What was going on in AZ in EA's early days in the state..

In 1877, the Southern Pacific lobbyist in the territorial capital, Tucson, gave Territorial Governor Anson Safford $25,000 to “fix” the legislature.  According to a letter that Safford wrote, he returned $20,000, noting that the railroad had overestimated the legislature’s price. 

In the early 20^th century, when E. A. Tovrea was first getting into politics in AZ as mayor of Jerome, Governor W.P. Hunt said that a governor’s veto could be bought for $2,000.  In 1903, the New York Sun declared Jerome "the wickedest town in the West" due to its many saloons and brothels (http://www.geotimes.org/jan07/Travels0107.html).

Source:  Thomas E. Sheridan.  Arizona:  A history (Tucson:  University of Arizona Press, 2012)