 The first proposal dates to a conference held in Tucson that convened on August 29, 1856.The conference issued a petition requesting organization of the territory and signed by 256 people to the U.S. Congress, and elected Nathan P. Cooke as the territorial delegate to Congress.In January 1857, a bill for the organization of the territory was introduced into the United States House of Representatives, but the proposal was defeated on the grounds that the population of the proposed territory was yet too small.