Arizona's History Is Driven By People.
People and Water. Water and People. That’s what drives Arizona through the 20th Century.
Late in the 19th Century settlers in Arizona started building canals to take water from the local rivers and put it on the ground. Turns out you can grow most anything in Arizona if you can get water to it.
In 1900 the first automobile arrived in Phoenix. Ten years later a local sheriff was involved in the first car chase in the state. The sheriff, Carl Hayden, would go on to be a 7 term United States Senator.
Arizona becomes the 48th State of the United States on April 12, 1912. It is the last state admitted to the union until Alaska and Hawaii enter in 1959 and 1960. Women were granted the vote making it one of the first states in that category. In 1913 35% of the votes cast in Arizona were cast by women.
Former President Theodore Roosevelt dedicates Theodore Roosevelt Dam, the first dam built under the Federal Reclamation Act. It is still generating power and provides the reason for Roosevelt lake, a flood control and recreation fixture in central Arizona.
Dr. AJ Chandler opened the Hotel San Marcos in the soon to be town of Chandler in 1913. It was the first golf resort in the US and was not only completely electrified but also boasted a telephone in every room. Originally designed as a getaway for the rich and famous, it’s still in business.
Starr Daley, a murder/rape suspect is chased through Mesa and Tempe in 1917. He is lynched when caught at the foot of the Superstition Mountains.
Arthur Zimmerman, the German Foreign Council, admits that the Telegram that is intercepted by British Intelligence in March or 1917 is genuine. It promises Mexico the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas if Mexico supports Germany should the US enter WWI. It’s a large part of the reason why the US entered the war in April, 1917.
Architect Mary Colter designed the buildings at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon in 1922. It’s an impressive part of the Canyon experience today.
Cesar Chavez is born in Yuma in 1927. He’d go on to become one of the most well known labor leaders in the world. His Union stood up to the growers in Arizona and gave the predominantly Hispanic fruit and vegetable workers rights to fair wages. It was a violent and angry movement.
The Detroit Tigers became the first Major League team to hold Spring Training in Arizona in 1929. Today more than half the teams of MLB hold Spring Training here.
Clyde Tombaugh discovers the sometime planet Pluto using the Lowell Observatory in 1930. The observatory was originally built in 1894. The observatory is still in use today.
Hoover Dam is dedicated in 1935. One of the most famous dams in America it is still considered a marvel and attracts lots of visitors.
In 1935 Frank Lloyd Wright completes his desert masterpiece Taliesin West in Phoenix. Today it is a museum and tribute to the architect.
The USS Arizona is probably the first ship hit in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. The battleship sinks immediately with great loss of life. The war in the Pacific would continue until August, 1945. Thousands of Japanese-Americans are interred in ‘detention centers’ around the state.
The largest POW escape in WWII occurs in Phoenix at the Papago Park camp in 1944 when German prisoners escape.
A Flying Saucer crash is reported at the foot of Superstition Mountain in 1948.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan honeymooned at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix in 1952.
McDonald’s first franchise store opens in Phoenix in 1953. In 1975 the first McDonald’s drive through restaurant opens in Sierra Vista.
Oklahoma (the movie) with a huge cast of stars is filmed in Arizona in 1955.
Del Webb, the legendary developer debuts Sun City in 1960. It is arguably the most widely known development in America with a population today near 40,000, predominantly retirees, with far more women than men.
Barry Goldwater a Republican from a prominent Arizona family is the nominee for President in 1964. He is soundly thrashed at the polls by Lyndon Johnson.
Gary Tenen and Randall Tufts are out in backcountry SE Arizona when they discover the Karchner Caverns in 1974. The Caverns are huge with over 2.4 miles (3.9km) of passageways. It’s now a State Park and is a very popular tourist destination.
Mo Udall, son of a famous family and democratic activist runs for president in 1976 and loses keeping Arizona’s losing presidential candidates perfect.
Don Bolles, a reporter for the Arizona Republic is killed in 1976 when his car explodes in a Phoenix parking lot. He was involved in a corruption and influence investigation that involved politicians and the mafia.
Ernesto Miranda of the ‘Miranda Rule’ fame is murdered in Central Phoenix in 1976. His name still lives on after the Supreme Court of the US overturns a conviction because the arresting officers failed to inform him of his rights. It is still known as the Miranda rule and is part of the American criminal justice system.
Arizona native Sandra Day O’Conner becomes the first female member of the Supreme Court in 1981.
Arizona becomes the first state west of the Mississippi to approve a lottery in 1981.
In 1983 the Arizona National Guard breaks a strike at the Morenci-Clifton Copper mine.
Under intense pressure from the Federal Government the State votes to increase the legal drinking age from 19 to 21 in 1985.
Just after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Russia in 1986 the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Plant opens in Arizona as the largest Nuclear facility in the US. It is still generating power today with no plans for retirement of the plant.
Governor Evan Mecham is impeached by the Arizona Legislature in 1988.
Former Governor Bruce Babbitt makes an unsuccessful run at the Presidency in 1988.
I hope you are enjoying this sometimes not so serious look at the people and times of Arizona. There will be much more political fun to come, I can promise you.
While the words and concepts in this article are all mine, I referred to these two sources to get some sort of accuracy in my account.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Arizona
https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/the-life-of-a-state-a-timeline-of-arizonas-history-6452192
All photos in this article are courtesy of the author.
Authored by: @bigtom13
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