Arizona Almanac

1528-1536                             

Eight-year odyssey of Cabeza de Vaca and his shipwrecked companions stirs interest in American continental exploration.

1539

Fray Marcos de Niza searches for golden cities.

1540-1542

During a failed quest to discover the legendary Seven Golden Cities of Cibola, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado claims for Spain the vast lands that today encompass the American Southwest. Members of his party were the first Europeans to view the Grand Canyon.

1582-1583

Antonio de Espejo, a miner, enters New Mexico and Arizona looking for rich minerals.

1598-1607

Juan de Oñate establishes first colonies in New Mexico. Puts Spanish "stamp" on the area.

1619

City of Santa Fe founded.

1629

Franciscans establish missions in Hopiland, the first Europeans to reside in Arizona.

1687-1711

Father Kino establishes missions in Pimería Alta, along the Rio Santa Cruz and Rio San Pedro.

1736

Great silver discovery at Arisonac.

1751

Great Pima Indian Revolt.

1752

Tubac presidio established.

1767

Jesuits expelled from Spanish realm.

Franciscan Father Garcés enters Arizona.

1774

Juan de Anza and Father Garcés explore route to California.

1775-1776

Juan de De Anza and Father Garcés take colonists overland to California. Tucson established.

1781

Yuma Revolt. Father Garcés murdered.

1785-1821

Spanish troops go on offensive campaigns into Apachería. Peace treaty with Apaches.

1810-1821

Mexican War of Independence.

1821

Mexico gains independence.

1822

Trade opens between Santa Fe and St. Louis.

1823

Americans begin to settle in Texas.

1824

American mountain men enter Arizona to trap beaver.

1835-1836

Texas Revolution.

1837

Mexico offers bounties for Apache scalps.

1846-1848

U.S.-Mexican War. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends war, cedes vast Mexican territory to U.S.

1848          

Gold discovered in California. Gila Trail becomes one of the main routes to the gold fields.

1850

Compromise of 1850 made establishment of the Territory of New Mexico possible, which included present-day Arizona.

1852

Americans begin navigating the Colorado River by steamer. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers begins surveying Arizona.

1853

Gadsden Purchase gives Arizona the land from the Gila River to present boundary.

American Dragoons (cavalry) occupy Tucson. Arizonans begin petitioning for separate territorial status.

Beale's camels and "Jackass Mail" stagecoach lines cross Arizona; Fort Buchanan established on Sonoita Creek.

Butterfield Overland Stage Line crosses Arizona.

Period of gold discoveries, Gila River, Colorado River, and Bradshaw Mountains.

Bascom Affair pits Army against Chiricahua Apaches. The Civil War begins and U.S. military posts are abandoned in Arizona portion of New Mexico Territory.

Apache Wars.

The Confederate States of America claims Arizona as a confederate territory.

Battle at Glorieta Pass, New Mexico, ends Confederate westward thrust.

Fort Bowie is established at Glorieta Pass. Battle at Picacho Pass, near Casa Grande, is called westernmost battle of Civil War.

California Column occupies Arizona for Union.

Battle of Apache Pass between California Column and Apaches is largest in Arizona history.

Territory of Arizona is established. Provisional capital established at Fort Whipple.

President Abraham Lincoln appoints Arizona Territorial officials.

John A. Gurley is named Territorial Governor, but dies before taking office. Replaced by John N. Goodwin.

Territorial officials take the oath of office at Navajo Springs, Arizona on December 29.

Walker Party discovers gold in Bradshaw Mountains.

Weaver-Peeples party discovers placer gold at Rich Hill.

Wickenburg finds rich lode at Vulture Mine.

Territorial capitol moves from its provisional site at Camp Whipple to Prescott; Original four counties are created (Yuma, Yavapai,Pima and Mohave).

Territorial capitol moves from Prescott to Tucson.

John Wesley Powell explores Grand Canyon.

1870's-1880's

Camp Grant Massacre.

General Crook subdues central Arizona Apaches and Yavapais.

Territorial prison opens at Yuma.

Territorial capitol moves from Tucson back to Prescott; silver discovered at Tombstone; copper deposits found at Bisbee.

City of Phoenix incorporates; Southern Pacific Railroad crosses southern Arizona.

Atlantic & Pacific (Santa Fe) railroad crosses northern Arizona.

Copper replaces gold and silver in economic importance in Arizona.

Territorial capitol moves from Prescott to Phoenix; Legislators meet temporarily in the chambers of the Phoenix City Hall.

