ARIZONA
BY ROHAN
I chose Arizona as my state for my state report because I thought it would be fun to study a state that I knew almost nothing about. So, get ready to learn a lot about the only state that has a Z in it's name!
First Civilizations
The first people who trod on Arizona were actually not explorers, they were shipwreck survivors. They were members of the ill-fated Narvaez expedition. Later after discovery, Anasazi and Hohokam civilizations mysteriously disappeared. There were many theories of how it happened. One was of plague. In the same year, the Apache and Navajo came to Navajo lived towards the south. Then Marcos di Niza of Spain came along with Estaban of Spain to look for the City of Cibola. Although Estaban was murdered by Indians, Niza made it back to Spain. However, he said that there were more cities of gold. To verify that Niza was telling the truth, the king of Spain sent Francisco Vasquez de Coronado to Arizona. Coronado did not find the cities, but claimed the land for Spain in 1540. Then one day, Garcia Lopez de Cardenas of Coronado’s group found the sandstony formation of the Grand Canyon.
The Pueblo Revolt
Soon, more Spanish people came to this new land. However, the Pueblo and Hopi tribes did not like this. After some time of this, the Indians fought the Pueblo Revolt and won. With this win, they forced the Spanish out. But not all foreigners were hated by the Indians. In 1691, Spanish priest Eusebio Francisco Kino came to Arizona, launching missionary labors. He helped the Pima Indians grow richer crops. He died in 1711. After that, the Pima were never very kind toward other missions. They even attacked other missions.
Spain Loses Arizona To Mexico
Indian attacks were common to the Spanish. Because of these attacks, the Spanish built a military fort called Tubac. It is still standing today. But in 1821, the Spanish suffered the loss of Arizona to Mexico. Mexico held on to Arizona for some time
The O.K. Corral Gunfight
When Wyatt Earp came to Tombstone, Arizona, he wasn’t expecting to be in an argument that molded into a very famous gunfight. Earp was born in Monmouth, Illinois in 1848. He came to Tombstone with his brothers, Morgan and Virgil Earp in 1879. Virgil worked as a keep-the-peace U.S marshal. Wyatt worked as a card dealer, stagecoach guard, and a deputy to Virgil. In October of 1881, a quarrel developed between Ike Clanton’s family and the Earps. The cowboys and lawmen accused each other of horse thefts and bank robberies. The four Clantons and the Earps and Doc Holiday pitted against each other in a gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Three Clantons were dead, the Earps survived. But no sooner than that was over, Morgan and Virgil went out. They were attacked by cowboys who deprived Morgan from seeing his next birthday and injured Virgil. Wyatt and Holiday shot the cowboys they believed responsible. Then the two friends left the city of Tombstone for good.
The Mexican War and the Gadsden Purchase
The Mexican War started right off when the U.S.A. and Mexico fought over land that Mexico had. It included New Mexico and the better part of Arizona. The U.S. and Mexico could not agree who had rights to the land, so decided on war. Both countries fought for two years (1846-1848), before the U.S. of A won. Mexico gave up the territory because of defeat. However, one small part of Arizona remained in Mexico’s hands. This too, became part of America, but it was through money. We call this the Gasden Purchase. However, it was only a territory.
Indian Attacks are Passing
In the last decades of the 1800’s, most of the Indians stopped fighting the U.S.A. However, Chief Cochise of the Apache and Geronimo of the Apache still fought the U.S. army. Cochise was a military genius who never lost a battle. Then he realized that the poorly armed Indians could not win and this influenced hissurrender in
1872. Geronimo fought another 14 years before surrendering at Skeleton Canyon
in 1886. The Indians mostly lived on
reservations after the fights. However, the Native Americans would most
certainly play a great role in one of the bloodiest wars of all time: World War
II
World War ll
The year was 1941 and the American troops had just entered the war. Pearl Harbor had been bombed and America, England, and Russia were pitted against Germany, Japan, and Italy. Then one day, the government recruited seven hundred Navajo to develop a code based on the Navajo language. These “code talkers” as they were known, were a big help for the victory over the Axis powers at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Arizona also was home to two of the biggest internment camps for Japanese Americans. The code talkers received a Congressional Gold Medal for their help.
ARIZONA GEOGRAPHY
Arizona borders New Mexico and is one of the Four Corner states. The state is divided into three regions, the Colorado Plateau, the Sonoran Desert, and the Transition Zone. The Sonoran Desert holds the capital, Phoenix. This is also where the state flower grows. The Transition Zone is the mountainous part of Arizona, with seven rocky mountain ranges. The Colorado Plateau is home to Arizona’s Wonder of the World, the Grand Canyon. It also boasts the Painted Desert, where the mesa dumps colorful rocks on the landscape. A canyon steppe called the Mogollon Rim is here,too.
