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THE ARIZONA STORY ...
...began when the sea
covered everything and the land was an ocean floor. As the
water receded and the earth's crust began to dry and settle,
volcanos spouted hot lava and mountain ranges were pushed
high into the air. Remaining waters became rivers and streams
cutting deep canyons, and some areas became so dry, deserts
were formed.
This process of land
formation took millions of years, and when the earth ceased
its restlessness, it left a pattern of great variety and
contrast.
The
southwest corner of the state became desert, with craggy,
barren mountains
rising abruptly from its level floor. In the southeast corner,
rolling hills with sparse vegetation and the "Wonderland
of Rocks" developed.
Sweeping from the eastern
border and curving northward through the center of Arizona
a cool, green mountain and valley wonderland was formed.
Its altitudes vary from 2,000 to 8,000 feet and are sharply
cut by the Mogollon Rim, a sheer cliff extending for more
than 200 miles and itself rising to heights of 7,500 feet. 
Here lakes and streams
were formed and the greatest stand of ponderosa pine in the
nation grew. Above the Rim, near Flagstaff, a part of the
earth was pushed up to a height 12,670 feet to form San Francisco
Peaks, the highest elevation in the state. The peaks are
snow-clad much of the year.
In the northeast corner,
a vast desert-like plateau emerged. Millions of years ago
its edge to the south was a part of a vast forest. Through
the years, it was buried beneath volcanic ash, water, sand
and mud and then uncovered again to become today's Petrified
Forest National Monument, with fallen trees and now turned
to varied-colored stone.
Farther north, the plateau
was carved into strange rock formations and canyons which
now bear unusual and picturesque names such as: Ear of the
Wind Arch, Spider Web Arch, Monument Valley, Totem Pole,
Mitten Buttes. Today this is the home of the Navajo and Hopi
Indians.
 To
the west of the Navajo land, the elements seem to have made
a last furious fling and left the Colorado River flowing
a mile deep through the rainbow hued, wondrous Grand Canyon.
Man
lived in this area 20,000 years ago. Traces of early agricultural
civilizations
are found throughout the state. High, almost inaccessible
cliff dwellings still stand in silent evidence of another
prehistoric race. Even the vast irrigation system surrounding
Arizona capital city, Phoenix, follows a ancient patterns
of canals used to irrigate the Hohokam farmlands with water
from the Gila and Salt Rivers.
 From
tree rings studied, we know that from 1276 to 1299 A.D. there
was a great drought which ended the prehistoric civilization.
When Columbus discovered America, Arizona was inhabited by
ancestors of present day Indians. The written history of
Arizona began when the Spaniards sent exploration parties
northward from Mexico. The first was a Franciscan priest
named Marcos de Niza, who entered the territory in 1539.
Other Spanish missionaries
followed and established missions to bring Christianity to
the Indians. Tumacacori Mission, north of Nogales, was founded
by Padre Kino at the center of an Indian settlement. This
mission is now a National Monument. Padre Kino also laid
the foundations for San Xavier del Bac Mission on the outskirts
of today's Tucson, still used for regular services by the
Tohono O'Odham Indians who live nearby.
After Kino's death, Spanish
development of this area came to a halt. In 1821 Mexico declared
its independence from Spain and eventually went to war with
the United States. This war ended in 1848, and the land north
of the Gila River became United States territory. In 1853
the rest of the area was acquired by the Gadsen Purchase.
Then the great westward movement of our early pioneers began,
and Arizona entered the phase of its history which has provided
so much story material for books and movies.
Men came West to seek
their fortunes - adventurers, prospectors, farmers, businessmen,
builders. To protect them against the Indians who fought
fiercely to keep back this change in their land, the army
also came and built its forts. Only the most brave and hardy
pioneers came until the last of the Indian uprisings were
finished and final peace won in 1886. Development of the
state then surged forward.
 Back in the ages of its
creation, there had been formed in Arizona land great deposits
of gold, silver, copper and other minerals which were now
uncovered by the prospectors. Lusty new towns sprang up near
the mines.
Great fortunes were made and lost, sometimes
in a single 24 hours.
While
prospectors were "striking
it rich," other pioneers saw their fortunes of the future
in another aspect of Arizona land aspect of Arizona land.
Farmers cultivated crops along rivers and streams as had
the Indians before them. Others brought in cattle to roam
the range land. Still others saw Arizonans an ideal place
to raise sheep.
Law and order were slow
to catch up with the sudden growth of the frontier. Bitter
gun battles broke out between the cattlemen and sheepmen,
each wanting the grazing land and water rights.
With the leadership of
the pioneers themselves, United States Marshals finally made
a peaceful territory of Arizona, where crops, cattle and
sheep, as well as mining, all became important in building
the future of the state.
In 1912, its lawless,
boisterous frontier days behind it, Arizona became the 48th
state to join the Union and its modern advance began.
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