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Arizona History Trivia

Arizona History Trivia Quizzes

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Fun Trivia
4 Arizona History quizzes and 45 Arizona History trivia questions.
1.
  Famous Years in Arizona History   great trivia quiz  
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
Match these historical events in Arizona history with the year they occurred.
Easier, 10 Qns, PDAZ, Mar 12 16
Easier
PDAZ gold member
456 plays
2.
  Valley of the Phoenicians   top quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
No, not ancient Phoenicia. This quiz is actually about Phoenix, the capital city of the great state of Arizona. Let's travel over the years and see how a desert valley became a major metropolis.
Average, 10 Qns, PDAZ, Jun 24 16
Average
PDAZ gold member
314 plays
3.
  Arizona: In the Beginning   top quiz  
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
Arizona became a state in 1912, but humans are estimated to have lived in the area for 15,000 years. This quiz covers some of the highlights of those pre-statehood years.
Average, 15 Qns, PDAZ, Apr 16 15
Average
PDAZ gold member
455 plays
4.
  Arizona, 1912-2012   top quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Arizona's written history began in the 1500s with the arrival of Spanish explorers, but here we're looking at history during the first century of Arizona's statehood.
Average, 10 Qns, PDAZ, Oct 16 20
Average
PDAZ gold member
Oct 16 20
640 plays
Related Topics
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Arizona History Trivia Questions

1. Arizona became a state on February 14th, 1912, on the fiftieth anniversary of what event?

From Quiz
Arizona, 1912-2012

Answer: Arizona becoming a Confederate Territory

The lower half of Arizona became a Confederate territory in 1861 during the U.S. Civil War. This occurred largely because of the diversion of the Overland Mail from the territory. The mail route ran through southern Arizona, and the troops that protected the mail also protected the settlers in the area. When the U.S. troops left, confederate troops moved in. Arizonans had felt abandoned by the U.S. government, so the confederate troops met little resistance in Arizona. The westernmost battle of the Civil War, The Battle of Picacho Peak, was fought on April 15, 1862. More of a skirmish, the battle consisted of 14 union troops versus 10 confederate troops, and the union troops retreated after suffering three fatalities. Shortly after that, U.S. cavalry troops from California recaptured Tucson in May of 1862 and drove the confederates out of Arizona. Most sources maintain that the February 14th was intentionally picked for the statehood day, but while some claim it was in response to Arizona's brief occupation by Confederate troops, other sources state that the original date selected was February 12th, and President Taft decided to delay the official announcement so that Arizona's statehood day would not coincide with Lincoln's birthday. In either case, the Civil War played a role in the selection date of Arizona's "birthday".

2. The Apache and Navajo people are believed to have migrated into Arizona between 1100 and 1500 C.E. Both cultures share Athabaskan linguistic ties with native people in which region?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: Alaska and Canada

Around the time that the Anasazi, Mogollon and Hohokam cultures disappeared, other cultures emerged (leading some sources to speculate that those tribes were absorbed into the new cultures). The Navajo (Diné) and Apache (Indé) people are believed to have traveled over the Bering Strait land bridge thousands of years ago, eventually moving down into the Arizona area in the early second millennium C.E., just before the arrival of the Spanish. The Athabaskan language group is also known as the Na-Dene languages. Both the Navajo and Apache languages belong to the Southern Athabaskan (Apachean) language group. The Northern Athabaskan languages are spoken in Alaska and across central and western Canada, and the Pacific Coast Athabaskan languages are spoken in the coastal California and Oregon region. The Athabaskan languages are tonal like many of the languages of East Asia, which distinguishes them from most other indigenous languages of the Americas.

