The Navajo Indian Reservation is located in Arizona. The area is comparable to the entire state and is located in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. It has its own laws (along with other states), it has its own police and even a president. At the same time, the Navajo respect the US Constitution.
Indians have lived in the United States since the 14th century: the ancestors of modern Navajos came here from northwestern Canada and eastern Alaska. They have lived on reservations since the 1860s. They are mainly engaged in weaving, pottery and cattle breeding.
Indians are a very interesting and unique people. They speak English, but with a characteristic accent, they are a little cocky, they like to drink and talk. At the same time, they are very careful about the environment and nature.
Express information on the country
USA(USA) is a state in North America.
Capital– Washington
Largest cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Houston, Philadelphia, Boston, Phoenix, San Diego, Dallas
Form of government- Presidential republic
Territory– 9,519,431 km 2 (4th in the world)
Population– 321.26 million people. (3rd in the world)
Official language- American English
Religion– Protestantism, Catholicism
HDI– 0.915 (8th in the world)
GDP– $17.419 trillion (1st in the world)
Currency- U.S. dollar
Bordered by: Canada, Mexico
Google Maps to help you
When traveling around America by car, it is best to use a navigator. My choice in Europe and Asia is Maps.Me, but in the US I prefer Google Maps. It indicates which roads are blocked, there is a calculation of the route taking into account landslides and other emergency situations - all this helps to save time.
But in order to take advantage of Google Maps, you need a constant Internet connection. Therefore, in a large city, I recommend buying a card with 4 GB of Internet traffic, it will cost $50. My preferences are T-Mobile and Verizon. The latter, judging by the description, has the greatest coverage.
Ukrainian operators also offer good roaming rates - from 350 UAH for 1 GB of Internet, so you can use your SIM card.
Maps.Me works without the Internet, but does not always display up-to-date and timely information, and a map of the area where you plan to move must be downloaded in advance.
Fines, fines, fines
Some US state laws are known to be absurd or funny. For example, in Arizona, any offense committed while wearing a red mask is considered a felony, and damaging a cactus can lead to 25 years in prison. But there are also very humane laws: in the same state, refusing someone a glass of water is a criminal matter. I haven’t tested their actions on myself, and I don’t advise you to.
In the USA, there are quite high fines for violating traffic rules. For example, you will have to pay $250 for speeding by 1-10 mph.
Food and water
Another important aspect is nutrition, especially while traveling. If you are planning a long road trip through the outback of the United States, it is better to carry a supply of food that you are used to. Use freezer bags or any other form of refrigeration to keep food fresh.
And be sure to stock up on water. The USA has vast distances, flat and sometimes deserted roads, so it is better to have everything you need at hand.
The next one with Goodwin will take place in May 2019. We think through everything down to the smallest detail, including navigators and food, and make recommendations in advance.
Places to visit in Arizona
1. Sedona is a magnificent red rock city known to the world for its unique beauty and charm. It is nestled at the mouth of Oak Creek Canyon, with breathtaking views. I recommend stopping here or at least taking a ride around it.
For centuries, Sedona has been a sacred place for the Yavapai, Apache, Hopi and Navajo tribes. Many still come here to perform ceremonies. This holy land is rich in legends.
2. Grand Canyon- one of the deepest canyons in the world (up to 1800 m). It took 10 million years to form. The canyon is located on the territory of the Navajo, Havasupai and Hualapai Indian reservations. It is cut by the Colorado River through limestone, shale and sandstone. The length of the canyon is 446 km, this is the distance from Kyiv to Odessa, and the width (at the plateau level) ranges from 6 to 29 km.
Before I saw him for the first time, I read a lot about him and watched documentaries. But what you see in real life cannot be compared with photos or videos. Excellent views and scenic photos can be obtained next to the Desert View Watchtower.
3. Horseshoe(Horseshoe Bend) is also definitely worth a visit. This place impressed me even more than the Grand Canyon. The Horseshoe is a bizarre bend in the Colorado River in Glen Canyon. It takes about 20 minutes to get to it from the parking lot. You walk through the desert, gradually rise to a hill and don’t expect anything special, but suddenly an unforgettable view opens up in front of you: a huge rock surrounded by a smooth river from a bird’s eye view. A stunning landscape that you can look at for hours!
4. Antelope Canyon. In fact, there are two of them - upper and lower. I was at the top. Depending on how the light falls, the contours of the Canyon give rise to different images. The color palette varies from white to yellow, orange, red and purple. As a person who is interested in photography, it was incredibly interesting for me to observe and try to capture this phenomenon.
The layered sand is lined with a single, smooth, polished surface; in some places it contains scattered pieces of harder rock, similar to nuggets, protruding from the walls of the mine. The canyon is located on the lands of the Navajo tribe and belongs to the Indians. To get there, you need to pay a fee and hire a guide. The total cost will be from $45 to $109 per person in a group depending on the type of tour. It is necessary to reserve the excursion in advance.
You cannot reach the upper canyon on your own, since the path runs several kilometers through the desert sands. Only off-road jeeps will take you there.
I was amazed by the nature of the USA, its diversity and contrasts. Every day I saw new stunning landscapes and never ceased to be amazed.
The next article will focus on the national parks of Utah and Colorado. Subscribe to more lifehacks from
“The morning is foggy, the morning is gray...” Alex thought hopelessly, lying by the pool of our friends in Arizona, “now it will begin...”.
It was 7 am and the thermometer stood at 35° C. What to do when it seems that the only way to escape is to live in the refrigerator? We used the heat as an excuse to go to the Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art in Phoenix and visit the Indians of the southwestern United States.
Arizona is a special place. The earth itself is different, red, as if reddened by the sun. There are no green lawns or ancient oak trees, only saguaro cacti and stunted bushes. The horizon is far, far away, where the plain turns into rocks and meets the invariably blue sky. It's hard to imagine how much work went into this cracked earth to grow food.
There is no such thing as a small country; the greatness of a people is not at all measured by its numbers, just as the greatness of a person is not measured by its height. - Victor Hugo
Settlement of the New World
Archaeologists still debate the date of the first people's arrival in the New World, but most agree that it happened 11,500 years ago. The beginning of sedentary life dates back to 300 BC, when pots appeared. Nomads have no use for pots.
By the beginning of the Christian period, the area now occupied by Phoenix was inhabited by the Hohokam, “those who went away,” the largest pre-Columbian archaeological culture. They developed complex irrigation systems, grew corn and cotton, played ball like the Mayans, and built... Their fate is unclear, they disappeared between the first half of the 13th century and the arrival of the Spaniards, but some of the irrigation canals are still in use.
