Tucson and Sabino Canyon For many years my business travel took me to Tucson, Arizona. One of my favorite places in Tucson was to visit when time permitted the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. The canyon provides an opportunity to hike, picnic or just enjoy the desert scenery. Tucson and Sabino Canyon both have had an interesting historical background. Archaeologists tell us that 12,000 years ago American Indians lived in the Tucson area in the Santa Cruz River Valley. The Hohokam Indians lived there for over 1,000 years beginning in 450AD. They inhabited the Northern Mexico to Central Arizona area. Hohokams used irrigation methods to produce agricultural goods, however their disappearance may have been caused by a lack of food and a change in weather patterns that included both droughts and flooding. <southernarizonaguide.com> Spanish explorers such as Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Fray Marcos de Niza, and Francisco Vásquez de Coronado came to Arizona during the 16th century. Some were looking for gold as they traveled from Mexico City. The Zuni Indians were living in the region. <southernarizonaguide.com> During the 17th century, missionaries such as Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino interacted with the Pima Indians. The Pima Indians had a well‐developed irrigated settlement that they called T'Shuk‐sohn (how Tucson got its name). It meant "Place at the Base of Black Mountain" (later known as Sentinel Peak and now “A” Mountain) which was created by University of Arizona students in 1905 (founded 1885). <southernarizonaguide.com> <cals.arizona.edu> The 18th century was beset with Indian revolts. The Tohono O'odham (Desert People) revolted against the Spanish in 1751. It had to do with imposition of Spanish on the Indian cultural ways including conversion to Catholicism and Spanish rules imposed on them. The rebellion continued with the Apaches. Their raids caused the Spanish to move their presidio from Tubac, south of Tucson, to Tucson in 1753. By 1782, the Spanish garrison in Tucson was close to submission. <southernarizonaguide.com> Mexico's independence in 1821 from Spain caused Tucson to become a Mexican village in the state of Sonora. The Mexican American War lasted from April 25, 1846 to February 2, 1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on February 2nd. The treaty made Mexico turn over to the United States California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and parts of Arizona and New Mexico, amounting to over 525,000 square miles. <southernarizonaguide.com> In 1854, the United States paid Mexico $10 million for further parts of Arizona and New Mexico. This land amounted to another 30,000 square miles. The Arizona Territory did not exist until the Civil War. In 1858 the Butterfield Overland Mail service was operating in Tucson from St. Louis on its way to San Francisco. Though the population was small, the interactions between Anglos and non‐Anglos was contentious. The area also saw 25 more years of Apache attacks throughout the Southwest. <southernarizonaguide.com> Tucson became a member of the Confederate States of America in 1862 when it seceded from the Union. Defeat of the Confederate troops and their retreat to the Rio Grande allowed President Lincoln to sign a bill forming the Arizona Territory. In 1867, Tucson became the capital of the Territory. After many community developments and the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1880, Tucson began to look more like a city with many businesses and services. <southernarizonaguide.com> In 1886, with the surrender of Geronimo, the US government imprisoned all Chiricahua Apaches, even those who were loyal scouts for the Army and sent them to Florida. This lasted 26 years and became a negative part of our American history. The US government never allowed the Indians to return to the Chiricahua and Dragoon Mountain in Southern Arizona. <southernarizonaguide.com> Tucson's history during the 19th and into 20th century was filled with many economic, social challenges and population variations. On Valentine's Day in 1912, Arizona became the 48th state and women were able to vote. The website <southernarizonaguide.com> is worth reading to see the many interesting events that took place in this robust and interesting city. Sabino Canyon's significant history dates include: 12 million BC when the Santa Catalina Mountains were forming. By 6,000 BC the first Saguaros appeared in the canyon. The Hohokam Indians lived in Sabino Canyon. The US Forest Service created the recreational area in 1905. During the 1930s, an infrastructure of road‐dams‐bridge‐picnic areas were created in the canyon. <sabinocanyon4kids.com> Sabino Canyon is a 3.8‐mile‐long canyon road located just outside the city limits of Tucson and is part of Coronado National Forest in the Sonoran Desert. Sabino Canyon is surrounded by Bird, Rattlesnake, Breakfast and Bear Canyons. Sabino Canyon has three markers: Sabino Creek, Sabino Dam and, at the end, Mount Lemmon. In 1978, cars became restricted, but a shuttlebus service began that was later replaced by trams. Tours were created in 1985. <sabinocanyon4kids.com> <sabinocanyon.com> <tucson.com> Weather and geology have affected the canyon. An earthquake in northern Mexico in 1887 caused several large boulders to fall. During the great Depression the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed 9 bridges in Sabino Dam. In 2006, a 500‐year storm flooded the canyon and caused several stops on the tram to be closed due to debris. The Sabino Canyon Visitor Center was opened in 1964. There are several trails in the canyon. <tucson.com> <localwiki.org> The canyon's plant life includes the Saguaro Cactus, Teddy Bear Cholla, shrubs, Mesquite, and Palo Verde trees. Wildlife includes lizards, prairie dogs, javelinas, coyotes, bobcats, rattlesnakes, desert tortoises and mountain lions. <localwiki.org> This photo program shares photos while on a tram or walking in Sabino Canyon. Sources: https://southernarizonaguide.com/brief‐history‐of‐tucson‐a‐timeline/, https://cals.arizona.edu/about/history, https://www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/upload/Geology%20of%20the%20Tucson%20Mountains.pdf, https://sabinocanyon4kids.com/history.html, http://sabinocanyon.com/index.php/history/, https://tucson.com/news/state‐and‐regional/history‐and‐culture/sabino‐s‐a‐gneiss‐ canyon/article_fafa8dda‐c14c‐5a0f‐8a40‐50ae1d33ebe0.html and https://localwiki.org/tucson/Sabino_Canyon. acuri.net John R. Vincenti Tucson and Sabino Canyon .