3. The early growth of Arizona's economy was tied to the "Five Cs": Cattle, citrus, cotton, climate and what other item?

From Quiz Arizona, 1912-2012

Answer: Copper

Arizona has historically been the nation's top copper producer, supplying more than 60% of the US's copper, and has held that title for over 100 years. Ranching quickly became one of the main industries in Arizona when the territory joined the US, and up until the 1950s, Arizona had more cattle than people. Citrus groves were once wide-spread throughout the Phoenix area, and even though most of those have disappeared, Arizona remains one of the nation's top citrus producers (along with California, Florida and Texas), with lemons being our main citrus crop. The dry climate was considered medicinal in the early days of Arizona's statehood, and the deserts of Phoenix and Tucson attracted sufferers from tuberculosis and other ailments. The climate is also conducive to agriculture - lots of sun in the desert areas with little or no frost - and attractive to vacationers escaping cold weather climates. The introduction of Egyptian cotton in 1900 sparked the cotton industry in the state. Arizona is still one of the top ten cotton producers in the country, but we're better known for produce - we ranked second in lettuce production and third in the "vegetable, melon, potato and sweet potato" category.

4. The Hopi village of Oraibi was established around 1100 C.E. What distinction does it hold?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: The oldest continuously inhabited settlement in Arizona

Some sources credit Oraibi as the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States, but that distinction probably belongs to the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, which was established between 1000 and 1100 C.E., depending on the source. The Hopi live in Northeastern Arizona, surrounded by the Navajo Nation. Unlike the Navajo, who are believed to have migrated to Arizona from the north, the Hopi are believed to have come to Arizona from the south; their language is one of the Uto-Aztecan family. The Hopi were present in the area much earlier than the Navajo, and they consider the Hisatsinom (Anasazi) to be their ancestors. Some notable Hopis include Lewis Tewanima, the first Arizonan to win an Olympic medal (1912 Olympics) and Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. Military (Iraq, 2003).

5. When Arizona became a state, Phoenix was its capital city but not its largest city. Which city, known as the Old Pueblo, was Arizona's largest in 1912?

From Quiz Arizona, 1912-2012

Answer: Tucson

Tucson was founded in 1775 and is Arizona's oldest incorporated city (1877). Tucson was actually founded by a Dublin-born Irishman, Hugo O'Conor, who had joined the Spanish army and established the Spanish presidio at the site. During the U.S. Civil War, Tucson was the western capital of the Confederate Arizona Territory, so four flags have flown over Tucson: Spain, Mexico, the Confederate U.S. and the U.S. flag. Phoenix was founded in 1861 and incorporated in 1881. Jack Swilling, a prospector and entrepreneur, is credited as the founder of Phoenix; he started an irrigation company to supply water from the Salt River to the surrounding lands, as the Hohokam had done hundreds of years earlier. The town was briefly called Pumpkinville because of the wild gourds that grew along the river, but ultimately it was given the moniker of Phoenix because it had been reborn out of the ruins of the Hohokam civilization. "Lord" Darrell Duppa, an English expatriate, has been credited with giving Phoenix its name; he also named the city of Tempe, claiming that the area reminded him of the Vale of Tempe in Greece. When Arizona became a state in 1912, the population of Tucson was over 13,000 while Phoenix was around 11,000. Phoenix surpassed Tucson in population in the 1920s.

6. The first European credited with setting foot in Arizona was Fray Marcos de Niza in 1539. What was his occupation?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: Franciscan friar

Fray Marcos de Niza was born in Nice, France (hence the "de Niza", "of Nice"), which was under the control of Savoy, Italy at that time. He was sent to the New World in 1531 to help convert the natives, with his first assignment being as a member of Francisco Pizarro's expedition to conquer the Incas in Peru. He then spent time in Guatemala before arriving in Mexico in 1536. He entered the territory of the future state of Arizona on April 12, 1539 (he kept detailed journals) and claimed it for Spain. A monument near Lochiel, Arizona, marks the general area where he is believed to have entered. Another Spanish explorer, the interestingly-named Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca may have visited Arizona a few years earlier, but he didn't keep sufficient records of his travels in the southwestern region of what is now the United States, so he isn't officially credited as being first.

7. Among the 127 Arizonans who died in WWI was a Medal of Honor awardee known as the Arizona Balloon Buster. Which flying ace was it?

From Quiz Arizona, 1912-2012

Answer: Frank Luke

Nicknamed the Arizona Balloon Buster for his skill at shooting down enemy observation balloons, Second Lieutenant Frank K. Luke, Jr. was second only to Eddie Rickenbacker for American aerial victories in WWI (Rickenbacker had 26 compared to Luke's 18), with all of Luke's victories occurring in a span of 17 days. Luke was the first aviator to receive the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor, awarded following his combat death on September 29, 1918. Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix and Luke Field in Hawaii were named in honor of Lt. Luke, as was the town of Lukeville in southern Arizona.