Hohokam Peas | Hohokam Jar, 900 - 1150 AD
In the 12th century In the southwest, the Anasazi Indians appeared - in the Navajo language it means “ancient” - inhabitants of rock settlements, farmers and skilled hunters, builders. After 200 years, they too left: they left their homes in the desert and disappeared, no one knows where. I think they moved south into the fertile valleys. The Anasazi left behind ruins, wicker baskets, pottery shards - a window into a forgotten world that preserved the dry desert climate for us.
At the end of the Anasazi period, the Pueblos appeared - builders of fortified settlements. They lived in beehive-like houses made of clay and stone, which, by a strange coincidence, are also called pueblos. The dwellings were adjacent to each other, forming a complex of terraces, where the flat roof of one building served as the floor for the next. The upper levels are accessible only by stairs placed outside. When a threat appeared, the stairs were removed and the enemies had to storm the impregnable walls.
The last to arrive in the southwest were the nomadic tribes of the Navajo and Apache. They reached Arizona a hundred years before the Spaniards. Peaceful Pueblos cultivated the fields, and the newcomers hunted and robbed their neighbors.
Heard Museum. Visiting the Indians
The American Indian section of the Heard Museum tells about the life, traditions and art of the tribes of the southwestern United States. Most visitors take selfies next to the colorful fence. Such fences surrounded settlements, but instead of glass and ceramics, ocotillo and saguaro cacti were used.
Hopi, those who behave politely or peacefully
Most ethnographers consider the peace-loving and meek Hopi Indians to be descendants of the Anasazi. The Hopi worshiped spirits called Katsina, who lived in the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona. In early spring, spirits descended from the mountains to help cultivate the fields and care for the children. At the end of July, when the planting season ended, the Kachins left the villages.
Brightly colored Kachina dolls occupy two large displays in the museum, illustrating just how many creatures inhabited the heights of San Francisco.
The Indians traditionally carved Kachinam from the roots of poplar trees, which grew in abundance near villages. The mask determines which Kachin the doll represents.
Nowadays, Hopi newlyweds wait one to two years after the civil registration of their marriage while the Indian wedding rituals are completed. Traditionally, during the engagement, the families of the bride and groom exchange gifts. Before the wedding, the bride lives with her future mother-in-law for three days, grinds corn grains into flour and prepares food. At dawn on the fourth day, the groom's mother washes the hair of the bride and groom, symbolizing the inseparability of the couple. Then the newlyweds wait for the groom's relatives to finish weaving the wedding dress. On the wedding day, shortly before sunrise, the bride is dressed in white. She holds the other, wrapped in a reed scroll, in her hands. Women keep and cherish the second outfit throughout their lives; they dress in it after death.
Zuni Indians - Turquoise Tears
The Zuni are a mysterious tribe among the Pueblo Indians: their settlements are closed to outsiders or only open a few times a year. The Zuni were the first to use turquoise in jewelry. Legend has it that when the rain came, the Indians rejoiced and danced. Their joyful tears mixed with the rain and seeped into Mother Earth and turned turquoise.
Navajo - Diné people
The Navajo tell interesting legends about the universe, consistent with the book of Genesis:
The current world is the fifth. In the first, water, the earth floated in the ocean, covered with a dome of heaven. Insect people lived there, who, after some disagreement, moved to the second world, where the swallow people lived, and then to the third and fourth.
The animal people they met along the way taught them how to weave baskets and care for pets. In the fourth world, everything was fine until a curious Coyote stole the baby Water Serpent, for which the latter sent a global flood in revenge. The waters flooded the third and fourth worlds. To escape, people stacked four high mountains on top of each other, planted giant reeds and fled to the fifth world, where we now live.
Shamans claim that two more worlds extend above the fifth - the world of spirits and the world of fusion.
The Navajos are famous for their patterned carpets and baskets; even the Spanish conquistadors enjoyed covering themselves with warm and fluffy blankets.
To my untrained eye, Navajo works resemble carpets created by Transcarpathian craftsmen. The only difference is the price - an Indian rug, 2x3 m in size, costs $13,000.
Maybe we should open a store with Ukrainian souvenirs? Just look at the Arizona embroidered shirt... in Ukraine it’s no worse. 🙂
People learned to make baskets soon after they became human, before they left Africa. Baskets were used as bags, cabinets, birdcages, sandals, plates and cups. They even boiled water in them. Unfortunately, time is merciless to them - museum specimens, with rare exceptions, are over 120 years old.
Strange pods with two long tendrils cling to animal fur, clothing or moccasins. The Indians specially bred this plant with the terrifying name Devil’s Claw or Martynia and used it to create contrasting geometric patterns in baskets.
Apaches are fierce warriors and skilled strategists.
The very word - Apache - brings to mind a picture - http servers... an Indian on horseback, bareback... a hunter for white scalps. I am not alone in this feeling - in the languages of the neighbors, the word means “dangerous and aggressive enemy.”
A Navajo Indian we met a couple of years ago claimed that there were no differences between Navajo and Apache. They simply blamed the latter for raids and shootouts. When white people came with the question:
- “Who plundered our village or farm?”
the cunning Indians answered:
- “This is a gang of Apaches. The Navajos are peaceful and do not raid.”
Apache Indian pouches, Apache pouch, 1900 - 1930. Visiting the Indians The Indians turned out to be avid gamblers. Probably, soldiers from the expedition of Fernando Cortez taught them to play cards. The Apaches even made their own hand-painted horsehide decks.
When I rushed around the yard at the head of a noisy gang, decorated with feathers and leaves in their hair and frightening the local old women, the Indians in my imagination resembled the glamorous Gojko Mitic, who played the roles of Chingachgook, the Vigilant Falcon, and the White Feather. I even had a real Indian name, Nah’tah ni yez’zee, which means “Young Chief” in the Mescalero Apache language. How the image in my head turned out to be far from reality: the Indians have round faces and wide cheekbones, no hint of the noble features of the Serbian actor.
It's time to call it a day, here in Arizona it's not customary to tell stories in the summer. The elders say that the snakes do not like to listen to them, and when the story irritates them, they come and bite the storyteller. Therefore, stories are postponed until winter, when the snakes sleep.
Phoenix, Arizona
, ,
Arizona State
Arizona history
Spanish explorers
Spanish settlements
Mexican rule
Development by the United States
Territorial cycle
Economic development
Mid and late 20th century
Arizona State
Area: 294.1 thousand sq. km
Capital: Phoenix
Population: 5,130,632 people; 23rd place (December 2000)
Largest cities: Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Glendale, Scottsdale, Chandler, Tempe, Gilbert, Peoria, Yuma, Flagstaff.
