10 key moments before Arizona's statehood
Plenty was going on in Arizona before statehood was granted. Prior to the Civil War, the Gadsden Purchase expanded the United States to include land that would become Arizona, and boom towns developed by the lure of large-scale mining. Thousands of years ago, the Hohokams were establishing a community along the Gila River.
Here are 10 key moments before Arizona's statehood:
1 A.D.
Hohokams development
The Hohokam people begin building villages along the Gila River around 1 A.D. Over the next 1,400 years, they would build larger and more sophisticated communities and structures, the remains of which can be seen at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.
1848
Mexican-American War ends
Spurred in part by the annexation of Texas into the United States in 1845, the war concludes with the U.S. agreeing to pay $15 million for more than half a million square miles of Mexican territory, including most of present-day Arizona.
1863
Territory of Arizona is established
The road to becoming a territory starts in 1848 and ends in 1863 in the aftermath of the Mexican-American War. Fort Whipple serves as the territory's first capital. But the capital is soon moved to Prescott and then, a couple of years after the end of the Civil War, to Tucson. In 1877, it returns to Prescott before moving to Phoenix in 1889.
1853
Gadsden Purchase
The deal with Mexico adds nearly 30,000 square miles to the U.S., including land in Arizona. The treaty is signed in late 1853 and ratified by the Senate in April 1854.
1858
Large-scale mining begins
The era of large-scale mining in Arizona began in 1858 when Jacob Snively found gold in Gila City, east of Yuma. Gila City became the first of the region's many boom towns.
1868
Phoenix develops
Phoenix is born when a committee of citizens along Swilling's Ditch, formed after adventurer Jack Swilling organized a plan to use the ancient Hohokam canals to irrigate the Salt River Valley, meets to select and name a townsite. Phoenix officially was recognized by the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors on May 4, 1868, and it was incorporated in 1881.
1881
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
The most analyzed, publicized and mythicized gang fight in history, the 1881 gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone features the Earps, the Clantons and Doc Holliday.
1886
Geronimo surrenders
After leading a band of Apache warriors that kept White settlers off tribal lands in southern Arizona and New Mexico for about 30 years, a hopelessly outnumbered Geronimo surrenders to Gen. Nelson Miles at Skeleton Canyon in 1886. He is the last American Indian warrior to formally surrender to U.S. forces, signaling the end of the Indian wars in the Southwest.
1901
President visits
On May 7, 1901, four months before he would be assassinated, President William McKinley and members of his Cabinet arrive in the state. Among their stops is the capital in Phoenix and the small gold-mining town of Congress. The visit shows the country the Territory of Arizona had a valuable industry.
1903
Salt River Water Users' Association formed
Residents of the Valley, led by Dwight Heard and a few other prominent citizens, unite to form the association in 1903. Worried that summer droughts were hurting the vital farming economy, the group helps bring about the construction of Roosevelt Dam in 1911. The dam could store winter snow and rain runoff and then in summer, deliver water to communities through a canal system.
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