8. Among the men in the first-recorded European expedition to Arizona in 1539 was a Moor guide named Estevan. What distinction does Estevan hold in history?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: First African to set foot in western North America

Also known as Estevanico, some sources credit Estevan with being the first African to set foot in what is now the United States overall (he did so on an expedition to Florida in 1527 or 1528); other sources state that a West African-born conquistador named Juan Garrido first set foot in Florida in 1513. Besides being the first African to set foot in the western United States (he reached Texas in 1528), Estevan was also the first African to visit Arizona, and since Fray Marcos de Niza sent him ahead of the expedition to look for Cibola (the mythical Seven Cities of Gold), he was likely the first non-native to set foot in many parts of Arizona and New Mexico (where he died at the hands of the Zuni tribe). Estevan was a really interesting character in Arizona (and US) history. Born in Morocco, he was sold into slavery as a young man, but he lived more as an assistant to his owners and was given his freedom along the way. He spent his life as a New World explorer, and he was gifted at languages and was able to develop a friendly rapport with the natives. Estevan Park in Tucson, Arizona, was named in honor of Estevanico.

9. In 1930, Arizona made world headlines when what discovery was made by Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff?

From Quiz Arizona, 1912-2012

Answer: The former planet Pluto

The dwarf planet formerly known as the planet Pluto was discovered as the result of a research project for "planet x" sponsored by Percival Lowell. Tombaugh took photos of the night sky weeks apart and then compared the pictures to look for objects that had moved. The discovery of Pluto was confirmed a year after Tombaugh began his research. The name for the planet was suggested by an English schoolgirl who thought that the god of the underworld was a good name for the distant planet. Lowell Observatory is one of the oldest in the United States, having been established in 1894. Besides being the site of Pluto's discovery, astronomer Vesto Slipher also discovered large recessional velocities of galaxies while working at Lowell from 1912 to 1914 which led to the eventual discovery by Edwin Hubble that the universe is expanding. Einstein's calculations had led him to the discovery earlier, but he dismissed it since he believed the universe was static.

10. The status of the City of Phoenix was changed on February 4, 1889, when a title was bestowed upon it that formerly belonged to Prescott. What was Phoenix known as from 1889 to 1912?

From Quiz Valley of the Phoenicians

Answer: Capital of the Arizona Territory

When the area now known as Arizona joined the United States following the Mexican-American War and the Gadsden Purchase, the land was included as part of the New Mexico Territory which had been established in 1850. The residents in Arizona did not like this and lobbied to have a separate territory established to no avail. But then came the Civil War. When the residents in southern Arizona officially joined the Confederacy in 1862, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln established the Arizona Territory in 1863 in an attempt to appease the Arizonans (it didn't completely work; the southern part of the territory remained in the Confederacy until 1865). The new territory needed a capital, and it was temporarily set up at Fort Whipple in central Arizona before moving to Prescott several months later. Tucson was the largest town in Arizona at the time, but it was part of the Confederacy, so "No capital for you!" When the Civil War ended, Tucson tried to get the capital moved, but Civil War bitterness ran deep, so it stayed in Prescott until 1867 when it was finally moved to Tucson for ten years before being returned to Prescott. While the two municipalities battled over where the capital should reside, Phoenix decided to make a play for the capital. Since Phoenix was located approximately midway between Prescott and Tucson, it was touted as a convenient central location for the legislators, and the city offered to pay for a permanent capitol building and apparently other things - there were reports of bribery involved in the negotiations, and when the capital was officially moved to Phoenix, there was even an $1800 welcome banquet for the legislators. Phoenix remained the capital of the Territory of Arizona until Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912. Tucson was the larger city on the day of statehood (Phoenix didn't surpass Tucson in population until the 1920s), but Phoenix was named the state capital. Oh, and the February 14, 1912 statehood date? Yeah, another example of Civil War bitterness - that was fifty years to the day after the Confederate Territory of Arizona had been established.