Moses H. Sherman and Marcellus E. Collins of Phoenix donate ten acres of land for a territorial capitol site.

Phoenix linked by rail to northern and southern railroad lines.

Rough Riders fight in Cuba. Arizona resident, William "Buckey" O'Neill is killed in action at San Juan Hill.

Construction begins on a new capitol building in Phoenix; completed in 1900 at a cost of approximately $136,000.

1901

Capitol building dedicated on February 25.

Frank Murphy builds "Impossible Bradshaw Mountain Railroad."

Salt River Water Users' Association formed, first of its kind in the nation.

Referendum on joint Arizona-New Mexico Statehood is rejected in Arizona by a vote of 16,265 to 3,141.

Arizona Enabling Act passed by Congress; Constitutional Convention meets; population of Arizona exceeds 204,000 on the eve of statehood.

Theodore Roosevelt Dam completed; President Taft vetoes admission of Arizona over recall of judges; Arizona agrees to make the necessary changes in its constitution.

1912                       

Arizona joins the Union on February 14.

George W. P. Hunt, President of the Constitutional Convention, becomes first state Governor.

First U.S. Senators, Henry F. Ashurst and Marcus A. Smith, first U.S. Representative, Carl T. Hayden.

Women gain right to vote in Arizona.

1917

WWI brings economic boom to Arizona. Bisbee Deportation.

1919

The Grand Canyon is designated as a national park by President Woodrow Wilson.

1922

Colorado River Compact establishes state allotments for sharing Colorado River water. Arizona refuses to ratify.

1926

Route 66 completed in Arizona.

1929

Great Depression

1930

Pluto is discovered from Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff.

1936

Hoover Dam on the Colorado River is dedicated.

1941

Luke Air Force Base named in honor of Phoenix native Frank Luke Jr., a fighter pilot killed in action during World War I.

1942

Poston and Gila River Japanese Internment camps established.

1946

Arizona right-to-work becomes effective; industrial development and manufacturing take on new importance. Post-WWII brings surge of population to Arizona.

1948

Motorola builds first plant in Phoenix marking the beginning of high tech industry in Arizona.

Arizona Indians gain right to vote.

1950

Election of Governor Howard Pyle gives rise to Republican Party.

1960

Arizona population exceeds 1 million.

1961

Stewart L. Udall becomes first Arizonan to serve on Cabinet (Secretary of Interior).

1963

Arizona wins Supreme Court decision in contest with California over share of Colorado River water; hopes are revived for a Central Arizona Project to bring water from the Colorado to central Arizona.

1964

Arizona's U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater is the Republican Party candidate for President.

1966

Legislative reapportionment (one man, one vote). Legislative districts reapportioned to represent an equal number of people. The Republican Party gains control of the legislature for the first time; Miranda v. Arizona Supreme Court case results in the “Miranda Warning,” where police are required to inform criminal suspects of their right to remain silent before questioning.

1968

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs bill authorizing construction of the Central Arizona Project.

Senator Carl Hayden retires after serving Arizona in Congress since 1912.

1973

Construction begins on the Central Arizona Project.

1975

Raúl Héctor Castro is the first Latino elected Governor of Arizona.

1981

Sandra Day O'Connor becomes first woman on U.S. Supreme Court.

1984

Population of Arizona exceeds 3 million.

1985

First water deliveries from the Central Arizona Project reach Harquahala Valley.

1988

Impeachment of Governor Evan Mecham.

Rose Mofford becomes Arizona's first female governor.

1992

Arizona voters approve Martin Luther King Jr./Civil Rights Day as a paid state holiday.

1997

Governor Fife Symington resigns after a bank fraud conviction, which was later overturned. President Bill Clinton later pardons Symington.

2001

Arizona Diamondbacks win the World Series in Game 7 against the New York Yankees.

2008

Senator John McCain wins the Republican nomination for President. McCain is defeated in the general election by Barack Obama.

2011

U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and eighteen others are shot outside a Safeway during a "Congress on Your Corner" outreach event.

2012

Arizona celebrates its statehood centennial.

2013

Lightning ignites a wildfire in Yarnell that claims the lives of 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots wildland firefighter team.

2014

Arizona recognizes same-sex marriage after a federal ruling overturns the state ban as unconstitutional.

2018

Senator John McCain passes away of brain cancer. Governor Doug Ducey appoints former Senator Jon Kyl to fill Senator McCain's vacant seat.