Arizona is a state located in the southwestern United States. Arizona was the 48th state to join the United States. The state of Arizona was established on February 14, 1912. Before Alaska and Hawaii joined the United States, Arizona was the youngest state in the United States.
Arizona's landscape is amazingly diverse. The peaks of huge mountains glazing into the sun and water meadows, high mountain plateaus and narrow canyons, endless deserts and a scattering of lakes, and all this is Arizona. The extraordinary, contrasting nature has given Arizona the reputation of being the most beautiful state in America. Arizona's truly cinematic, dreamlike beauty, as well as its ideal climate, attract many tourists from all over the globe all year round.
The Spanish kingdom, and later the Mexican government, ruled these lands where Indian, Spanish and Anglo-American cultures met and merged. And, although most of the native peoples - the Indians of Arizona, who once undividedly owned these lands - now prefer to live on their reservations and in Mexico, nevertheless, in Arizona there is much reminiscent of past times.
The culture of the American Indians has been preserved and reached our time, thanks to reservation territories - lands forever assigned to the Indians - the former masters of Arizona. And the influence of Mexican and Spanish culture can be seen and recognized in the architectural style of buildings in the state, as well as in the names of streets and cities in Arizona.
Enormous changes in life in Arizona have occurred since the 19th century, when mineral extraction and agricultural development began on these lands. Arizona cherishes the memory of the “old West”, however, it is a modern industrial state with densely populated metropolitan areas, highly mechanized farms and a constantly developing industry.
The central city of Arizona is the state's largest city, and its capital is Phoenix.
Arizona got its name from the Indian word “arizonac,” which means “short spring.” Arizona is also called the Grand Canyon State because it is home to the unique natural wonder of the Grand Canyon, through which the Colorado River flows.
Arizona history
The first inhabitants.
The first human settlements in Arizona appeared 12 thousand years BC.
Archaeological excavations prove this; scientists suggest that the first settlers of these lands were engaged in hunting and gathering plants. They used stone tools and built temporary shelters for themselves.
About 2,000 years ago, a people archaeologists called the Anasazi settled the northwestern plateau of Arizona. Because they led a nomadic lifestyle, the Anasazi lived in large, multi-room caves and built “kiva” - round structures that were used for ritual ceremonies.
In the mountains of eastern Arizona lived the Mogollon people. Their culture was based on the traditions of the peoples who inhabited both the plateau and the desert.
In central Arizona, the Hohokam tribe lived in a river valley. They grew corn and, for their farming needs, invented an irrigation system that irrigated their fields with river water.
On the Arizona Plateau, the Anasazi people also knew how to grow corn and, in addition to it, cultivated other grains and cereals, as well as cotton. However, the people of the plateau knew nothing about irrigation systems and used rainwater for their crops. From 700 BC to 1100 AD, these people achieved a very high level of culture in crafts and agriculture. They were engaged in construction, ceramics production, and weaving.
The heyday of the culture of the Hohokam and Anasazi peoples dates from 1100 - 1300. The largest, multi-room cave houses in the rocks were built by the people of these tribes during this period of time.
In the 13th century, a drought broke out and exhausted all the reserves accumulated by the tribes. And after 1300 the population of the peoples living on the plateau decreased sharply. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, they found people from these two great tribes widely spread throughout Arizona. And only the nomadic peoples of the Navajo and Apache, who migrated to these lands shortly before the arrival of the Spaniards, remained intact tribes that were not scattered around the world.
Spanish explorers
The first strangers whom the Indians of Arizona saw on their lands, apparently, were soldiers of a detachment of the Spanish expedition under the command of Cabeza de Vaca, who were shipwrecked in 1528. This detachment also included a certain Estevanico, a Moroccan slave. After attacks by native Indians and diseases, of the entire numerous expedition, only he, two soldiers and the commander himself, Cabeza de Vaca, survived. De Vaca led his squad along the Gulf Coast with the goal of returning to Mexico City. During this eight-year journey, de Vaca and Estevanico became friends with many native Indians, who told them about an amazingly rich kingdom called the Seven Cities of Cnbola. Cabeza de Vaca wrote down these stories whenever possible and upon his return, reported about the rich state to his overlord - the Viceroy of New Spain. He was extremely interested in this information.
In 1539, the Moroccan Estevanico had to rediscover the lands of Arizona, now as a guide of a small detachment under the command of Friar Marcos de Niza, whose expedition had a specific goal: to find the legendary Seven Cities. And although de Niza did not find any wealth, he still reported that he had seen one of the seven legendary cities. On this expedition, in the lands of western New Mexico, Estefanico was killed by a certain Zuci Pueblos.
And on February 23, 1540, a detachment of 300 Spanish soldiers and native Indians, under the command of the conquistador Francisco de Coronado, began to explore the western highlands of the Sierra Madre, located north of the modern border of Arizona. In the northeast, he found only one village in which he met the same Zuki Pueblos, however, he did not find any wealth. As a result of this trip, Europeans saw the Grand Canyon for the first time, discovered the Colorado River, and also, on the way to the Gulf of California, discovered a valley of cacti, which is now a famous tourist attraction and the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
Spanish conquest from New Mexico
In 1581, a company of missionaries and soldiers from the city of Santa Barbara went on a research expedition to the lands of the modern state of New Mexico, with the goal of finding the Pueblo village that was once founded by Zuki Pueblos. After exploring vast territories of new lands, the company's soldiers returned to Spanish Mexico, but the missionaries remained. In 1582, an expedition was sent north under the command of Antonio de Espejo to find the missionaries and learn about their fate. After Espejo learned that all the missionaries had been killed, his detachment returned to Santa Barbara, doing geological research on the way back. They were lucky: Espejo's detachment found a silver vein, and this discovery again aroused interest in new territories.
In 1595, Juan de Ocate, born on the lands of Spanish Mexico (a relative of the conquistador Fernan Cortes), who, after the Spanish victory over the Aztec leader Montezuma II, was appointed governor of this region, went to these places. His expedition returned in 1598. All the lands that he explored on his journey, Ocat declared the territories of Spain, included in the possession of New Mexico. The Spaniards founded a colony in the area of the Rio Grande and Rio Charma rivers, which they named San Juan. Thus, establishing control over the western territories of Arizona. Okate sent an additional expedition under the command of Marcos Farfon to the area of the silver deposit discovered by de Espejo. Farfon founded the first mine on the site of the found silver source.
