Population per the 2012 census- 6,553,255.
Arizona was admitted as the 48th state on February 14, 1912, signed by President Taft.
Her motto is "God Enriches".
Arizona's best know nickname is "The Grand Canyon State".
In 2012 Arizona held its ground and remained a 'Red' state.
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Arizona received its name from a Spanish interpretation of "arizuma," an Aztec Indian word meaning "silver-bearing." Also based on Pima Indian word "arizonac" for "little spring place.".
Little is known of the earliest indigenous cultures in Arizona, but they probably lived in the region as early as 25,000 B.C. A later culture, the Hohokam (A.D. 500–1450), were pit dwellers who constructed extensive irrigation systems. The Pueblo flourished in Arizona between the 11th and 14th century and built many of the elaborate cliff dwellings that still stand. The Apache and Navajo came to the area in c.1300 from Canada.
1539 marks the first Europeans to explore Arizona. Marcos de Nize, a Spanish Franciscan friar, entered in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Gold. He was followed a year later by another gold seeker, Franciso Vasques de Coronada.
The first Spanish presidio was established at Tubac in 1752.
The Arizona region came under Mexican control following the Mexican war of independence from Spain (1810–21).
Arizona, formerly part of the Territory of New Mexico, was organized as a separate territory on February 24, 1863. The U.S. acquired the region under the terms of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and and the 1853 Gadsden Purchase.
In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, conventions held at Tucson and Mesilla. NM to declare the territory part of the Confederacy. In the only engagement fought in the Arizona area, a small group of Confederate pickets held off Union cavalry NW of Tucson in the skirmish known as the battle of Picacho Pass. Arizona’s Confederate troops marched under the Arizona flag until the end of the war.
It is worth noting that not unlike today, the territory of Arizona was not pleased with Washington. Washington before the Civil War had left the territory to the assaults of the war like Apaches.
In 1912, Arizona, still a frontier territory, attained statehood. Its constitution created a storm, with such "radical" political features as initiative, referendum, and judicial recall. Only after recall had been deleted did President Taft sign the statehood bill. Once admitted to the Union, Arizona restored the recall provision.
Arizona history is rich in legends of America's Old West. It was here that the great Indian chiefs Geronimo and Cochise led their people against the frontiersmen. Tombstone, AZ was the site of the West's most famous shoot-out—the gunfight at the OK Corral.
Today, Arizona has one of the largest U.S. Indian populations; more than 14 tribes are represented on 20 reservations.
