Arizona has a rich heritage and history. The mingling of peoples and cultures has evolved over hundreds of years. Long before European explorers "discovered" the New World, people lived in the area now called Arizona.

Our history is our heritage and present day Arizona heritage is based on the influences of Ancient Indian people, Mexican and Spanish explorers, treasure hunters, gunslingers, lawmen, and a special breed of people willing, and those people who were brought through bondage, to face the challenges of this rugged frontier. It is a heritage rich with history and culture.

Evidence of these various influences can be found throughout Arizona, from the Ancient Indian ruins across the state to the missions, forts, and pueblos which still stand, to the ghost town remnants which remain, traces of our heritage is evident across the entire state. (Check ATTRACTIONS for locations)

Evidence of these various influences can also be found in current living trends and styles. Adobe and Pueblo style homes, the rich color preferences of the Mexican and Indian people have influenced clothing, jewelry, and furnishings.

The American cowboy has had an influence on clothing and lifestyle throughout the world.

Following is a brief chronology of Arizona and an occasional glimpse at events occurring in the same time period to help associate the historical time frame. This chronology covers to 1950 and you are invited to return often. Narratives will be added periodically on many of the specific historical events identified.

1000
The Cochise People, a pre-historic tribe settle near present day Bisbee.Leif Ericson landed on the North American Continent.

1100
The Hohokam Indians built over 200 miles of canals for irrigation and domestic water.

1200
The Anasazi Indians build first "apartments."

1250
The Mogollon Indians disappear - they had lived in this area for about 500 years.

1398
Hohokam Indians leave the Salt and Gila River Valleys.

1492
Christopher Columbus lands in the New World.

1526
Don Jose de Basconales crossed part of Arizona on a trip to Zuni Territory.

1536
Cabeza de Vaca (landed on west coast of Florida) crossed southern portion of Arizona enroute to Mexico, carried stories of Seven Cities of Cibola. Estavan, a black Morrocan slave, became one of the first explorers of the southwest.

1539
Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan friar, was sent to Arizona to investigate the stories of Cibola.

1540
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led an expedition into the Arizona region. Cardenas, one of Coronado's men, and his detachment locates the Grand Canyon. Alarcon reached the lower Colorado River by boat, used small boats to navigate the river as far as the mouth of the Gila River. Diaz made explorations of the lower Colorado area.

1542
Coronado returned to Mexico City.

1565
St. Augustine, Florida is the first European Settlement in the New World.

1581
Espejo and Faran discover silver and copper near Jerome, along the Bill Williams River, and down the Colorado River.

1582
Antonio de Espejo led an expedition which discovered silver west of present day Prescott.

1583
Antonio de Espejo leads mining expeditions westward into Arizona. Sir Walter Raleigh ships immigrants to Roanoke Island.

1587
In August, Virginia Dare was born, the first English child born in America.

1599
Juan de Onate entered Arizona from the Rio Grande, he followed nearly the same route as Espejo.

1607
The first permanent English settlement was founded at Jamestown, Virginia

1609
Hudson explored the Canadian Wilderness.

1620
Franciscan missionaries entered northern Arizona with the hope of converting the Hopi Indians. Pilgrims land at Plymouth

1680
Father Kino began missionary work in the Santa Cruz and San Pedro Valleys. Witch hunts occur in Salem, Massachusetts

1700
San Xavier del Bac Mission is founded by Father Kino.

1752
Spanish troops establish Arizona's first white settlement at Tubac.

1756
French and Indian War begins.

1763
The French and Indian War ends.

1768
Father Francisco Garces took charge at San Xavier del Bac and he visited villages along the Gila and Colorado Rivers. British treaties were ratified with the Cherokees, Creeks, and Iroquois to obtain more land.

1770
Garces explored most of southwestern Arizona.

1773
Boston Tea Party.

1774
Anza and Garces explored southern Arizona along the Gila River. Garces crossed northern Arizona to the Hopi Villages. First Continental Congress is organized.

1775
Battles of Lexington and Concord begin the Revolution.

1776
Tucson established as a Spanish fort. Fathers Escalante and Dominguez expeditions found a place to cross the Colorado River. The Declaration of Independence is adopted.

1781
Yuma Massacre where a white colony was nearly obliterated. Father Garces is slain by the Indians. British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia.

1782
Mexican military forces conquer the Yuma Indians.

1783
Friars of San Xavier del Bac mission are believed to have laid the foundation for the present-day church. Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolution.