Spanish settlements
It must be said right away that the Spaniards did little to develop Arizona. For them, it was a dry, infertile land, also remote from the central government in Mexico and not promising much wealth. But the Spanish were forced to increase their influence in these lands when the southwestern United States began to be settled. The Spaniards founded two types of colonies: representations - military posts and missionaries - church settlements, whose tasks were to convert the natives to the Catholic faith and teach them all the achievements of Spanish civilization.
In 1629, Franciscan friars built a mission at Awatowi, in northern Arizona, to convert the Hopi people to Catholicism. But the Hopi were outraged by the Franciscans' attempts to destroy their faith and in 1633 (most likely) poisoned the monks. When in 1680 there was an uprising of local residents - the Apache Indians - in the city of Pueblo (New Mexico), the Hopi Indians, taking advantage of the situation, killed all the missionaries in northern Arizona. In 1700, missionaries returned to Avatovi again. But the local Hopi destroyed their settlement. All subsequent efforts to convert the Hopi to Catholicism failed completely.
Success contributed to the missionaries only in the south of Arizona, where in 1692 the missionary work of the Jesuit order was organized under the leadership of Eusebio Kino. Born in Italy, Jesuit Kino until his death in 1711 organized missionary work in the southern lands of Arizona, where the peoples of the Yaqui, Pima and Yuma tribes lived. In addition, over the course of 30 years, Kino created a detailed map of these lands. One of his maps was the first to show that Bahia California is not an island, but a spit. Kino's maps were the absolute geographical standard for almost a century. Spanish colonists slowly moved into Arizona and in 1752, after a year of fighting native Indians and migrating Apache tribes, the Spaniards founded the Tubac Mission. This was the first temporary European settlement in Arizona. After 25 years, Spain moved its representative office north to Tucson, near the mission of San Xavier del Bac.
Mexican rule
During the Mexican struggle for independence from Spain (between 1810 and 1821), Spain was unable to maintain military control over the lands of Arizona. Taking advantage of this situation, the local Indians attacked and destroyed all the missions and settlements, with the exception of Tubac and Tucson. In 1824, Arizona passed from Spanish to Mexican rule. The surviving mission lands were redistributed to the Mexican colonists, but the governance of the region itself changed very little. During these times, trappers and traders (moving in small groups of colonists) from the United States began to move into the interior of Arizona. Perhaps the first American to discover Arizona at the end of 1825 was James Ohio Pattie, followed by Kit Carson, Michael Robidoux and others. The number of colonists from the United States grew rapidly, and since the number of traders grew along with it, Mexico soon faced the problem of coexistence and the development of further relations between the two countries - Mexico and the United States.
Development by the United States
Annexation of Texas in 1845 to the territory of the United States, stimulated the interests of the United States in all lands of the southwest and California, including Arizona. After US troops reached the mouth of the Rio Grande, Mexico considered these actions a provocation, and in 1846 US President James K. Polk officially declared war on Mexico. Also in 1846, a battalion of Mormons (parishioners of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) took part in the Battle of California and, with the support of the Mexicans, were the first to plant the American flag over the city of Tucson.
In 1848, the Mexican War was ended by the formal Treaty of Guadalupe, under which the lands of New Mexico were transferred to the United States. Under the same treaty, all the lands of Arizona north of the Gila River were transferred to the United States. Thousands of Americans flocked to the south of the Gila River along the Great Gold Rush Trail, which broke out on the shores of California in 1848 when gold was discovered there.
And in 1853, American possessions in Arizona expanded even more, as the United States bought 76,735 square kilometers of area south of the banks of the Gila River from Mexico.
Territorial cycle
In 1850, the US Congress streamlined the administrative division and status of the New Mexico lands ceded to the United States under the Treaty of Hidalgo of Guadalupe. At the same time - in 1849 - the cities of Tucson, Tubac and Yuma were founded in Arizona, the population of which consisted of “white” settlers.
In 1858, the Butterfield Overland Mail Company began delivering mail across the Arizona desert along a long, complex route between the cities of St. Louis and San Francisco. Military posts were established along the entire route to protect postal couriers and travelers along this route from the Apache Indians, who did not like the invasion of foreigners on their lands and hunting grounds. To the south of the Gila River, in the area of the Colorado and Hassayampa rivers, small mining settlements began to emerge. Since they were located too far from the city of Santa Fe, where the administration of New Mexico was located, they were very difficult to control. Miners and other colonists soon began to advocate for their territory to be separated into an independent district. But their demands were ignored.
Soon, in 1861, the American Civil War broke out. Arizona colonists - settlers from the southern lands - convened a convention in the city of Tucson, at which they proclaimed Arizona a territory that joined the Confederate League. Be that as it may, the impact of this war on Arizona was extremely minor. The Confederacy sent troops to capture the New Mexico territory, but they were defeated. In addition, from the wartime events that occurred in Arizona, an unsuccessful skirmish for Confederate troops in the Picacho Peak area in 1862 is known.
On February 24, 1863, US President Abraham Lincoln, hoping that Arizona's gold would replenish the government's treasury depleted by the war, turned to Congress with a proposal to create an administrative board in this territory. Congress approved the proposal, and Republican John N. Goodwin was appointed Arizona's first district governor.
As a representative of this territory and a representative of the Republican Party, Goodwin was delegated to the US Congress and, in collaboration with other congressmen Richard C. McCormick and Anson P. K. Safford, did a lot to create an independent state in Arizona. From 1867 to 1877, Tucson was the capital of Arizona. But then the territorial government returned to Prescott, which was the first capital of these lands, and in 1889 the city of Phoenix was proclaimed the capital of Arizona.
War with the Apache Indians
From the earliest days of the Spanish conquest, the Apache Indians fought the Europeans who invaded their lands. Experienced warriors who grew up literally in the saddle, well-organized, brave Apaches - who controlled the southeastern hills of Arizona - were very serious opponents, whose troops were extremely difficult to destroy. As white colonists settled Arizona, clashes with hostile local Indians were a constant occurrence. The history of the United States includes two leaders of the Apache tribe, the Chiricahua Apache people: Cochise and Geronimo, who became famous in many battles with the white colonists of the US Army.
