History of Arizona

Arizona's Story

Arizona is a young state – in fact the last of the original 48 states. It was admitted to the nation in 1912, but its history goes back thousands of years.

Spanish explorers roamed Arizona 25 years before St. Augustine, Florida, was founded in 1565, and almost 70 years before the English came to Jamestown in 1607. Yet the land was so far from the successful European settlements in the East and so hard to live in that it remained a last frontier.

Since statehood, 20th Century transportation has brought Arizona within hours of any part of the nation. Now, engineers have stored water for the dry land and cooled the hot air.

Arizona is a land of contrasts. Its blend of the Indian, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American has created a rich and diverse culture. Its land goes from arid desert to high, snowcapped mountains and lush forests. 

Indians: Arizona's First Citizens

Indians have lived in Arizona for thousands of years. They introduced agriculture about 2000 BC in the Southeast. Farming then moved northward. By 300 BC, Indians grew maize, squash, beans, and cotton, partly with the use of irrigation systems. Three Indian tribes -- the Anasazi, Mogollon, and Hohokam -- built the earliest settlement.

The Anasazis, who lived in the North on the Colorado Plateau, were the ancestors of the present-day Hopi Indians. The Anasazi built many cliff dwellings. The dwelling remains still exist and attract many tourists. The Anasazis were gatherers of wild plants, nuts, grains, and the like, as well as hunters. They also made beautiful baskets, cups, bowls, and clothing, often from human hair.

The Mogollon lived in what is now eastern Arizona and New Mexico. They built their villages on ridges and used the valley land for crops. They also hunted, and lived in both round and rectangular pit houses.

By AD 700, the Hohokam culture was among the most productive and sophisticated north of present-day Mexico. "Hohokam" is a Pima word meaning those who disappeared or have gone away. The Hohokam brought water by way of canals to grow crops, and the remains of their canals still can be traced near Phoenix. Some primary canals were more than 20 miles long. The famous Casa Grande ruins near Coolidge tell us a great deal about the achievements of the Hohokam civilization. Near Phoenix, many of the canals of the modern Salt River Project follow the original Hohokam excavations.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Apache and Navajo Indians moved into eastern Arizona. The Hohokam had disappeared around 1450 for reasons not clear.

Two other cultures also disappeared. One, the Sinaguan, left behind the famous ruins of the Wupatki National Monument north of Flagstaff and Tuzigoot near Clarkdale. The other culture is the Patayan. These Indians lived along the Colorado River, but we know only that they were both sedentary farmers and hunters or food gatherers.

Many of Arizona's Indians live today much as their ancestors did. Tribes are grouped by the language they speak. In Arizona there are three main language groups: (1) Yuma, including the Havasupai, Hualapai, Yuma, Mohave, Maricopa, and Yavapai; (2) Athapaskan (the largest) including the Navajo and Apache; and (3) Ute-Aztecan, including the Kaibab, Paiute, Hopi, Pima, and Papago.

The Hopi built Oraibi during the 1100s. It is probably the oldest continuously lived in community in the United States.

The Indians greatly influenced the history of Arizona. Many of our cities, counties, mountains, and so on have Indian names. The Indians were the first Arizonans and we respect their contributions.

Spanish Exploration And Settlement

In about 1535, the Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca ,with three companions, found his way across Texas and possibly the southeast corner of what is now Arizona. Cabeza de Vaca was probably the first European to enter Arizona. His report led to further explorations of the region. The Spaniards heard stories about the great wealth of the Seven Cities of Cibola. They grew eager to find this treasure.

In 1539, one of Cabeza de Vaca's party, a black slave known as Estevan, guided the Franciscan friar Marcos de Niza back over the trail Cabeza de Vaca had taken. In 1540, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado crossed into Arizona. One of his lieutenants discovered the Grand Canyon, and another explored the Hopi Indian villages. These were not cities of gold, however, and about two years of search ended with the realization that Cibola did not exist. This search for gold, though, had increased interest in Arizona, and the Spanish continued to come.