1786
Bernando de Galvez became Viceroy of "New Spain."

1789
George Washington became the first President of the United States.

1790
Peace with the Apaches was negotiated - the peace lasted for 32 years. Golden Era of Pimeria Alta (upper Pima land) was marked by the expansion of mining and prosperity of ranching. Rhode Island became the 13th Colony.

1797
Construction was completed on San Xavier mission after 12-14 years of building. John Adams became the 2nd president of the United States.

1800
The Capital moved to Washington DC.

1803
The Louisiana Purchase nearly double the size of the United States when land was purchased from France for $15,000,000.

1804-1806
Navajo Indians were reduced to submission by the Spanish in Canyon de Chelly. Lewis & Clark explored the Missouri and Columbia Rivers.

1810
Father Hidalgo led the Mexican revolution for independence from Spain.

1819
Navajo Indians return to war. Spain cedes Florida.

1821
Arizona became a province of Mexico and the Santa Fe Trail, a trade route opened.

1823
Navajo Peace Treaty was reached with the Mexican Government. The Monroe Doctrine became a principle of American diplomacy to protect the Western Hemisphere from European powers.

1824
Traders begin exploring Apache Indian areas. Bill Williams trapped from the far northwest as far south as Sonora. Kit Carson, Sylvester and James Ohio Pattie became trappers in the Gila Valley. Erie Canal was completed.

1827
New Republic of Mexico expelled Franciscans ending the Missionary Era.

1830
Trapper and scout, Paulino Weaver began his travels in Arizona.

1836
The Alamo was taken.

1837
Samuel Morse invented the telegraph.

1838
Tubac became a pueblo.

1846
Mormon Battalion took possession of Tucson and raised the American flag to mark a wagon road from Sana Fe to the Pacific called Cooke's Wagon Road.

1847
Mormon migration to Utah started.

1848
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ceded all land north of the Gila River to the United States thus making Arizona part of New Mexico.

1849
John C Freeman surveying party escorted Sonorans westward down the Gila. Charles E Pamcoast completed a trip down the Gila River - the trip was marked by the birth of Gila Howard, the first Anglo-Saxon child born in this territory. California gold rush begins.

1850
Steamboating became commercial on the Colorado River. Territory of New Mexico is formally established. Compromise of 1850 attempted to smooth ill feelings over slavery as a result of the gold rush. California became a state.

1854
Peter Kitchen became one of the first American ranchers in Arizona. Charles D Poston, Father of Arizona, arrives in Arizona. Kansas-Nebraska Act which was one of the major causes of the Civil War.

1857
First regular stage line in Arizona, the San Antonio and San Diego Company began.

1858
The Butterfield Overland Stage Line provided a route between Texas and San Diego.

1859
Weekly Arizonan, the first newspaper, was published in Tubac.

1860
Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States.

1861
Apache Indians, led by Cochise, terrorized white settlers. Shots were fired at Fort Sumter, the Civil War began.

1862
The westernmost battle of the Civil War (Arizona's only Civil War battle) was fought near Picacho Peak by Carleton's California Volunteers. Jefferson Davis declares Arizona a confederate territory. Homestead Act offered free land in the west.

1863
President Lincoln creates the Arizona Territory with Prescott as the capital, John N Goodwin was the first territorial governor.
Emancipation Proclamation declared all existing slaves free.

1864
"The Long Walk" begins as most Navajo Indians surrender and are forced to walk from Fort Defiance to Fort Sumner, New Mexico - a distance of 300 miles. Four counties are established; Mohave, Yavapai, Yuma, and Pima.

1865
Colorado River Indian Reservation was set aside for Mohave and other Indian people. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery. The Civil War ended. President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

1866
Juan Candelaria brought the first large flock of sheep into Arizona.

1867
The Territorial Capital moved to Tucson. The first public schools opened in Prescott and Tucson. Alaska was purchased from Russia.

1868
Treaty was agreed upon which established the Navajo Reservation located in northeastern Arizona and adjacent portion of New Mexico. Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to Negroes.

1869
Major John Wesley Powell made the first full exploration of the Grand Canyon. First Transcontinental Railroad was completed with the driving of a golden spike.

1870
Silver bonanzas in Pinal Mountains, Tombstone Mountains, the Bradshaws, and in northern Mohave County. Fifteenth Amendment provided the right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

1871
Camp Grant Massacre. Peace policy started in Arizona. Maricopa County is formed.

1873
Cotton is first cultivated by Arizona settlers.

1875
The first big copper mining operation began in Clifton. Pinal County was created. The Territorial Prison opened at Yuma.