In 1861, after an attack by Coyotero Apache warriors, Chief Cochise and some of his relatives were captured by US troops, despite the fact that Cochise belonged to another Apache nation, the Chiricahuas. Kochis fled, managing to capture several hostages, in exchange for which he hoped to ransom his relatives from captivity. But the whites refused to make this exchange, and Kochis ordered the killing of all the hostages he had taken. Thus, previously friendly towards the whites, the leader of one of the Chiricahua Apache tribe, Cochise, went over to the enemy camp and over the next ten years carried out many brilliant military operations, which were now directed, alas, against the white colonists of Arizona.
In 1858, Mexican army soldiers killed the wife, mother and children of another Chiricahua Apache leader, Geronimo, whose warriors had participated in attacks on Mexican and American colonists settling on Apache lands. In 1876, the US government attempted to remove the Chiricahua Indians from their ancestral lands to the San Carlos Reservation. Jeronimo's warriors fought against this decision for ten years. In March 1886, the US Army, under the command of General George Crook, captured Geronimo and forced him to sign a treaty of surrender, under which the Chiricahua Indians were resettled in Florida. However, two days after the signing of this treaty, Geronimo escaped from captivity and continued his war with the whites. Troops under the command of General Nelson Miles drove Geronimo's Indian warriors into Mexico and in September recaptured Chief Geronimo and forced his people back onto reservations. As a result, Geronimo was nevertheless forced to accept the Christian faith and in 1905 submit to the authority of the government of American President Theodore Roosevelt.
Economic development
Many of Arizona's modern cities were founded within two decades of the end of the Civil War in 1865. Many colonists engaged in mining and trading, establishing new posts in Arizona lands. The city of Phoenix began as a mining community; Wickenburg was founded on the site of the discovery of gold mines; Globe - in the area of silver springs and deposits of copper-red ore; Tombstone - as a gold and silver mining town; Bisbee - like a copper mine. Immigrants flocked to these lands from all states of America. Representatives of many peoples and nations worked in the mines of Arizona. Representatives of the Mormon religious sect came to Arizona from Utah and founded their cities of Safford and Mesa.
After the U.S. Army minimized Apache Indian attacks on white colonists, ranchers began to widely populate the green valleys of central Arizona and its southeastern lands. In 1870, the Arizona grasslands were settled by cattlemen from Mexico and Texas. Now these territories fed not only miners, but also farmers, as well as railroad builders. The development of cattle breeding and the increase in the number of farm ranches in Arizona developed throughout the territory and became proliferating on these lands as a result of the intensive construction of railroads that connected remote areas of the territory. In 1877, the railway ran between the southern Pacific coast of the United States and the Colorado River, and in 1881 the railway connected the cities of Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe with Arizona.
Riots and crime control
Mining towns grew very quickly and soon the population began to significantly exceed the number of administrative bodies governing the territories. Unrest began: hostility arose between cattle farmers and sheep farmers; the number of robberies increased; the number of conflicts with local Indians grew; There were riots in the mining villages. The Indians of Chief Cochise, who lived in the southeast, disobeyed the law. Local official authorities were already completely corrupt by this time, and the local administration even more so.
It is not surprising that the individual representatives of order who tried to establish the rule of law in these lands were subsequently romanticized, like heroes in books and Hollywood westerns.
In 1879, Wyatt Earp, who had a reputation as an excellent shooter, settled on Arizona soil in the city of Tombston. Iarp tried to establish some semblance of order in Arizona, serving as the first sheriff in Pima County and constantly advocating for the organization of administrative management on these lands. Earp, his three siblings, and frontiersman Doc Holliday became famous for their participation in the famous Corral shootout in 1881, in which they shot down local robbers and horse and cattle rustlers.
History has preserved the names of Sheriff Earp, Kansas lawman Bat Masterson, Sheriff of the Cochise lands John Slaughter and other heroes of the Wild West who protected the law and maintained order in these lands.
Statehood
Already in early 1877, Arizonans began to demand the organization of a state form of government on their lands and in 1889 they submitted the first bill of rights to Congress. Congress twice (from 1904 to 1906) approached them with a counter-proposal: to join the United States union by annexing its lands to the state of New Mexico. However, Arizona citizens by popular vote categorically rejected this option.
In January 1910, Congress finally authorized Arizona to draft a Constitution for its future state. In December 1910, this work was completed, and in February 1911, the US Congress ratified this document, but President William Taft vetoed it, since the draft Arizona Constitution proclaimed the independent right of state citizens to elect and remove their own from office. judges. In August, Congress and the President came to an agreement and allowed Arizona to join the United States as a separate state, with the condition that the clause on an independent elective system of judges would be eliminated in its Constitution. The citizens of Arizona agreed to this condition, and on February 14, 1912, President Taft signed a document proclaiming Arizona the 48th state of the United States.
Democrat George W. P. Hunt became the first governor of Arizona, becoming famous as an active builder of dams and irrigation structures for the state's agriculture.
In 1911, President Theodore Roosevelt signed a project to build a dam on the Salt River (now the dam is named after Roosevelt). This dam guaranteed Arizona farm and ranch owners a constant supply of water to their lands. It was the first major irrigation project in central Arizona to be undertaken by a US government department. Roosevelt Dam was connected by an irrigation system to Coolidge Dam, Bartlett Dam, and in 1936 the project was completed by joining the Hoover Dam irrigation system. Arizona Governor George Hunt, despite the popularity of railroads, also initiated the construction of the state's highway system in 1920. Construction of the first highway began.
The primary concern of the new state was the problem of labor legislation. In particular, the most pressing issues were related to compensation for the families of workers injured at the production site. In other states, for example, there were clauses in the legislation that named a specific amount that a worker’s family could receive only if he died at work. The Arizona Constitution stated that varying levels of compensation were determined on a case-by-case basis by the court.
However, not everyone sympathized with the workers. In 1917 (during World War I), Bisbee miners went on a desperate strike to fight for their rights. These strikes sparked hostility between a coalition of striking workers and a radical labor union, the Industrial Workers of the World, and the sheriff, who was supported by an armed local population. Accusing the IWW of wartime labor agitation, the sheriff's department arrested more than 1,100 workers. Those arrested were stuffed into cattle cars, taken to New Mexico and dumped in the desert.
Mid and late 20th century
During the Second World War (1939-1945), new manufacturing enterprises were organized in Arizona to serve the needs of the military industry. Ore mining, cotton production and meat and dairy products have increased in the state. Military factories built during the war, converted in peacetime under conversion projects, merged into the state's unified production system. New jobs attracted thousands of people throughout the country to the state, a construction boom began, and it, accordingly, created even more new jobs.