In the 1580s and the early 1600s, Antonio de Espejo and Juan de Onate wandered to the remote regions of central and northern Arizona. They found evidence of the minerals that one day would make Arizona rich. The middle 1600s brought even more Spanish interest, particularly in missions to the Indians. Then in 1680, the Pueblo Indians revolted and destroyed the new Spanish outposts in Arizona and New Mexico -- but this did not deter the missionaries.

A dedicated missionary, Father Kino, founded more than 20 missions (including the famous San Xavier del Bac south of Tucson), taught the Indians how to farm, stocked the ranges with cattle and sheep. and explored thousands of miles in Arizona and California. By the time of his death in 1711, the Spanish had a real hold on southern Arizona.

As miners and farmers moved into southern Arizona, the Indians resisted. Several times the Indians tried to drive out the Spaniards, but the Spanish soldiers always regained any territory they lost.

In 1752 Spanish troops established the state’s first white settlement -- a fort at Tubac in southern Arizona. In 1776 Tucson also became a Spanish fort surrounded by thick adobe walls to protect soldiers and their families from the Apache Indians who roamed the area. The 18th Century was a period of battles and ill feeling between the Spanish and native Indians. Little progress was made developing Arizona during these years.  

Mexican Period

In 1821 Spanish domination of the Southwest ended. After a successful Mexican revolt against the Spanish, Arizona became Mexican territory.

This was the era of the mountain men from the United States -- romantic figures such as Pauline Weaver and Kit Carson -- who went among the Indians, trapping and trading. The careful exploration and mapping by Lieutenant W.H. Emory in 1846 developed more interest in this territory. Arizona began to develop ties to the United States. Other areas of the region were explored despite the constant danger from the Apache.

When President James Polk provoked war with Mexico in May of 1846 Arizona started down the road to becoming the 48th state of the American Union. General Stephen Watts Kearny set up American civil government in the Arizona area on September 22,1846. He invaded the region from the east and was in Santa Fe when he issued the proclamation that provided for government over the Territory of New Mexico.

When the Mexican war was over in 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo took an area stretching from Texas to California away from Mexico and added it to the United States. The new territory was called New Mexico, and had its capital at Santa Fe. This new territory included most of Arizona (north of the Gila River).

Early United States Period

After the Mexican War, the United States extended its territory to the Pacific. The discovery of gold made California seaports important. People realized the value of travel routes. The first stagecoach lines came into Arizona in 1857.

One of the dreams of the era was to connect East and West with railroads. Government surveys showed that an excellent route from the lower Mississippi River to California would run through a region south of the Gila River in Mexico. Accordingly in 1853 U.S. diplomat James Gadsden negotiated with Mexico the purchase of the region between the Gila River and the present Arizona-Mexico boundary. The Southern Pacific furthered the dream to connect East and West when it became the first railroad to reach Arizona in 1877.

In the few years between the Gadsden Purchase and the outbreak of the war between the states, settlers moved into southern Arizona. They came looking for gold and silver, having heard about the California gold rush. The crude mining operations carried on within the new territory immediately attracted Eastern capital. Settlements were established on the Santa Cruz River and mines were opened.

The people wanted to organize Arizona as a territory separate from New Mexico, but no one in distant Washington D.C. paid much attention. Congress had included the area north of the Gila River in the territory of New Mexico, and later attached the Gadsden Purchase area to it.

Arizona, as part of the Territory of New Mexico, continued to grow. Forts were established and stage lines traveled between them. Steamboats on the lower Colorado River also provided transportation. Then thousands of miles away, Confederate guns fired upon the U.S. flag and even remote Arizona felt the effects.

As the Civil War intensified in 1861 the cavalry withdrew the troops who had guarded against the Apaches. The Indians attacked the isolated, unprotected homesteads. Although the Apaches were far from subdued during the Civil war years, they were held in check. In 1864 Colonel Kit Carson led the campaign that subdued the Navajo.

Many of the U.S. settlers in the Gadsden Purchase area had come from the southern states, and early in 1862 the Confederate Congress recognized Arizona as a separate territory.