1876
Flagstaff was named by a group of immigrants celebrating 4th of July on its site. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.

1877
Territorial Capital returned to Prescott. The first bank, Bank of Arizona, was established in Prescott.

1879
Apache County was formed. Tombstone was founded. Thomas Edison invented the first workable incandescent light.

1880
First train, Southern Pacific, arrived in Tucson stimulating the copper industry.

1881
Lumber industry started in Flagstaff. Graham, Cochise, and Gila counties were formed. A Century of Dishonor, written by Helen Hunt Jackson, led to the formation of the Indian Rights Association. American Federation of Labor (AFL) organized.

1883
Santa Fe Railroad crossed northern Arizona.

1885
Tenth Calvary was stationed at Fort Whipple.

1886
Tempe Normal School (later renamed Arizona State University) opened in Tempe. Geronimo and his Apache Raiders surrendered to the US Army.

1887
Train robbery - first in Arizona history - nets $20,000.

1888
Copper leads gold and silver in importance in Arizona.

1889
Territorial Capital moves to Phoenix.

1890
Spotted Fever epidemic sweeps Gila River settlement. The Census Bureau declares the end of the American Frontier.

1891
The University of Arizona is established in Tucson. Citrus begins large scale commercial growth. Coconino County is formed.

1892
Stagecoach service is started between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. Henry Ford completed the first gasoline powered car.

1895
Navajo County is created.

1898
Three Regiments of First Volunteer Cavalry contingent is organized in Arizona with Capt. William (Bucky) O'Neil of Prescott commanding the Rough Riders. A Senatorial Committee proposed admission of Arizona and New Mexico as a single state which was opposed by the Arizona people.

1902
Santa Cruz County is formed.

1903
Tonto Basin Dam was the first major irrigation project authorized by the federal government. Wright Brothers accomplish first successful flight. Panama Canal Zone is acquired by the United States.

1907
Anti-Gambling Law passed in Arizona.

1909
Greenlee County is created.

1911
Roosevelt Dam is dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt.

1912
Arizona became the 48th state on February 14th. George P Hunt was first elected (elected seven times) Governor.

1913
First 8-hour work day for women went into effect. The Sixteenth Amendment created income tax.

1914
Panama Canal opened.

1916
Arizona National Guard was mobilized due to Pancho Villa's earlier raid on Columbus, New Mexico. Pershing's expedition into Mexico started.

1917
The first native Arizonan, Thomas E Campbell, is inaugurated as Governor. Tenth Cavalry returned to Fort Huachuca after longest march made into Mexico during the punitive expedition against Pancho Villa. Nation's First Municipal Airport was built at Tucson. United States enters World War I 25,000 men from Arizona entered Federal Services - 3,000 were killed in battle.

1918
George W P Hunt is inaugurated as Governor after a Supreme Court decision. Armistice signed by Germany ending WWI.

1919
Thomas E Campbell elected Governor. Grand Canyon became a National Park. Eighteenth Amendment established Prohibition.

1920
Phoenix Junior College was established. Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote.

1921
Arizona entered a period of depression - a slump in copper mining.

1923
George W P Hunt inaugurated as Governor.

1924
American Indians were declared citizens.

1927
First regular express and passenger express air service was established. Charles Lindbergh flew the first solo non-stop Trans-Atlantic flight.

1928
Coolidge Dam was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge.

1929
John Calhoun Philips inaugurated as Governor. The Great Depressions begins with stock market crash in New York.

1930
The planet Pluto was discovered at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff.

1931
George W P Hunt inaugurated as Governor.

1933
Benjamin Baker Moeur elected Governor. President Roosevelt's New Deal to end depression passed Legistlation. Civilian Conservation Corps was established to provide employment and training of young men during the depression years. First Civilian Conservation Corps camps established; developed recreation areas and assisted soil conservation and forest service.

1935
Hoover Dam was completed. Social Security Bill was made law by Congress.

1937
Rawghlie Clement Stanford inaugurated as Governor.

1939
Robert Taylor Jones elected as Governor.

1941
Sidney Preston Osborn became the second native Arizonan elected Governor. Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor bringing the US into WWII.

1945
The first Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. United Nations Charter was drawn up and signed in San Francisco.

1946
Arizona Right to Work Law went into effect, industry and manufacturing took on new importance.

1948
Arizona Indians were given the right to vote.

1950
Junior Colleges in Arizona were established. Korean War brought about the first military action of the United Nations.