11. Perhaps the most famous of the European explorers in Arizona, which Jesuit priest established over twenty missions, but apparently no movie theatres, while creating maps that would be used for over a century?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: Padre Kino

Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, known as Padre Kino, was a Jesuit priest who was born in Tyrolean Italy and educated in Austria and Germany. He was a true Renaissance man - a cartographer, mathematician, astronomer, farmer, rancher, diplomat, linguist and a deeply religious and humane man. Padre Kino was 40 years old when he arrived in the area of northern Mexico and southern Arizona in 1687 to work as a missionary, and over the next 24 years, he would explore most of the region while establishing over 20 missions. The detailed maps he made of the region were used for over a century, and he was the first person to document that Baja California was a peninsula, not an island as the Spanish believed. His travels in Arizona took him at least as far north as Casa Grande (about 50 miles/80 km south of Phoenix), where he became the first non-native to view the Casa Grande ruins. Padre Kino died from illness in 1711 in Magdalena, Mexico (about 60 miles/97 km south of Nogales, a city on the Arizona/Mexico border); the chapel that contained his grave had been destroyed over the years, but his grave was rediscovered in the 1960s and a memorial was built there. Although Padre Kino established famous missions such as San Xavier del Bac and San José de Tumacácori, the current buildings at these sites were actually constructed by Franciscans after his death. The beautiful San Xavier del Bac south of Tucson, for example, was built in the late 17th century and is still a functioning Catholic church. Apparently, none of the original buildings from Padre Kino's time still exist; they were destroyed (mainly due to attacks by Apaches) or fell into disrepair after the Jesuits were expelled from the area in 1767.

12. For over seventy years, the Thunderbird School of Global Management, one of the world's top business schools, was located on a large plot of land in northwest Phoenix. What previously was built on the site in 1942?

From Quiz Arizona, 1912-2012

Answer: An airfield to train World War II pilots

Thunderbird Field in NW Phoenix was used for training over 10,000 Allied pilots during WWII. The field was so named because it was set up to look like a thunderbird (a Native American symbol) from the air. Actor/pilot Jimmy Stewart was instrumental in getting the field built. After the war, the site was converted to a college, but the hangar remained as a reminder of its prior use. The school eventually joined Arizona State University and relocated to downtown Phoenix in the 2000s. Another WWII training site, the Desert Training Center, was established in 1942 in the Mohave Desert area of California and Arizona and was used to train over 1 million soldiers to prepare for the North Africa campaign. General George S. Patton was the first commandant of the center.

13. The name "Arizona" came from a ranch near the current Arizona/Mexico border. The meaning of the name is disputed, but which theory has emerged due to the heritage of the ranch's owner, Bernardo de Urrea?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: It's Basque for "Good Oak".

The name "Arizona" came from a ranch or settlement called Real de Arissona or Real de Arizonac or El puesto del Arizona (different variations are listed on documents from that era) south of the Mexican border town of Nogales. The area became important to the Spanish when large slabs of silver were discovered nearby in 1736. The source of the word "Arizona" is disputed; the possibility of it just being a version of the Spanish term "zona arida" (arid zone) is largely discounted. For many years, the assumption was the name came from the Tohono O'odham words "ali shonak", meaning "place of the small spring", but in recent years, it has been proposed that the name came from the Basque words "aritz ona", meaning "good oak". The latter theory is based on the facts that the owner of the property was Basque, a large number of the settlers in the area were Basque and that the name Arissona or Arizona shows up as a place name in Latin American countries with Basque settlements, such as Honduras and Costa Rica.

14. Tourism is a major contributor to the Arizona economy, and beginning in the late 1940s, people started coming from across the nation to watch the Cactus League. What is the Cactus League?

From Quiz Arizona, 1912-2012

Answer: Baseball spring training

Spring training for the baseball season dates back to the late 1880s. The Detroit Tigers were the first team to have their baseball spring training camp in Arizona (1929) although exhibition games had been played in the area even before Arizona became a state, as teams who had their camps in California would stop on their way back east. In 1947, the Cactus League was born when the Cleveland Indians and New York Giants made Arizona their spring training home. At the turn of the 21st century, ten teams were holding their spring training in Arizona, generating an estimated $350 million to the Arizona economy. Although some sources state that the Indians and the Giants came to Arizona so that their players would not be subject to segregation, this sadly wasn't true. Arizona had segregation until the mid 1960s. When the last team to integrate, the Boston Red Sox, visited Phoenix in 1960, player Pumpsie Green was not allowed to stay at the team's hotel, the Safari in Scottsdale.