Union and Confederate forces in Arizona fought little, although a skirmish at Picacho Peak on April 15, 1862, is considered the westernmost battle of the Civil War. In the summer of 1862 Union forces occupied Tucson ending Confederate rule.

Territorial Period

Efforts continued to create a separate Territory of Arizona because the settlements were too far away from New Mexico legislature in Santa Fe. The demand was opposed by arguing that the area was unimportant.

Finally, the United States Congress created a Territory of Arizona. The Organic Act was passed in 1863, which President Abraham Lincoln signed into law. Charles D. Poston is known as the "Father of Arizona" because of his effort to get the bill adopted. Poston was an explorer, miner, and surveyor who lobbied the bill through Congress establishing the Arizona Territory. He later became a lawyer and Arizona’s territorial delegate to Congress.

The president selected John A. Gurley a former congressman from Ohio to be the first territorial governor, but he fell ill and died before the men forming the new government could set out for Arizona. The president then appointed as governor John N. Goodwin of Maine, originally selected to be the territory’s chief justice. Governor Goodwin’s party left Washington at once, and late in September began the wagon trip from Fort Leavenworth over the Santa Fe trail to Arizona. The group reached the new New Mexico-Arizona border on December 27, 1863, and stopped two days later at a place called Navajo Springs. There they conducted the ceremony that formally established the Territory of Arizona. The provisional seat of the territorial government was established at Fort Whipple, but it was moved in May 1864 some 20 miles south to a little mining community named Prescott. The census taken in 1864 showed that Arizona had a population of 4,573 (excluding Indian residents), with most of the people still located in the southern part of the territory. Under Richard C. McCormick, the capital was moved to Tucson in 1867 and remained there until 1877. Then it was shifted back to Prescott and, finally in 1889 a permanent capital was set up in Phoenix.

Arizona’s first public school was opened in Tucson in 1871. By 1880, 101 such schools provided education for the children of a growing population. From 40,440 in 1880 the territory continued to grow to 88,243 people in 1890. The once sparsely populated northern part of the territory attracted an increasing share of the new population.

The Indian War Years

The 25 years following the Civil War brought both Indian wars and great progress. The Arizona Territory was ravaged by fighting between whites and Indians, mainly the Apache. Steeped in the tradition of great chiefs like Mangus Colorado and led by resourceful men like Cochise and Geronimo, the Indians defied the soldiers for years. So few troops were stationed in Arizona that the Apaches raided almost at will and killed hundreds of Americans and Mexican settlers.

The federal government had established the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the War Department in 1842. In 1830, the Indian Removal Act was passed, giving the president the power to move the Indians from American settlements. After 1871, the tribes were no longer considered separate governments. This meant the United States could take action concerning the Indians without negotiating treaties. More and more, Indians were relocated to reservations.

The 1880s saw repeated runaways, pursuits, and recapture of reservation Apaches. Early in the decade Geronimo, one of the most powerful Apache chiefs, fled the reservation and along with such chiefs as Juh, Nachez, Nana, and Chato terrorized the settlers. Army General George Crook, the most successful Indian fighter in Arizona history, returned to Arizona in 1882 and brought peace -- but only briefly.

In 1885, war broke out again. This time General Crook was unable to achieve peace, and in 1886 he resigned after a quarrel with his superiors. A few weeks later, Geronimo surrendered to General Nelson A. Miles and was taken to Florida as a prisoner. This ended the Indian wars in Arizona in 1886.

Political and Economic Development

The foundation of Arizona’s economy was laid in these territorial years. Gold and silver-mining attracted settlers, but the future was in copper. The rich copper mines became highly developed in the 1870s and 1880s. Ranching also became a large scale business during the 1870s. The entrance of the Southern Pacific from California to Arizona on September 30, 1877, increased the railroad’s importance. Pioneers founded Phoenix in the late 1860s and began to use the ancient Indian canals to bring the water of the Salt River to the land. The building of Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River guaranteed the growth of irrigated agriculture. Former President Theodore Roosevelt himself presided at the dedication of the huge irrigation dam named in his honor.

