Final Sessions
The Provisional Legislature met for two sessions in late 1848 and early 1849. The first session, from December 5 to December 13, never formally organized as so many of the representatives had traveled south for the California Gold Rush. Beginning on February 5, a session was organized that conducted the final business of the Provisional Government. The session lasted until February 16. During this session a law forbidding the sale of firearms and supplies to Native Americans was repealed, and a law was passed to authorize the minting of gold coins. The law concerning the coins allowed for the creation of the Beaver Coins, which had a higher gold content than United States minted coins. Less than a month later, when the new territorial governor Joseph Lane arrived, however, he rescinded the law as unconstitutional and the coins were collected and removed from circulation. For the legislative session Ralph Wilcox was chosen as speaker, but he resigned from the post. Stephen Meek served as the doorkeeper, William G. T’Vault as a clerk, and William Holmes as sergeant at arms.
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—André Maurois (1885–1967)