15. Phoenix may have been located far away from the battlefields of World War II, but the city still contributed to the war effort. Its remote location made it the perfect site for which wartime necessity?

From Quiz Valley of the Phoenicians

Answer: Prisoner-of-war camps

Although Phoenix had reached a population of 65,000 by 1940, there was a still a lot of available land in the valley, and the U.S. military took advantage of the open spaces by setting up training sites and prisoner-of-war (POW) camps. The training sites included Thunderbird Field, an airfield in northwest Phoenix which was used to train pilots including actor Jimmy Stewart and which, after the war, became the Thunderbird School of Global Management, one of the world's top business schools. Luke Field, named for Arizona WWI ace Frank Luke, was created west of Phoenix and was used for advanced flight training. A POW camp was established in Papago Park in east Phoenix. It initially housed over 3,000 German and Italian prisoners-of-war, although the Italians were moved to other sites, and it ended up mainly housing Germans. Although there was a larger POW camp near Florence, Camp Papago Park was more famous because it was the site of what was reportedly the largest POW escape from a U.S. facility. In December, 1944, twenty-five German POWs escaped from the camp via a 180-foot tunnel. Three German sailors had built a boat with the intent to sail down the Gila River to the Colorado and then into the Sea of Cortez, but unfortunately for them, the Gila River was not a continuously flowing river, and it was dry when they arrived on the banks. All of the men were recaptured within a few days, and the event came to be known as "The Not-So-Great Escape". But apparently life wasn't too tough at Camp Papago Park. There was a theater and a camp choir and even a camp newspaper written by the POWs. Several POWs returned to live in Phoenix after the war, and others returned in 1985 for a reunion.

16. In 1752, the Spanish established the first European settlement in Arizona at which site south of Tucson?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: Tubac

Tubac is located about twenty miles north of the Mexican border and fifty miles south of Tucson. The settlement was essentially a ghost town by the time the United States took possession of it a century after its founding due to numerous raids by neighboring tribes. Tubac was resettled after the Gadsden Purchase, and the "Weekly Arizonian", the first newspaper in Arizona, was printed there in 1859. Mining brought in a new population that resulted in Tubac reportedly being the largest town in Arizona in 1860 (according to the Arizona State Parks website). However the mining boom was short lived and only a small population remained in Tubac from then on. The town of Tubac evolved into an artist's colony in the 1940s and had a population of over 1,000 residents at the turn of the 21st century. The Tubac Presidio State Historic Park was designated as Arizona's first State Park, and the ruins of the original Spanish presidio can be viewed there.

17. Arizona housed prisoners of war during World War II, and in 1944, several POWs tried to escape by sailing down the Gila River. Why didn't they succeed?

From Quiz Arizona, 1912-2012

Answer: The river was dry.

Known as the Great (or Not So Great) Escape, twenty-five German POWs escaped from a camp in Phoenix via a 180-foot tunnel in 1944. Three of them had built a boat with the intent to sail down the Gila River to the Colorado and then into the Sea of Cortez. Unbeknownst to them, like many desert rivers, the Gila River was not a continuously flowing river and had no water in it when they arrived on the banks. All of the men were recaptured within a few days. Arizona housed over 15,000 German and Italian soldiers captured in Europe during the war. Sadly, over 30,000 Japanese-Americans were also interned in camps in the Arizona desert between 1942 and 1945 for fear that they might conspire with the enemy.

18. The United States received the majority of the current territory of Arizona after the Mexican-American War. Which 1848 treaty ended the war and gave Arizona to the U.S.?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Spanish era in the future state of Arizona ended in 1821 when Mexico achieved independence from Spain. The Mexican era in Arizona was short-lived, however. As a result of the 1846-1848 Mexican-American war (or the U.S. Invasion of Mexico, as it is known south of the border), Mexico was forced to cede the northern half of its territory to the U.S. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the war, also called for the U.S. to pay $15 million in compensation to Mexico. More than two-thirds of present day Arizona was included in the area ceded. The remaining portion constituting southern Arizona (including the city of Tucson) was purchased from Mexico in 1853 as part of the Gadsden Purchase (named for soldier/diplomat/railroad executive James Gadsden who negotiated the deal). Gadsden had pushed for the purchase because he wanted to run the Southern Pacific railroad through the area.