Other agricultural settlements such as Gila Bend (1866) and Florence (1866) were founded along with Phoenix. Also in the 1870s the Mormons founded a number of settlements on the Colorado Plateau and in the Salt and upper Gila River valleys. In 1879. The settlement of Tombstone began with the discovery of large silver deposits. Lawlessness was widespread in Tombstone, where the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral took place in 1881.

During the last quarter of the 19th Century of Arizona Territory was, in most respects, typical of the Wild West. Law and order frequently were privately managed and gunfights and bloody feuds resulted.

The 20th Century came quietly to the territory of Arizona. In 1900 agriculture, cattle, and mining dominated the economy as it had during the previous two decades. The relative importance and nature of these industries changed greatly over the next 70 years. Meanwhile, fundamental issues of water scarcity and the area’s relative isolation continued to restrain economic development. The role of government, both federal and state, would be instrumental in the future growth. By 1912 the wild west was nearly tamed. Law enforcement had been improved since the early rowdy days of the mining camps. Transportation was becoming much easier. Modern communication and transportation replaced the legendary badman on a fast horse.

Arizona was sparsely populated but growing at the rate of more than 8,000 people per year. Population increased 66 percent from 1900 through 1910. Arizona was beginning to demonstrate it was ready for statehood.

The Fight For Statehood

Arizona remained a territory of the United States for 49 years. During much of that period, her people fought for statehood in the Federal Union. In 1872 Richard C. McCormick first voiced the demand to make the territory a state.

Strong statehood movements began about 1890, but Congress refused to act. Many of Arizona’s economic leaders favored the free and unlimited coinage of silver, while the adherents to the gold standard were in control of Congress. The free silver versus gold controversy damaged Arizona’s struggle to attain statehood during much of the 1890s. In 1905 and 1906, Congress considered bills to form one large state from the Arizona and New Mexico territories. Both proposals failed because Arizona voters turned them down.

In 1910 with much urging from President William Howard Taft and Governor Richard Sloan, the last territorial governor of Arizona, Congress permitted Arizona to draw up a constitution and apply for statehood. Governor Sloan issued the call to elect delegates to the Arizona Constitutional Convention immediately upon his return from Washington. George W.P. Hunt, who later became the state’s first governor, presided over the constitutional convention, noted for its progressive thinking. The document drawn up was hailed as a model constitution and included provisions for initiative, referendum, and recall. Again there was a delay. President Taft vetoed the bill because the proposed state constitution permitted the voters to remove judges from office by recall. He refused to approve statehood unless this clause was omitted. Arizonans then removed the offending language, and on February 14, 1912, Statehood was proclaimed. One of the first independent actions of the people in Arizona, however, restored the recall of judicial officers.

The State Of Arizona

The development from a wild west territory to a sunbelt state was swift and left the state poised for future growth. The Arizona Constitution provided for three branches of state government -- executive, legislative and judicial -- and for a bicameral legislature. People’s distrust of a strong executive led them to give most of the power to the legislative branch. Until 1966 representation in the legislature was based on counties. Each county had two representatives in the State Senate; and four in the House of Representatives. The strength of the legislative branch gave rural economic interests -- such as copper, ranching, and railroads – a disproportionate amount of influence for many years. Representation based on counties, not on population, meant that rural Arizona controlled state government even after most of the population lived in metropolitan areas.

The state constitution written in 1910 is four times as long as the federal constitution, because it is much more specific. This means that many issues, such as limits on state indebtedness, are beyond the control of the legislature or the executive. They require constitutional amendments to change them.

In many respects Arizona’s "old west" roots still show, but in 1912 Arizona’s male voters gave women the right to vote -- nine years before the federal government granted women suffrage. In the 1920s Arizona expanded its economy, particularly in agriculture. These years were also marked by continued development of the state’s water resources. Dams were built on the Salt and Verde Rivers and Arizona’s leaders fought for a larger share of the waters of the Colorado River. A dependable water supply was necessary for population growth, mining, manufacturing, and agriculture. These water storage and distribution facilities enabled the state to use its water more efficiently. Arizona became an agricultural oasis. Its chief crop was cotton, but oranges and grapefruit, lettuce, flax, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, alfalfa, dates, and olives also were important.