THE PETRIFIED FOREST
One of Arizona’s landscape marvels, the Petrified Forest yields trees that have melted into red, green, and orange bark.
MAJOR CITIES
Arizona’s capital is Phoenix, with a population of 1,469,471. Meteor Crater in Flagstaff was created 50, 00 years ago and 570 feet deep. Yuma holds the famous Lettuce Days, which are important agriculture days in the summer.
STATE SYMBOLS
State Flower: Saguaro Cactus
State Bird: Cactus Wren
State Mammal: Ringtail
State Neckwear: Bola Tie
State Fossil: Petrified Wood
State Reptile: Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake
State Tree: Palo Verde
State Gemstone: Turquoise Gemstone
Motto: God Enriches
State Bird: Cactus Wren
State Mammal: Ringtail
State Neckwear: Bola Tie
State Fossil: Petrified Wood
State Reptile: Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake
State Tree: Palo Verde
State Gemstone: Turquoise Gemstone
Motto: God Enriches
RIDGE-NOSED RATTLESNAKE
CLIMATE
Arizona has very high temperatures, with 80% of days sunny. The lowest was at Howley Lake with 40°F. You may not think that Arizona gets that much snow, but Flagstaff gets 8 feet, 4 inches in the winter time. The Arizona Snowbowl is the major ski run in Arizona. The biggest fire Arizona has ever had was Wallow Fire.
ARIZONA CAPITOL
GOVERNMENT
Governor: Republican Jan Brewer
Senators: Jeff Flake and John McCain
Electoral Votes: 10
Counties: 15
General Term for Legislator: 1 year
State Abbreviation: AZ
State Constitution: Adopted in 1911
Day of Statehood: Valentine’s Day, 1912
Population: 6, 482,505
Senators: Jeff Flake and John McCain
Electoral Votes: 10
Counties: 15
General Term for Legislator: 1 year
State Abbreviation: AZ
State Constitution: Adopted in 1911
Day of Statehood: Valentine’s Day, 1912
Population: 6, 482,505
RESOURCES AND ECONOMY
Arizona is the copper destination of the nation with 1.4 billion tons of copper. However, miners were not always this hardworking and willing. One of the most famous copper strikes was the Bisbee Deportation. Miners protested for better wages and shorter hours and went on strike. Some men who were against the strike forced over a thousand miners to get into a train and drove to a remote area in New Mexico. They left them there. The miners later were rescued by the U.S. army. Some major jobs of the state are construction, which accounted for 7.4% of the jobs in 2001. The remaining 2.6 is copper production. Some of the important crops are cotton, grains, fruits, and veggies. The state has problems with water because Arizona is a desert state, so large systems of canals were built to bring water to the state. Some of the state’s resources are copper, gold, oil, and silver.
PEOPLE & CULTURE
Some of Arizona’s famous people are Frank Lloyd Wright, Cesar Chavez, and Barry Goldman. Wright was one of the greatest architects of the age; Chavez was a plantation worker who raised better rights for workers. Goldwater ran for president against Lyndon Johnson and lost.
FOOD
Arizona has a couple of dishes, but the main dish is chicken chichimangas. For dessert, people usually have sopapillas, which are pieces of bread stuffed with honey, sugar, and beans.
SPORT TEAMS
NFL: Arizona Cardinals
AFL: Arizona Rattlers
NHL: Phoenix Coyotes
NBA: Phoenix Suns
WNBA: Phoenix Mercury
AFL: Arizona Rattlers
NHL: Phoenix Coyotes
NBA: Phoenix Suns
WNBA: Phoenix Mercury
BIBILOGRAPHY
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PICTURE SOURCES
Picture of Steve Nash from http://o.onionstatic.com/images/8/8131/original/700.hq.jpg?3878
Mining Pickaxe http://images.wikia.com/elderscrolls/images/archive/b/b7/20120513053600!Pickaxe.png Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake http://www.azgfd.gov/images/w_c/rattlesnakes/ridgenosed.jpg Arizona Capitol http://azfoo.net/places/az/phoenix/911memorial/pics/026_PhoenixOldCapitolBuilding.jpg |
GLOSSARYsteppe: canyon ridge
agriculture: the art of farming cibola: gold |
Palo Verde: green stick
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