19. In 1960, Sun City, Arizona was built on the former site of the ghost town of Marinette. Sun City is usually credited as the first of what type of establishment in the United States?

From Quiz Arizona, 1912-2012

Answer: Planned retirement community

Delbert E. Webb was the entrepreneur behind Sun City and several subsequent retirement communities in Arizona. Webb started in the construction business in the 1920s and during WWII, he was responsible for the building of the largest internment camp for Japanese-Americans near Parker, Arizona. Incidentally, Leisure World at Seal Beach, California, also lays claim to the title of first planned retirement community. Both were developed around the same time, but apparently, Sun City had its first residents before Leisure World (at least according to Sun City sources). Youngtown, Arizona, however, beats both locations to the title of the first age-restricted community; it was established in 1954.

20. What distinction does the 1862 Battle of Picacho Peak hold in U.S. history?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: The westernmost battle of the American Civil War

The lower half of Arizona became a Confederate territory in 1861 during the U.S. Civil War. This occurred largely because of the diversion of the Overland Mail from the territory. The mail route ran through southern Arizona, and the troops that protected the mail also protected the settlers in the area. When the U.S. troops left, confederate troops moved in. Arizonans had felt abandoned by the U.S. government, so the confederate troops met little resistance in Arizona. During the U.S. Civil War, Tucson was the western capital of the Confederate Arizona New Mexico Territory, so four flags have flown over Tucson: Spain, Mexico, the Confederate U.S. and the U.S. flag. The Battle of Picacho Peak was fought on April 15, 1862. More of a skirmish, the battle consisted of 14 union troops versus 10 confederate troops, and the union troops retreated after suffering three fatalities. Shortly after that, U.S. cavalry troops from California recaptured Tucson in May of 1862 and drove the confederates out of Arizona. Naturally, we hold annual reenactments of the battle. Interesting note: the Confederate Territory of Arizona was officially declared by Confederate president Jefferson Davis on February 14, 1862 - fifty years to the day before Arizona officially became a U.S. state.

21. The Keating Five were U.S. Senators who were involved with Arizona businessman Charles Keating who was accused in which scandal of the late 1980s/early 1990s?

From Quiz Arizona, 1912-2012

Answer: Savings and Loan failures

The five senators, John McCain and Dennis DeConcini of Arizona, Alan Cranston of California, John Glenn of Ohio and Donald Riegle of Michigan, were accused of corruption in their association with Keating, who was the chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan. DeConcini, Cranston and Riegle didn't run for reelection after the Senate Ethics Committee determined they had interfered with the federal investigation into Keating's actions; McCain and Glenn were found to have exercised "bad judgement" in their dealings with Keating, but both men continued their political careers, with McCain being the Republican candidate for the U.S. presidency in 2008. Keating had been accused in making high risk investments that exposed the government insurance to huge losses. Keating aggressively opposed any government intervention in his Savings and Loan and used his political contacts to keep the regulators at bay. After Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed, Keating was convicted in state and federal courts, but both convictions were overturned based on mistakes made by the trial judge. A plea deal prevented re-trials, and Keating was sentenced to the four years he already served in a Tucson prison.

22. When the Arizona Territory was established by President Lincoln in 1863, the capital was temporarily located at an army post until an official capital could be built. Which central Arizona city was founded in order to be the territorial capital?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: Prescott

When the area now known as Arizona joined the United States following the Mexican-American War and the Gadsden Purchase, it became a part of the New Mexico Territory which had been established in 1850. Charles Poston, who has been called the "Father of Arizona", lobbied to have a separate territory, and in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation to establish the Arizona Territory. Poston became the first territorial delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The capital of the Arizona Territory was temporarily at Fort Whipple, an army post located near present-day Prescott in central Arizona until the capital was formally established at Prescott in 1864. At the time, Tucson was the largest "city" in Arizona, with a population of 915 people as of the 1860 census. Prescott was largely built specifically to be the capital rather than the existing city of Tucson because the latter city was part of the Confederacy during the Civil War. In 1867, the capital was moved to Tucson before being returned to Prescott in 1877. In 1889, the capital was permanently moved to Phoenix.