Federal projects helped the new state in water development and tourism. The first big dam for irrigation water was the Theodore Roosevelt Dam, completed in 1911 on the Salt River northeast of Phoenix. More dams were built during the next 25 years. Coolidge Dam on the Gila River, Bartlett and Horseshoe Dams on the Verde River, and three more dams on the Salt added greatly to the state’s irrigated area. Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, the biggest dam, was completed in 1936. The U.S. government helped Arizona by developing scenic and historic spots that, in turn, increased tourism. The warm, dry climate in parts of Arizona attracted health seekers and winter visitors. Railroads continued to be the principal transportation network for goods and people as long as the state’s road system remained undeveloped. Length of track in Arizona peaked in 1930 with 2,524 miles. After this, lines closed as the transportation system adjusted to the Great Depression and to the presence of newly paved highways. Building roads in Arizona was difficult primarily because of great distances and the small number of taxpayers.

In 1929 Arizona had 281 miles of paved roads. By 1960 this increased to more than 20,000 miles of roadway. By 1991 Arizona had more than 50,000 miles of paved roads. Arizona did not feel the effects of the depression of the 1930’s as severely as some of the more industrial states. Large public works projects helped the sagging economy. Although the mining industry suffered from low prices, the state’s growing appeal for tourists strengthened Arizona’s depression economy. In the World War II era of 1941-1945, Arizona became a center for military training. The state’s climate, terrain and location made it an ideal place for pilot training fields, gunnery ranges, and schools of desert warfare. Manufacturing boomed in the war years, growing from a gross revenue of $17 million in 1941 to more than $85 million by 1945. Aircraft production began in the Phoenix and Tucson areas. Many small plants in various cities manufactured parts for military equipment. Heavy demand for copper and food stimulated the economy. Although travel restrictions interfered with tourism, the resorts served as rest and rehabilitation centers for members of the military.

After World War II, following a brief industrial recession, Arizona continued its expansion as thousands of ex-GI’s remembering the pleasant climate, returned as permanent residents. In the decade between 1940 and 1950, Arizona’s population increased by 50 percent to 749,587. The development of practical indoor cooling is strongly correlated with the growth of Arizona’s economy. Early in the 20th century, Willis Carrier of Buffalo, New York, developed the first air-conditioning unit. In 1922 the first unit made expressly for human comfort was used in a movie theatre. After World War II, the use of 'freon' made air-conditioning units more common and efficient. Evaporative cooling also made cooling the air affordable. These developments coincided with the great post-war boom in Arizona’s population.

The economy of Arizona often is known as the five C’s-Cotton, Copper, Climate, Cattle and Citrus. Mining and agriculture played a significant role in the growth of Arizona’s economy. They provided a source of employment, revenue, and a demand for local products. After World Was II, a growing economy of manufacturing, mainly the electronics and aerospace industries, developed. Around 1956 the relative positions of industries began to change, with manufacturing producing 11 percent of Arizona’s total personal income, compared to agriculture’s 10 percent and mining’s 5 percent. The 1950s and 1960’s were a period of even greater growth. Cities such as Phoenix and Tucson grew phenomenally. Arizona ended segregation in its public schools in 1951, three years ahead of the Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court’s ruling in 1966, affirming the principle of "one man, one vote," had a profound effect on Arizona. By this time more than half of the state’s population lived in Maricopa County. Despite this fact, Maricopa County had the same representation in the legislature as the least populated county in the state. After the court’s decision, legislative districts were reapportioned based on population and about half the representatives came from Maricopa county.

