 Arizona is a dry and desolate state that is known for its mozaic of
canyons, cacti, gold mines, and ghost towns. Features that will make any visit filled with intrique. While its most popular
destination remains unique as one of the nation's premier
landmarks and foremost attractions "the Grand
Canyon". It is the center of Arizona tourism and
an area where people from around the world come to gaze
into its unfathomable dimensions. The first humans to set up their homes in the Grand Canyon came here about 13,000 years ago. Early prehistoric nomads who roamed North America hunting huge woolly mammoths, mastodons, and saber-toothed tigers. A home until the end of the last Ice Age (10,000 years ago) when the climate suddenly changed. The weather turned arid, forests died, and many of the animals they hunted became extinct. Leaving them no choice but to follow game northward as it retreated. It would be thousands of years later before Indian tribes reinhabited Northwestern Arizona. The era between 2,000 B.C. to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors (1540 AD) is remembered through the towns built by ancient tribes of Anasazi, Mogollon, and Hohokam Indians. Historians and archaeologists explain their eventual disappearance as the result of drought, disease, and raids by newly arriving tribes of Apaches and Navajos. The Hopi village of Oraibi (founded in 1150 AD) may be the oldest permanent settlement in America.
AZ, Oraibi, the oldest permanent settlement in America Today Arizona has the third largest population of American Indians (Oklahoma and California ranking first and second respectively) and the largest percentage of state land reserved for Indian Reservations. Seven of Arizona's fourteen National Monuments are dedicated to these native tribes. The most renowned include:
AZ, Canyon de Chelly National Monument Following these prehistoric settlers and Indians came the Europeans. It was not long after Columbus that tales of Arizona's great canyon and mountains of gold lured European Francisco de Coronado to Arizona's borders. If fact the next two European explorations after Columbus discovered America were in Florida and Arizona. While Coronado was traveling through Arizona, DeSoto was traversing Florida in his own search for gold. What Coronado found in Arizona were not cities of gold that he sought but a harsh and foreboding land that made life difficult and dangerous. The expansive Sonoran Desert of Southern Arizona and the precipitous cliffs of the Grand Canyon in the Northwest greatly hampered his ability to travel through the region. In the end Coronado's pursuit of riches ended without the gold he sought. His accounts of Arizona's desolate terrain and arid climate deterred further exploration or colonization. Spain did leave its mark here however with the establishment of ten missions in Arizona. It is difficult to imagine that amidst the tranquil beauty of the Arizona frontier is a state at the center of some of this nation's most violent and contested wars. Since the period of time when Spanish conquistadors visited Arizona in 1540, it has had a continuous series of battles over its land. Spain, Mexico, the United States, and American Indians all claiming rights to Arizona territory. Altercations which began with the Spanish and native Indians over 400 years ago continued through the next few centuries with Mexico and the United States the last to join the warring factions. The war between Mexico and Spain finally culminating in Mexican sovereignty over Arizona in 1821. However Mexico would finish one war only to begin another with the resident Indians who rebelled against this claim. The Mexican-Indian struggle was a guerrilla war that lasted 30 years. The United States entering these struggles in 1846. Fighting an already beleaguered Mexican Army that had just finished engagements with Spain and the native Indians, the U.S. - Mexican war lasted two years. Ending in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ceded Arizona and most of the Southwest to the United States. This included present sections of California, Texas, and New Mexico. In spite of overwhelming odds, the native Indians were the last to continue the fight for independence. The Navaho and Apache Indians were steadfast and determined not to give up their ancestral lands. Fort Defiance was built in 1851 to force an Indian surrender. The final battles between the U.S. Army and Indians occurred with Kit Carson receiving the surrender of the Navahos in 1863; and General Crook receiving the surrender of the Apache Chief Cochise in 1874. The final surrender of Geronimo in 1886 marked the last U.S.- Indian engagement in Arizona.
AZ, Geronimo Even after the U.S. and Indian war was concluded, there was no influx of settlers from the East. Arizona receives only seven inches of rain a year making it a state with the second lowest average rainfall. Only Nevada which receives four inches a year has a lower rainfall. As the Spaniards had learned centuries before, Arizona's terrain and climate make it one of the harshest environments in the world. This natural deterrent to Arizona's growth and progress was soon addressed by the federal government. It began construction of the Roosevelt Dam in the early 1900s and with its completion in 1911 the territory became habitable to the soaring populations of the eastern U.S. cities. Additional water and hydroelectric power was added in 1936 with the completion of the Hoover Dam. The Roosevelt and Hoover Dams were monumental undertakings and two of the highest dams in the world at the time they were completed. Providing enough water and electricity to promote a population surge that has not yet diminished. The influx of retirees has increased Arizona's population 42% in the last 10 years.
AZ, Hoover Dam The nation's third fastest growing state with Phoenix among the nation's fastest growing cities. Growth prompted by perpetually clear blue skies and dry air (low relative humidity). The low humidity reducing the heat index which makes the temperature feel much cooler than the high numbers indicate. Today the land of the Grand Canyon presents a formidable challenge to the traditional retiree states of Florida and California. With the aid of the Roosevelt and Hoover Dams, Arizona is transforming the desert into an oasis of golf courses, parks, and retirement communities. Prompting this exodus is Arizona's natural scenic treasures. Its most treasured being its 7 National Forests (Apache, Coconino, Coronado, Kaibab, Prescott, Sitgreaves, and Tonto), 14 National Monuments, 25 State Parks, and the Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest National Parks. An attractive inducement for many to visit and/ or settle here permanently. All combined to promote a $5 billion a year tourism industry. Complementing Arizona's other major industry which is mining. The state leads the nation in copper and molybdenum production. Copper is by far its largest mining operation accounting for 75% of all mining employment and over two-thirds of all copper produced in the United States. The Morenci Copper Mine is one of the largest mines in the world. A large portion of its molybdenum is produced as a by-product of its copper refining. Molybdenum is the key ingredient in hardening steel. Uranium and vanadium make up the remainder of Arizona's major mineral deposits. |
