Tucson, Arizona

==History==
{{Main|History of Tucson, Arizona}}
{{For timeline}}

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[[File:Tucson Stone Ave year 1880.jpg|thumb|right|Tucson's Stone Avenue, 1880]]
[[File:Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for the year ended June 30, 1897 (1898) (14802518083).jpg|thumb|right|Courthouse in Tucson, 1898]]

The Tucson area was probably first visited by [[Paleo-Indians]], who were known to have been in southern Arizona about 12,000 years ago. Recent archaeological excavations near the [[Santa Cruz River (Arizona)|Santa Cruz River]] found a village site dating from 2100 BC.<ref name="Thiel">{{cite news|last1=Thiel|first1=J. Homer|last2=Diehl|first2=Michael W.|title=Cultural History of the Tucson Basin and the Project Area|url=https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/pdf/rn/rio_nuevo_ch03.pdf|access-date=October 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003224634/https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/pdf/rn/rio_nuevo_ch03.pdf|archive-date=October 3, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The floodplain of the Santa Cruz River was extensively farmed during the [[Agriculture in the prehistoric Southwest|Early Agricultural Period]], c. 1200 BC to AD 150. These people hunted, gathered wild plants and nuts, and ate corn, beans, and other crops grown using irrigation canals they constructed.<ref name="Thiel"/>

The Early Ceramic period occupation of Tucson had the first extensive use of pottery vessels for cooking and storage. The groups designated as the [[Hohokam]] lived in the area from AD 600 to 1450 and are known for their vast irrigation canal systems and their red-on-brown pottery.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Hohokam|url=http://arizonamuseumofnaturalhistory.org/plan-a-visit/mesa-grande/the-hohokam|website=Arizona Museum of Natural History|access-date=October 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003225824/http://arizonamuseumofnaturalhistory.org/plan-a-visit/mesa-grande/the-hohokam|archive-date=October 3, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Mabry|first1=Jonathan B.|last2=Thiel|first2=J. Homer|title=A thousand years of irrigation in Tucson|url=https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/pdf/ait/arch-tuc-v9-no4.pdf|access-date=October 3, 2017|work=Archaeology in Tucson|issue=Fall 1995|publisher=Center of Desert Archaeology|date=1995|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412021233/https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/pdf/ait/arch-tuc-v9-no4.pdf|archive-date=April 12, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Italian [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] missionary [[Eusebio Francisco Kino]] first visited the Santa Cruz River valley in 1692. He founded the [[Mission San Xavier del Bac]] in 1700, about {{convert|7|mi|0|abbr=on}} upstream from the site of the settlement of Tucson. A separate Convento settlement was founded downstream along the Santa Cruz River, near the base of what is now known as [[Sentinel Peak (Arizona)|"A" mountain]]. [[Hugo Oconór]] (Hugo O'Conor), the founding father of the city of Tucson, Arizona, authorized the construction of a military fort in that location, ''[[Presidio San Augustin del Tucson|Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón]],'' on August 20, 1775 (the present downtown [[Pima County Courthouse]] was built near this site). During the Spanish period of the presidio, attacks such as the [[Second Battle of Tucson]] were repeatedly mounted by the [[Apache]]. Eventually, the town came to be called ''Tucsón,'' a Spanish version of the O'odham word for the area. It was included in the state of Sonora after Mexico gained independence from the [[Kingdom of Spain]] and its [[Spanish Empire]] in 1821.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rana |first=Rajesh Kumar |title=History of Tucson, Arizona: From Spanish Colonial Rule to Modern Times |url=https://www.travelerlifes.com/2023/06/history-of-tucson-arizona.html |access-date=July 3, 2023 |website=Traveler Lifes |language=en}}</ref>

During the [[Mexican–American War]] in 1846–1848, Tucsón was [[capture of Tucson (1846)|captured]] by [[Philip St. George Cooke]] with the [[Mormon Battalion]], but it soon returned to Mexican control as Cooke proceeded to the west, establishing [[Cooke's Wagon Road]] to California. Tucsón was not included in the [[Mexican Cession]] to the United States following the war. Cooke's road through Tucsón became one of the important routes into California during the [[California Gold Rush]] of 1849.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

The US acquired those portions of modern-day Arizona that lay south of the [[Gila River]] by treaty from Mexico in the [[Gadsden Purchase]] on June 8, 1854. Under this treaty and purchase, Tucsón became a part of the United States of America. The American military did not formally take over control until March 1856. In time, the name of the town became standardized in English in its current form, where the stress is on the first syllable, the "u" is long, and the "c" is silent.