On the national level as Arizona’s population increased so did its representation in Congress. Before 1960 the state was divided into two congressional districts. In the 1960s, the state gained another seat in the House of Representatives. This number grew to four in the 1970’s, five in the 1980’s, and to six representatives after the 1990 census. The continued expansion of the state’s economy seemed assured when Congress approved the Central Arizona Project in 1968. This gigantic multi-billion dollar long-range project provides for pumping large quantities of water from the Colorado River to the Phoenix and Tucson areas for agricultural and other purposes. In 1968, Arizona obtained a piece of old English history when Lake Havasu City reconstructed the London Bridge over the Colorado River. In 1970 action was taken to increase the power of the executive branch of government. The term for which the governor is elected was changed from two to four years. For the first time, directors of state agencies were appointed by the governor, and previously independent boards and commissions were made accountable to him.

By the 1970s in the wake of Arizona’s rapid growth, various social problems became evident. Led by the United Farm Workers, Hispanics began to organize to combat discrimination in the fields. Violence erupted and legislation was introduced to provide unionization of farm workers under certain circumstances. In 1973, opponents of the act unsuccessfully attempted to recall Governor John R "Jack" Williams. In the post-Watergate election of 1974, Arizonans elected Raul H. Castro, the state’s first Hispanic governor. In 1974, the U.S. government took action in a dispute over land ownership between the Hopi and Navajo Indians. Congress gave each tribe half of a 1.8 million acre reservation area located in the northeastern Arizona. The tribes had used the area jointly since 1962. Indians living on the other tribe’s land, mostly Navajo, had to relocate. In 1986, the Hopi officially took possession of their half of the land, although relocation was still not complete.

The 1980s brought a series of sweeping changes at the state level. The funding mechanism for schools and the tax structure were overhauled. Bills adopted provided for conservation of the state’s diminishing ground water and preservation of water supplies from the treat of pollution. Introduced as an experimental program to provide medical care to the poor, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System continues to serve as a model for other states. The decade also brought Arizona national notoriety because of a campaign to recall Governor Evan Mecham. Before the recall election could be held, on February 5, 1988, the House voted to impeach him on charges of impeding an investigation and improperly loaning state funds to an auto dealership he owned. After a five week Senate trial, Governor Mecham was formally removed from office. Secretary of State Rose Mofford succeeded him as governor, becoming Arizona’s first female chief executive.

Over the years, Arizona has contributed to the national political scene. Perhaps the best known politicians from Arizona have been Senator Barry Goldwater, honored with the Republican presidential nomination in 1964, and U.S. Senator Carl Hayden, who served in Congress for 57 years before his retirement. Other Arizonans of note include U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist; former State Senator Sandra Day O’Connor, first woman to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Senator Harry Fountain Ashurst, known as a silver-tongued orator; Morris Udall of Tucson, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1961 to 1991; his brother Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior during the 1960s; and John Rhodes, who chose not to seek reelection in 1982 after having served in Congress for 30 years. More recently, former Governor Bruce Babbitt gained national attention by seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and in 1993 President Clinton appointed him Secretary of the Interior.

Although Arizona’s five Cs are still strong economic forces in the 1990s, the single largest sector is services, employing more than 425,000 people. Wholesale and retail trade provide nearly 377,000 jobs. Many of these jobs are directly related to tourism, an industry that injects almost $7.2 billion into the state’s economy each year. The non-metropolitan areas are more dependent on this sector than Phoenix and Tucson because of their less diverse economies and greater proximity to natural attractions. In 1992 manufacturing accounted for 172,000 jobs, or approximately 11 percent of the state’s nonagricultural employment, and generated 15.3 percent of wages and salaries. Nearly 50 percent of all manufacturing employment is in the high-technology sector. Arizona’s mining industry provides more than 65 percent of the nation’s copper, and total mineral outputs during 1992 amounted to more than $3.2 billion. 

Looking ahead, the future of Arizona seems extraordinarily attractive to many Americans. The population has reached 4 million. With its strong economy, pro-business atmosphere, pleasant climate, and basic emphasis on lifestyle, Arizona has become a magnet for future growth. The history of Arizona is just beginning.