ARIZONA Main Info

Marcos de Niza, a Spanish Franciscan friar, was the first European to explore Arizona. He entered the area in 1539 in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Gold. Although he was followed a year later by another gold seeker, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, most of the early settlement was for missionary purposes. In 1775 the Spanish established Fort Tucson. In 1848, after the Mexican War, most of the Arizona territory became part of the U.S., and the southern portion of the territory was added by the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.

Arizona history is rich in legends of America's Old West. It was here that the great Indian chiefs Geronimo and Cochise led their people against the frontiersmen. Tombstone, Ariz., was the site of the West's most famous shoot-out—the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Today, Arizona has one of the largest U.S. Indian populations; more than 14 tribes are represented on 20 reservations.

Manufacturing has become Arizona's most important industry. Principal products include electrical, communications, and aeronautical items. The state produces over half of the country's copper. Agriculture is also important to the state's economy. Top commodities are cattle and calves, dairy products, and cotton. In 1973 one of the world's most massive dams, the New Cornelia Tailings, was completed near Ajo.

State attractions include the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Fort Apache, and the reconstructed London Bridge at Lake Havasu City.

Coming!

See more on Arizona:
Encyclopedia: Arizona
Encyclopedia: Geography
Encyclopedia: Economy
Encyclopedia: Government
Encyclopedia: History
Monthly Temperature Extremes

Accredited Colleges and Universities

Selected famous natives and residents:

Apache Kid Indian outlaw;
Erma Bombeck humorist and writer;
Glen Campbell singer;
Lynda Carter actress;
Cesar Chavez labor leader;
Cochise Apache chief;
Alice Cooper singer and songwriter;
Wyatt Earp marshall;
Max Ernst painter;
Geronimo (Goyathlay) Apache chief;
Barry Goldwater politician;
Zane Grey novelist;
Carl Trumbull Hayden politician;
George W. P. Hunt first state governor;
Bill Keane cartoonist;
Eusebio Kino missionary;
Percival Lowell astronomer;
Frank Luke, Jr. WWI fighter ace;
Charles Mingus jazz musician and composer;
Carlos Montezuma doctor and Indian spokesman;
Stevie Nicks singer;
Sandra Day O'Connor jurist;
William O'Neill frontier sheriff;
Alexander M. Patch general;
William H. Pickering astronomer;
Linda Ronstadt singer;
Paolo Soleri architect;
Clyde W. Tombaugh astronomer;
Tanya Tucker singer;
Stewart Udall secretary of the Interior;
Pauline Weaver frontier person;
Frank Lloyd Wright architect.