In 1857, Tucson was established as a stage station on the [[San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line]]. In 1858, it became third division headquarters of the [[Butterfield Overland Mail]] and operated until the line was shut down in March 1861. The [[San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line|Overland Mail Corporation]] attempted to continue running, but following the [[Bascom Affair]], devastating Apache attacks on the stations and coaches ended operations in August 1861.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}}

Tucson was incorporated in 1877, making it the oldest incorporated city in Arizona.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

From 1877 to 1878, the area suffered a rash of [[stagecoach]] robberies. Most notable were the two holdups committed by masked road agent [[William Brazelton|William Whitney Brazelton]].<ref name="Wright-2010">{{cite journal|last=Wright|first=Erik J.|title="Yes, Here I am Again! Tucson's Prize Bandit of 1878: William W. Brazelton|journal=Wild West History Association: Journal|volume=3|issue=5|date=October 2010|pages=43–48}}</ref> Brazelton held up two stages in the summer of 1878 near Point of Mountain Station, about {{convert|17|mi|km|abbr=on}} northwest of Tucson. [[John Clum]], of [[Tombstone, Arizona]], fame, was one of the passengers. Pima County Sheriff [[Charles A. Shibell]] and his citizen posse killed Brazelton on August 19, 1878, in a [[mesquite]] [[bosque]] along the Santa Cruz River {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} south of Tucson. Brazelton had been suspected of highway robbery in the Tucson area, the [[Prescott, Arizona|Prescott]] region, and the [[Silver City, New Mexico]] area. Because of the crimes and threats to his business, [[John J. Valentine Sr.]] of [[Wells, Fargo & Co.]] had sent [[Robert H. Paul|Bob Paul]], a special agent and future Pima County sheriff, to investigate.<ref name="Wright-2010" /> The US Army established Fort Lowell, then east of Tucson, to help protect settlers and travelers from Apache attacks.

In 1882, [[Morgan Earp]] was fatally shot, in what was later referred to in the press as the "Earp–Clanton Tragedy".<ref name="Tombstone, Arizona-1882"/> Marietta Spence, wife of [[Pete Spence]], one of the [[The Cowboys (Cochise County)|Cochise County Cowboys]], testified at the coroner's inquest on Earp's killing and implicated [[Frank Stilwell]] in the murder. The [[coroner]]'s jury concluded Pete Spence, Stilwell, Frederick Bode, and Florentino "Indian Charlie" Cruz were the prime suspects in the assassination of Morgan Earp.<ref name="Barra-1998">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1998/8/1998_8_76.shtml|title=Who Was Wyatt Earp?|first=Alan|last=Barra|magazine=American Heritage Magazine|date=December 1998|volume=49|issue=8|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507101535/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1998/8/1998_8_76.shtml|archive-date=May 7, 2006 }}</ref>
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Deputy U.S. Marshal [[Wyatt Earp]] gathered a few trusted friends and accompanied [[Virgil Earp]] and his family <!-- Who are they? relatives of Morgan? -->as they traveled to Benson to take a train to California. They found Stilwell apparently lying in wait for Virgil Earp at the Tucson station and killed Stilwell on the tracks.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://tucson.com/news/local/street-smarts-few-tucsonans-saw-wyatt-earp-as-hero/article_35a38e95-44ea-59d9-8362-6adda0f41e56.html|title=Street Smarts: Few Tucsonans saw Wyatt Earp as hero|author=David Leighton|newspaper=Arizona Daily Star|access-date=September 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912161724/http://tucson.com/news/local/street-smarts-few-tucsonans-saw-wyatt-earp-as-hero/article_35a38e95-44ea-59d9-8362-6adda0f41e56.html|archive-date=September 12, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Tombstone, Arizona-1882">{{cite web|publisher=Tombstone, Arizona|date=March 27, 1882|title=Another Assassination Frank Stilwell Found Dead this Morning Being Another Chapter in the Earp-Clanton Tragedy|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84021939/1882-03-27/ed-1/seq-4|page=4|access-date=April 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226155211/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84021939/1882-03-27/ed-1/seq-4|archive-date=December 26, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> After killing Stilwell, Wyatt deputized others and conducted a [[Earp Vendetta Ride|vendetta]], killing three more cowboys over the next few days before leaving the territory.