The desert's clean, calm topography was extremely attractive to the aviation industry. And one more important factor influenced the boom in the state’s economy - uranium deposits were found in Arizona. This discovery immediately provoked the construction of new communication routes, a new impetus for the development of aviation construction and, of course, the tourism industry
Arizona's warm, dry climate and unique natural reserves served as the impetus for the creation of a tourist recreation area, which began to develop intensively in the early 1950s. The number of new Arizona residents has been growing rapidly. A constant, inexhaustible stream of tourists arrived in the state. In connection with this, social, household and other service systems began to develop at a rapid pace. From 1960 to 1990, Arizona's population tripled.
More than half of all Arizona residents live in Maricopa County, which includes the state capital, Phoenix. All the most massive production is concentrated in the area of this metropolis, as well as in the Tucson area.
However, such rapid industrial development created new problems, the central one of which was the problem of water supply. The very dry, hot weather, which attracts a huge number of tourists all year round, turned out to be not entirely favorable for replenishing natural water reservoirs. And in 1920, a dispute began between Arizona, Nevada and California over water supply from the Colorado River. In 1952, the state of Arizona asked the US Supreme Court to decide which of the disputing states had preferential use of the Colorado River reservoir. In 1963, the Supreme Court awarded this right to the state of Arizona.
The increasing population, manufacturing and tourism industries required more and more water for their needs. And soon, areas of the cities of Phoenix and Tucson began to consume from natural reservoirs a volume of water several times greater than the volume of rainfall, which is a constant source of natural replenishment of natural reservoirs.
The shortage of water, which caused disruption and problems in many industries in the area, forced the Arizona authorities to appeal to the US Congress with a request to allocate money for the state Central Arizona Project, which would build a water supply system connecting the river with a pipeline. Colorado with the metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson. The first water from the Colorado River was piped to Phoenix in 1985, and to Tucson in 1991. The project included 541 km of pipeline and cost the government $3.7 billion. Even with the creation of this piped system, the problem of water supply is not completely solved as the population continues to grow and it is unknown how much water may be required in the near future.
In 1948, Arizona Indians won a lawsuit brought to the US Supreme Court against the Arizona authorities and received the right to participate in elections on an equal basis with other citizens of the state. Since then, the economic situation in the lives of the Indian tribes of Arizona began to improve. In 1969, the first college was built on the Navajo Indian Reservation, opening in the city of Tsaile. In addition, taking advantage of the government's preferential permission for Indian reservations, the Arizona Indians opened many casinos on all their territories. Which, of course, contributed to an increase in capital and an improvement in the economy of the Arizona Indians.
In 1974, the U.S. Congress returned to the centuries-old territorial dispute between the Hopi Indians and the Navajo Indians, which began in 1882 when the Hopi Reservation was divided into the Hopi Reservation and the Navajo Reservation. The Navajos received independent ownership of half of the reservation land, amounting to 368,700 hectares. After partition, each tribe had to completely leave the foreign territory. 5,000 Navajos and 100 Hopis moved to their rightful lands. However, a certain number of families still do not want to move to new lands. However, the land dispute continues, and in 1992, the Hopi and Navajo agreed to accept land in the San Francisco Peaks (in exchange for the right to lease former Hopi lands), where the Hopi would move once all the necessary procedures were in place. documentation.
State policy in light of recent events
The people of Arizona overwhelmingly support the policies of the Democratic Party, a tradition dating back to early 1959. Before that, the state had a strong reputation for being politically conservative and pro-business. Arizona conservative Senator Barry Goldwater's unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 1964 crippled the state's conservative party. And since then only the Democratic and Republican parties have had success and adherents in this state. In the 60-70s. the increased population of Spanish-speaking emigrants began to play a significant role in public life and, as a result, influence state politics. In 1974, the Spanish democrat Raul Castro was elected governor of the state. In October 1977, Castro refused an offer to accept the post of US Ambassador to Argentina. Instead, he inherited the position of Secretary of State Wesley Bolin, who died in March 1978.
The Republican Party regained control of the state in 1986, when Republican Evan Mecham became governor of Arizona. Shortly after his election, Governor Meacham drew widespread criticism when he moved to cancel Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a government-funded holiday. Many considered Meacham a racist. In addition, Meacham allowed himself provocative statements about women and homosexual minorities. The governor's irritating behavior prompted his impeachment. Meacham was also accused of illegally using public money to develop his own auto trading companies, and in February 1988 the Arizona House demanded Meacham's resignation. In April, state The Senate found Meacham guilty of embezzlement of public funds and handed him over to the punitive justice authorities. Meacham was succeeded as governor of Arizona by Democratic candidate Rose Mofford. And former Arizona Governor Meacham was also put on trial on charges of accepting bribes during his governorship.
In 1989, Republicans again came to power in the state - Republican J. Fife Symington was elected governor of Arizona. However, he did not avoid clashes with the justice authorities. In 1994, he was charged with the fact that, as the manager of a loan and savings association, he was involved in fraud, making illegal transactions with money. Symington did not pay a penny in damages and in June 1996 he was brought before a state jury, which indicted him on seven counts related to Symington's participation in fraud, extortion, illegally obtaining large loans, etc. Symington was suspended by Arizona law. holding the position of governor of the state on the basis of illegal actions committed by him. He was replaced as governor by Republican Secretary of State Jean Di Hull. The former governor of the state, Symington, was sentenced to prison.
Arizona State
Arizona history
Spanish explorers
Spanish settlements
Mexican rule
Territorial cycle
War with the Apache Indians
Economic development
Riots and crime control
Mid and late 20th century
Arizona State
Area: 294.1 thousand sq. km
Capital: Phoenix
In 1539, the Moroccan Estevanico had to rediscover the lands of Arizona, now as a guide of a small detachment under the command of Friar Marcos de Niza, whose expedition had a specific goal: to find the legendary Seven Cities. And although de Niza did not find any wealth, he still reported that he had seen one of the seven legendary cities. On this expedition, in the lands of western New Mexico, Estefanico was killed by a certain Zuci Pueblos.
And on February 23, 1540, a detachment of 300 Spanish soldiers and native Indians, under the command of the conquistador Francisco de Coronado, began to explore the western highlands of the Sierra Madre, located north of the modern border of Arizona. In the northeast, he found only one village in which he met the same Zuki Pueblos, however, he did not find any wealth. As a result of this trip, Europeans saw the Grand Canyon for the first time, discovered the Colorado River, and also, on the way to the Gulf of California, discovered a valley of cacti, which is now a famous tourist attraction and the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
Spanish conquest from New Mexico
In 1581, a company of missionaries and soldiers from the city of Santa Barbara went on a research expedition to the lands of the modern state of New Mexico, with the goal of finding the Pueblo village that was once founded by Zuki Pueblos. After exploring vast territories of new lands, the company's soldiers returned to Spanish Mexico, but the missionaries remained. In 1582, an expedition was sent north under the command of Antonio de Espejo to find the missionaries and learn about their fate. After Espejo learned that all the missionaries had been killed, his detachment returned to Santa Barbara, doing geological research on the way back. They were lucky: Espejo's detachment found a silver vein, and this discovery again aroused interest in new territories.
