Arizona Admitted to the Union
Arizona was admitted to the Union as the 48th state on February 14, 1912, following a complex history of exploration, settlement, and territorial governance. The region has been inhabited for at least 10,000 years, with significant archaeological evidence of ancient Native American cultures. European exploration began in the 16th century, notably with Fray Marcos de Niza's 1539 expedition that falsely reported riches in the area, sparking further exploration by figures like Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. Despite its arid environment and fierce resistance from native tribes, American presence grew in the 19th century, particularly after the Mexican-American War, which ceded much of present-day Arizona to the United States.
Efforts to establish Arizona as a separate territory were met with delays, including a failed bid for statehood in 1891. However, a renewed push culminated in a state constitution that met congressional approval in 1910. President Taft’s signing of the admission proclamation marked the official entry of Arizona into the Union, though the state residents would later reinstate a clause concerning the recall of judges, highlighting the ongoing political engagement of its citizens. Arizona's statehood reflects a rich tapestry of cultural history, resistance, and a quest for self-determination.
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Arizona Admitted to the Union
Arizona Admitted to the Union
On February 14, 1912, President William Howard Taft signed the proclamation admitting the Arizona Territory to the Union as a state.
Arizona has a very ancient history. Archaeological finds indicate that human beings have lived in what is now Arizona for at least 10,000 years, perhaps even for 20,000 years or longer. Some of the notable remnants of early Native American cultures that can be seen today are cliff dwellings, fortifications, and ruins from the years between 800 and 1500. Written records of the region's history began about four centuries ago. The first European to go to Arizona was probably Fray Marcos de Niza in 1539. He returned to Spanish Mexico with tall tales, spun by the natives to please him, of the “Seven Cities of Cíbola” where “gold and silver were the only metals” and in common use by the natives. The fabled seven cities, which Marcos de Niza claimed to have sighted but apparently did not visit, were in fact the impoverished villages of the Zuni Indians in what is now northwestern New Mexico, close to the Arizona border.
Unfounded as they were, the reports set in motion the great expedition of 1540–1542 headed by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, who set forth from Mexico to secure the rumored riches and conquer the region for Spain. Crossing Arizona to Cíbola, he dispatched several subsidiary parties to different areas. García López de Cárdenas thus became the first European to see the Grand Canyon. Pedro de Tovar explored the Hopi Indian villages. An allied group under Hernando de Alarcón meanwhile investigated the mouth of the Colorado River far to the south. Coronado's main force continued east across New Mexico and explored parts of the Great Plains in what are now Texas and Kansas before returning to Mexico.
European settlement was slow. The soil was arid, and no riches were found. The native tribes fiercely defended their land, and there was bloodshed intermittently for nearly 300 years. Those who went to Arizona were mostly missionaries from Spanish Mexico. Missionary efforts by the Jesuits continued until 1767, when they fell out of favor in Spain and were replaced by the Franciscans. Mexican domination replaced Spanish domination after the conclusion of the Mexican Revolution in 1821, but the only important non-native settlements in Arizona were those at Tubac and Tucson. In 1826, however, American fur trappers began coming in by way of the Gila River valley. After 1840, soldiers, adventurers, and a few pioneer settlers filtered into Arizona. So did prospectors, particularly after the beginning of the California gold rush in 1848 and Henry Wickenburg's gold strike northwest of Phoenix in 1863.
Most of Arizona, namely everything north of the Gila River, was ceded to the United States by Mexico at the end of the Mexican War in 1848. It became part of the Territory of New Mexico, created in 1850. That part of Arizona between the Gila and the present Mexican boundary was added to the territory in 1853 by the Gadsden Purchase. Under its terms, certain boundary vaguenesses were clarified and the United States acquired, for an eventual price of $10 million, land that explorations had indicated was desirable for a proposed southern railroad route to the Pacific Ocean.
In 1856 a convention at Tucson petitioned Congress for the right to create a separate Arizona territory, but Congress, divided over the question of slavery in the territories, put the matter aside. Early in the Civil War, the Confederacy recognized Arizona as a separate territory. Texas Confederate troops occupied southern Arizona for a few months in 1862 before Union troops from California reoccupied the area for the federal government. It was not until February 24, 1863, that a separate territory of Arizona was officially established by Congress.
A movement for Arizona statehood began to assume more definite shape in 1891 when residents ratified a state constitution framed by the legislature at the new territorial capital of Phoenix. Congress, however, failed to approve the constitution and also rejected later bills providing for statehood. The people of Arizona in turn rejected proposed congressional legislation that would have admitted Arizona and New Mexico as a single state.
Finally, a new state constitution submitted in 1910 was approved by Congress and President William Howard Taft, on the condition that a clause providing for the recall of judges be eliminated. After that condition was accepted by the territorial electorate, Arizona was formally admitted as the 48th state on February 14, 1912. The last word on judges, however, came from the people of Arizona, who restored the controversial provision to the state constitution before their first year of statehood had ended.