Tucson History
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It’s hard to believe that
the scorched alluvial desert in which Tucson sits is the oldest
continually inhabited place in the United States. But that is
the contention of some archeologists, who date the first Indian
civilizations there as far back as 200 A.D. (The first appearance
of nomadic Native Americans, however, is far earlier, perhaps
around 10,000 B.C.) The secret to recreating Tucson’s
ancient past is in mentally refilling its dry riverbeds. Then
you can imagine it |
as the fertile marshland that it long ago was, upon the confluence
of three rivers fed by runoff from the Catalina Mountains. Between
200 and around 1450 the predominant culture were the Hohokam Indians.
But just before the time of European intervention, the Hohokams
(meaning “the vanished ones”) inexplicable disappeared
and were descended by the Papagos, Pimas, and Tohono O’odham.
Don Francisco Basque Coronado
Recorded history of the area begins in 1542 with the exploration
led by Spaniard Don Francisco Basque Coronado, who passed through
searching for the storied but nonexistent “Seven Cities of
Gold.” (Coronado would be stymied by the Grand Canyon and
then rerouted as far as Kansas before giving up.) During the next
centuries Spanish Jesuits entered this newly chartered territory
on religious and political missions. The most significant of these
was the Franciscan Father Eusebio Kino who founded the Mission San
Xavier del Bac in 1692, which still stand to the southwest of the
city. Kino lived largely with Pima Indians and it is from them that
Tucson got its name, originating from the word schook-son, meaning
“spring at the foot of a black mountain.” The spring
in question is the now dry Santa Cruz River and the mountain refers
to Sentinel Mountain, which today is emblazoned with a giant letter
“A.”
Hugh O’Connor
Tucson was founded as a city for the Spanish in 1775 by an Irish-born
explorer named Hugh (or Hugo) O’Connor. A walled presidio,
still delineated in the downtown, was built to mark off the city
and provide defense from raiding Apaches. The presidio functioned
mostly as a way station from passers through and as a military outpost.
In 1821 it became the territory of independent Mexico, and very
shortly afterward, with the Gadsden Purchase of 1854, it fell into
the territory of the United States.
Arizona Capital
The first notoriety this minor frontier town received as part of
the U.S. came in 1862 when Confederates from Texas marched into
the city unopposed, hoping to use it in establishing a Pacific seaport.
(The Federal Navy had blockaded all eastern ports.) They did not
stay long, however, being routed out by California Unionists soon
after appearing. At this time, Arizona became an official territory,
with Tucson as its capitol until 1877, when the distinction moved
to Phoenix.
The initial step in the great growth spurt that has come upon Tucson
in the last century was the arrival in 1880 of the transcontinental
railroad. Now the city had become a destination in itself, rather
than a mere stopover junction on the road to California. It had
particular status as a place for health resorts. The first population
boom came just before Arizona was granted statehood in 1912. By
1950, Tucson’s population was 120,000; a decade later it had
doubled. Today it numbers nearly 700,000 and is expanding faster
than ever. While once small civilizations lived easily on the rivers,
today this immense population is maintained by water canalled in
hundreds of miles from the Colorado River in Havasu City. It is
indeed a remarkable destiny for what was once a remote desert presidio.
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