement for losses suffered due to Civil War actions and Indian depredations, and six bills that would grant right of way to railroads and water companies to cross Indian reservations. Smith's first speech from the House floor came on March 31, 1888 when he spoke against creation of a Court of Private Land Claims. The court was intended to streamline the process by which Spanish and Mexican land grants were recognized by the United States government. In the wake of the troubles caused by James Addison Reavis and his Peralta land grant fraud, Smith argued that such a court would advantage large land claimants over smaller holders. Instead of creating a special court, Smith suggested that existing local courts could instead determine the validity of land claims. When it became apparent that the Court of Private Land Claims was to be created, Smith attempted to have Arizona excluded from the court's jurisdiction by arguing the territory had less than a dozen land claims, only two of which had any validity.

During course of his career, Smith regularly spoke in favor of developing water resources in the West. His first term saw the introduction of a bill to survey Arizona to identify suitable sites for storage dams and reservoirs and to reserve the land at any located sites. Another topic on which he routinely expressed his opinion was dealing with the territory's indigenous population. His views on the subject are shown in a speech he gave on February 18, 1890 when Smith said, "We of the West are not brutal or even unjust to the Indian, but we sympathize more with civilization than with savagery. We much desire to see the Indian improved and the white man protected. We wish to see a human being made out of the Apache Indian." Toward this end, Smith advocated in his first term against increasing the size of Indian reservations, claiming much of Arizona's best real estate had already been given to "a lot of idle, vagabond, murderous Indians".

As his first term neared an end, Smith received his parties nomination for a second term in September 1888. His Republican challenger was Thomas F. Wilson who argued Benjamin Harrison would win the Presidential election of 1888 and Arizona would do better with a territorial delegate of the same party as the incoming President. After reading the speeches Smith had given while in the House most Arizona settlers felt the first term delegate had done a good job representing their interests, allowing him to win an easy electoral victory. Much of the margin of victory coming from voters in the Gila River valley who agreed with Smith's opposition to the Court of Private Land Claims.

In 1889, Smith began developing political connections in Maricopa County. With the rapid growth of Phoenix increasing the political influence of county, Smith purchase an ownership interest in the Arizona Gazette to ensure a friendly newspaper in the area. Professionally, Smith joined with Ben Goodrich and Webster Street to found the legal firm of Goodrich, Street & Smith. Despite the firm's office being located in Phoenix, the partners traveled the territory and practiced where there was need for their services. Finally, with Governor C. Meyer Zulick falling out of political favor, Smith took steps to distance himself.