A public notice tells the citizens of Yuma that the "Congress of the United States...meeting in special session has granted recognition of Arizona as a territory of the United States of America!" This apparently refers to the Arizona Organic Act, passed as H.R. 357 by House of Representatives in March 1862, and by the Senate in February 1863, and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on 24 February 1863. Although the notice says that the act "will
become official after ratification by the Arizona legislature," it actually became official with the president's signature.