In 1595, Juan de Ocate, born on the lands of Spanish Mexico (a relative of the conquistador Fernan Cortes), who, after the Spanish victory over the Aztec leader Montezuma II, was appointed governor of this region, went to these places. His expedition returned in 1598. All the lands that he explored on his journey, Ocat declared the territories of Spain, included in the possession of New Mexico. The Spaniards founded a colony in the area of the Rio Grande and Rio Charma rivers, which they named San Juan. Thus, establishing control over the western territories of Arizona. Okate sent an additional expedition under the command of Marcos Farfon to the area of the silver deposit discovered by de Espejo. Farfon founded the first mine on the site of the found silver source.
Spanish settlements
It must be said right away that the Spaniards did little to develop Arizona. For them, it was a dry, infertile land, moreover, remote from the central government in Mexico and did not promise much wealth. But the Spanish were forced to increase their influence in these lands when the southwestern United States began to be settled. The Spaniards founded two types of colonies: representations - military posts and missionaries - church settlements, whose tasks were to convert the natives to the Catholic faith and teach them all the achievements of Spanish civilization.
In 1629, Franciscan friars built a mission at Awatowi, in northern Arizona, to convert the Hopi people to Catholicism. But the Hopi were outraged by the Franciscans' attempts to destroy their faith and in 1633 (most likely) poisoned the monks. When in 1680 there was an uprising of local residents - the Apache Indians - in the city of Pueblo (New Mexico), the Hopi Indians, taking advantage of the situation, killed all the missionaries in northern Arizona. In 1700, missionaries returned to Avatovi again. But the local Hopi destroyed their settlement. All subsequent efforts to convert the Hopi to Catholicism failed completely.
Success contributed to the missionaries only in the south of Arizona, where in 1692 the missionary work of the Jesuit order was organized under the leadership of Eusebio Kino. Born in Italy, Jesuit Kino until his death in 1711 organized missionary work in the southern lands of Arizona, where the peoples of the Yaqui, Pima and Yuma tribes lived. In addition, over the course of 30 years, Kino created a detailed map of these lands. One of his maps was the first to show that Bahia California is not an island, but a spit. Kino's maps were the absolute geographical standard for almost a century. Spanish colonists slowly moved into Arizona and in 1752, after a year of fighting native Indians and migrating Apache tribes, the Spaniards founded the Tubac Mission. This was the first temporary European settlement in Arizona. After 25 years, Spain moved its representative office north to Tucson, near the mission of San Xavier del Bac.
Mexican rule
During the Mexican struggle for independence from Spain (between 1810 and 1821), Spain was unable to maintain military control over the lands of Arizona. Taking advantage of this situation, the local Indians attacked and destroyed all the missions and settlements, with the exception of Tubac and Tucson. In 1824, Arizona passed from Spanish to Mexican rule. The surviving mission lands were redistributed to the Mexican colonists, but the governance of the region itself changed very little. During these times, trappers and traders (moving in small groups of colonists) from the United States began to move into the interior of Arizona. Perhaps the first American to discover Arizona at the end of 1825 was James Ohio Pattie, followed by Kit Carson, Michael Robidoux and others. The number of colonists from the United States grew rapidly, and since the number of traders grew along with it, Mexico soon faced the problem of coexistence and the development of further relations between the two countries - Mexico and the United States.
Development by the United States
Annexation of Texas in 1845 to the territory of the United States, stimulated the interests of the United States in all lands of the southwest and California, including Arizona. After US troops reached the mouth of the Rio Grande, Mexico considered these actions a provocation, and in 1846 US President James K. Polk officially declared war on Mexico. Also in 1846, a battalion of Mormons (parishioners of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) took part in the Battle of California and, with the support of the Mexicans, were the first to plant the American flag over the city of Tucson.
In 1879, Wyatt Earp, who had a reputation as an excellent shooter, settled on Arizona soil in the city of Tombston. Iarp tried to establish some semblance of order in Arizona, serving as the first sheriff in Pima County and constantly advocating for the organization of administrative management on these lands. Earp, his three siblings, and frontiersman Doc Holliday became famous for their participation in the famous Corral shootout in 1881, in which they shot down local robbers and horse and cattle rustlers.
History has preserved the names of Sheriff Earp, Kansas lawman Bat Masterson, Sheriff of the Cochise lands John Slaughter and other heroes of the Wild West who protected the law and maintained order in these lands.
Statehood
Already in early 1877, Arizonans began to demand the organization of a state form of government on their lands and in 1889 they submitted the first bill of rights to Congress. Congress twice (from 1904 to 1906) approached them with a counter-proposal: to join the United States union by annexing its lands to the state of New Mexico. However, Arizona citizens by popular vote categorically rejected this option.
In January 1910, Congress finally authorized Arizona to draft a Constitution for its future state. In December 1910, this work was completed, and in February 1911, the US Congress ratified this document, but President William Taft vetoed it, since the draft Arizona Constitution proclaimed the independent right of state citizens to elect and remove their own from office. judges. In August, Congress and the President came to an agreement and allowed Arizona to join the United States as a separate state, with the condition that the clause on an independent elective system of judges would be eliminated in its Constitution. The citizens of Arizona agreed to this condition, and on February 14, 1912, President Taft signed a document proclaiming Arizona the 48th state of the United States.
Democrat George W. P. Hunt became the first governor of Arizona, becoming famous as an active builder of dams and irrigation structures for the state's agriculture.
In 1911, President Theodore Roosevelt signed a project to build a dam on the Salt River (now the dam is named after Roosevelt). This dam guaranteed Arizona farm and ranch owners a constant supply of water to their lands. It was the first major irrigation project in central Arizona to be undertaken by a US government department. Roosevelt Dam was connected by an irrigation system to Coolidge Dam, Bartlett Dam, and in 1936 the project was completed by joining the Hoover Dam irrigation system. Arizona Governor George Hunt, despite the popularity of railroads, also initiated the construction of the state's highway system in 1920. Construction of the first highway began.