[[Jim Levy (gunfighter)|Jim Leavy]] had built a reputation of having fought in at least 16 gunfights. On June 5, 1882, Leavy had an argument with [[faro (card game)|faro]] dealer John Murphy in Tucson. The two agreed to have a duel on the Mexican border, but after hearing of Leavy's exploits as a gunfighter, Murphy decided to ambush Leavy instead. Together with two of his friends, Murphy ambushed Leavy as he was leaving the Palace Hotel, killing him. According to Wright, the three co-defendants in Leavy's murder later escaped from the Pima County Jail, but were later recaptured. Murphy and Gibson were found in Fenner, California, living under assumed names; they were retried for the murder before being found not guilty. Moyer was captured in Denver and sentenced to life in Yuma Territorial Prison, but was pardoned in 1888.<ref name="Levy">[https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-jimlevy/ Jim Levy – The Jewish Gunfighter]</ref><ref name="Rosa">Rosa, Joseph G. ''Jim Leavy, Gunfighter'' True West Magazine</ref>

===Post-frontier life===
As other settlers tried to overcome violent frontier society, in 1885, the territorial legislature founded the [[University of Arizona]] as a [[Land-grant university|land-grant college]] on what was overgrazed ranchland between Tucson and Fort Lowell.

In 1890, Asians made up 4.2% of the city's population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Cities and Other Places: Earliest Census to 1990 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |access-date=January 4, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812191959/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |archive-date=August 12, 2012 }}</ref> They were predominantly Chinese men who had been recruited as workers on the railroads.

By 1900, 7,531 people lived in Tucson. By 1910, the population increased to 13,913.<ref name="census-1930">{{Cite web |title=Arizona |url=https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1930azpop.pdf |access-date=April 28, 2023 |website=census.gov}}</ref> About this time, the U.S. [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Administration]] had begun construction of the present Veterans Hospital. The city's clean, dry air made it a destination for many veterans who had been [[chemical weapons|gassed]] in World War I and needed [[respiratory therapy]]. In addition, these dry and high-altitude conditions were thought to be ideal for the treatment of tuberculosis, for which no cures were known before antibiotics were developed against it.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rogers|first=Frank B.|title=The rise and decline of the altitude therapy of tuberculosis|date=1969|journal=Bulletin of the History of Medicine|volume=43|issue=1|pages=1–16|jstor=44447350|pmid=4887472}}</ref>

The city continued to grow, with the population increasing to 20,292 in 1920<ref name="census-1930" /> and 36,818 in 1940.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1940 |title=16th Census, Population, Volume I |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1940/population-volume-1/33973538v1ch03.pdf |access-date=April 28, 2023 |website=census.gov}}</ref> In 2006, the estimated population of [[Pima County, Arizona|Pima County]], in which Tucson is located, passed one million,<ref>{{Cite web |last=McNamara |first=Patrick |date=March 18, 2011 |title=Pima County falls short of 1M mark |url=https://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com/news/top_stories/pima-county-falls-short-of-1m-mark/article_7364b0fc-50d9-11e0-9e9f-001cc4c002e0.html |access-date=April 28, 2023 |website=Inside Tucson Business}}</ref> while the City of Tucson's population was 535,000.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

In 1912, Arizona was admitted as a state. This increased the number of flags that had been flown over Tucson to five: Spanish, Mexican, United States, Confederate, and the State of Arizona.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/2010/08/20/feliz-cumpleanos-happy-birthday-tucson/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721160045/http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/2010/08/20/feliz-cumpleanos-happy-birthday-tucson/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 21, 2012 |title=Feliz Cumpleaños (Happy Birthday) Tucson! – Carolyn's Community |work=Tucson Citizen |date=August 20, 2010 |access-date=October 27, 2011 }}</ref>
{{wide image|Tucson old (edited).jpg|1000px|alt=Tucson, 1909|Tucson, 1909}}

During the territorial and early statehood periods, Tucson was Arizona's largest city and commercial center, while Phoenix was the seat of state government (beginning in 1889) and agriculture. The development of [[Davis–Monthan Air Force Base|Tucson Municipal Airport]] increased the city's prominence. Between 1910 and 1920, though, Phoenix surpassed Tucson in population, and has continued to outpace Tucson in growth. In recent years, both Tucson and Phoenix have had some of the highest growth rates of any jurisdiction in the United States.