23. A prospector named Jack Swilling is credited as the founder of the city of Phoenix. He decided to set up an irrigation company in the area after spotting what remnant of an earlier civilization from a mountaintop?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: Canals

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area that is now Phoenix had been inhabited by the Hohokam people. They had built canals to irrigate fields surrounding the Salt River (the main river which flowed through Phoenix prior to it being dammed). The Hohokam disappeared from the area around 1400 C.E., and it wasn't until the 1860s that the area was resettled. Jack Swilling, a prospector and entrepreneur, reportedly saw the remains of the canals in the valley while he was crossing the White Tank Mountains; he started an irrigation company to supply water from the Salt River to the surrounding lands, as the Hohokam had done hundreds of years earlier. The town was briefly called Pumpkinville because of the wild gourds that grew along the river, but ultimately it was given the moniker of Phoenix because it had been reborn out of the ruins of the Hohokam civilization. "Lord" Darrell Duppa, an English expatriate, has been credited with giving Phoenix its name; he also named the city of Tempe, claiming that the area reminded him of the Vale of Tempe in Greece.

24. Established in 1879, this city reportedly has the world's largest rosebush and the west's most famous graveyard, but it is instead known for a thirty-second gunfight. Which "Town Too Tough to Die" is it?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: Tombstone

Tombstone is located southeast of Tucson about thirty miles north of the Mexican border. Originally a "town", Tombstone was founded by silver prospector Edward Schieffelin who had been told that all he would find in those hills was his tombstone. But he did find silver, and Tombstone has been inhabited ever since, although tourism has replaced mining as its main enterprise. Tourists flock to Tombstone every April to see and smell what is allegedly the world's largest rose bush, a "Lady Banksia" rose bush that was planted in 1885. It covers 9,000 square feet and is held up by a massive arbor. Tombstone's Boothill Graveyard is another tourist favorite, with its quirky and detailed epitaphs. But what Tombstone is most known for is the Gunfight at the OK Corral, a thirty-second battle that is now re-enacted for tourists.

25. Despite Theodore Roosevelt's Spanish-American War ties to Arizona, he wasn't the president who signed the official papers declaring Arizona to be a state. Which U.S. President signed the papers on February 14th, 1912?

From Quiz Arizona: In the Beginning

Answer: Taft

Arizona first submitted a constitution for approval to become a state in 1891, but it was rejected. Several reasons have been suggested for the rejection. Political reasons include Arizona's involvement with the Confederacy during the Civil War and the monetary standard; the constitution called for "bimetallism" (gold and silver) while the Cleveland administration was supporting the gold standard. Some sources merely put it down to the belief that Arizona was a lawless wasteland and not suitable to be a state. After the Spanish-American War, there was another push for statehood. Arizonans had figured prominently during the war, and their loyalty to the union, which had taken a bruising during the Civil War, was not in question anymore; the tombstone for Colonel Buckey O'Neill of the Rough Riders who died in Cuba read "Who would not die for a new star on the flag". The first serious consideration to admitting Arizona to the union came during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency, when a "jointure" idea was floated of admitting the New Mexico and Arizona territories as one state. New Mexico apparently liked the idea, but feisty Arizona didn't. Arizonans overwhelmingly voted down the 1906 referendum and protested by changing the name of Roosevelt Street in downtown Phoenix to Cleveland Street (it was eventually changed back). Finally in 1910, the U.S. Congress requested that Arizona again submit a constitution for approval, which it did but the constitution included a provision for the recall of judges. President William Howard Taft had warned the Arizona Constitutional Convention that he would veto the constitution if it included the provision, and he did just that. So the convention had to revise the constitution and get it approved by the voters; the delay postponed Arizona's approval for statehood and allowed New Mexico to be approved as the 47th state a month earlier than Arizona. Arizona finally became a state on the 50th anniversary of its joining the Confederacy during the Civil War. It was the last of the 48 contiguous states to join the Union.

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