The primary concern of the new state was the problem of labor legislation. In particular, the most pressing issues were related to compensation for the families of workers injured at the production site. In other states, for example, there were clauses in the legislation that named a specific amount that a worker’s family could receive only if he died at work. The Arizona Constitution stated that varying levels of compensation were determined on a case-by-case basis by the court.
However, not everyone sympathized with the workers. In 1917 (during World War I), Bisbee miners went on a desperate strike to fight for their rights. These strikes sparked hostility between a coalition of striking workers and a radical labor union, the Industrial Workers of the World, and the sheriff, who was supported by an armed local population. Accusing the IWW of wartime labor agitation, the sheriff's department arrested more than 1,100 workers. Those arrested were stuffed into cattle cars, taken to New Mexico and dumped in the desert.
Mid and late 20th century
During the Second World War (1939-1945), new manufacturing enterprises were organized in Arizona to serve the needs of the military industry. Ore mining, cotton production and meat and dairy products have increased in the state. Military factories built during the war, converted in peacetime under conversion projects, merged into the state's unified production system. New jobs attracted thousands of people throughout the country to the state, a construction boom began, and it, accordingly, created even more new jobs.
The desert's clean, calm topography was extremely attractive to the aviation industry. And one more important factor influenced the boom in the state’s economy - uranium deposits were found in Arizona. This discovery immediately provoked the construction of new communication routes, a new impetus for the development of aviation construction and, of course, the tourism industry
Arizona's warm, dry climate and unique natural reserves served as the impetus for the creation of a tourist recreation area, which began to develop intensively in the early 1950s. The number of new Arizona residents has been growing rapidly. A constant, inexhaustible stream of tourists arrived in the state. In connection with this, social, household and other service systems began to develop at a rapid pace. From 1960 to 1990, Arizona's population tripled.
More than half of all Arizona residents live in Maricopa County, which includes the state capital, Phoenix. All the most massive production is concentrated in the area of this metropolis, as well as in the Tucson area.
However, such rapid industrial development created new problems, the central one of which was the problem of water supply. The very dry, hot weather, which attracts a huge number of tourists all year round, turned out to be not entirely favorable for replenishing natural water reservoirs. And in 1920, a dispute began between Arizona, Nevada and California over water supply from the Colorado River. In 1952, the state of Arizona asked the US Supreme Court to decide which of the disputing states had preferential use of the Colorado River reservoir. In 1963, the Supreme Court awarded this right to the state of Arizona.
The increasing population, manufacturing and tourism industries required more and more water for their needs. And soon, areas of the cities of Phoenix and Tucson began to consume from natural reservoirs a volume of water several times greater than the volume of rainfall, which is a constant source of natural replenishment of natural reservoirs.
The shortage of water, which caused disruption and problems in many industries in the area, forced the Arizona authorities to appeal to the US Congress with a request to allocate money for the state project "Central Arizona Project", which would build a water supply system connecting the river with a pipeline. Colorado with the metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson. The first water from the Colorado River was piped to Phoenix in 1985, and to Tucson in 1991. The project included 541 km of pipeline and cost the government $3.7 billion. Even with the creation of this piped system, the problem of water supply is not completely solved as the population continues to grow and it is unknown how much water may be required in the near future.
In 1948, Arizona Indians won a lawsuit brought to the US Supreme Court against the Arizona authorities and received the right to participate in elections on an equal basis with other citizens of the state. Since then, the economic situation in the lives of the Indian tribes of Arizona began to improve. In 1969, the first college was built on the Navajo Indian Reservation, opening in the city of Tsaile. In addition, taking advantage of the government's preferential permission for Indian reservations, the Arizona Indians opened many casinos on all their territories. Which, of course, contributed to an increase in capital and an improvement in the economy of the Arizona Indians.
In 1974, the U.S. Congress returned to the centuries-old territorial dispute between the Hopi Indians and the Navajo Indians, which began in 1882 when the Hopi Reservation was divided into the Hopi Reservation and the Navajo Reservation. The Navajos received independent ownership of half of the reservation land, amounting to 368,700 hectares. After partition, each tribe had to completely leave the foreign territory. 5,000 Navajos and 100 Hopis moved to their rightful lands. However, a certain number of families still do not want to move to new lands. However, the land dispute continues, and in 1992, the Hopi and Navajo agreed to accept land in the San Francisco Peaks (in exchange for the right to lease former Hopi lands), where the Hopi would move once all the necessary procedures were in place. documentation.
State policy in light of recent events
The people of Arizona overwhelmingly support the policies of the Democratic Party, a tradition dating back to early 1959. Before that, the state had a strong reputation for being politically conservative and pro-business. Arizona conservative Senator Barry Goldwater's unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 1964 crippled the state's conservative party. And since then only the Democratic and Republican parties have had success and adherents in this state. In the 60-70s. the increased population of Spanish-speaking emigrants began to play a significant role in public life and, as a result, influence state politics. In 1974, the Spanish democrat Raul Castro was elected governor of the state. In October 1977, Castro refused an offer to accept the post of US Ambassador to Argentina. Instead, he inherited the position of Secretary of State Wesley Bolin, who died in March 1978.
The Republican Party regained control of the state in 1986, when Republican Evan Mecham became governor of Arizona. Shortly after his election, Governor Meacham drew widespread criticism when he moved to cancel the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, a government-funded holiday. Many considered Meacham a racist. In addition, Meacham allowed himself provocative statements about women and homosexual minorities. The governor's irritating behavior prompted his impeachment. Meacham was also accused of illegally using public money to develop his own auto trading companies, and in February 1988 the Arizona House demanded Meacham's resignation. In April, state The Senate found Meacham guilty of embezzlement of public funds and handed him over to the punitive justice authorities. Meacham was succeeded as governor of Arizona by Democratic candidate Rose Mofford. And former Arizona Governor Meacham was also put on trial on charges of accepting bribes during his governorship.
In 1989, Republicans again came to power in the state - Republican J. Fife Symington was elected governor of Arizona. However, he did not avoid clashes with the justice authorities. In 1994, he was charged with the fact that, as the manager of a loan and savings association, he was involved in fraud, making illegal transactions with money. Symington did not pay a penny in damages and in June 1996 he was brought before a state jury, which indicted him on seven counts related to Symington's participation in fraud, extortion, illegally obtaining large loans, etc. Symington was suspended by Arizona law. holding the position of governor of the state on the basis of illegal actions committed by him. He was replaced as governor by Republican Secretary of State Jean Di Hull. The former governor of the state, Symington, was sentenced to prison.