Arizona Trivia & Tidbits
Looking for Arizona trivia? Try our list Arizona little know facts, tidbits and trivia.
—The bones of a 93-million-year-old therizinosaur—a dinosaur with three sharp claws on each hand—are showcased in an exhibit running through March 29, 2009, at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff (pop. 52,894). Discovered in Utah in 2000, the fossilized remains are reported to be the world’s most complete skeleton of the sickle-clawed dinosaur, once thought to live only in Asia.
first appeared: 5/4/2008
—Last October, the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa received the 2007 Odyssey Award for Geotourism from the Travel Industry Association and National Geographic Traveler magazine for sustaining an indigenous culture or community. The resort, located on the Gila River Indian Community, incorporates the culture and heritage of the Pima and Maricopa tribes in its architecture, design and art.
first appeared: 3/9/2008
—Stone foundations and a few walls mark the Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate’s location in Cochise County. Established in the mid-1770s as a Spanish fort, the presidio originally was occupied by a force of 56 men, 352 horses and 51 mules that had marched north from Mexico. Supply difficulties and Apache Indian attacks forced the fort’s abandonment less than five years later.
first appeared: 2/24/2008
In 1927, Walter Peck stumbled and nearly fell into a deep hole 22 miles west of Seligman (pop. 456). After realizing that he’d stumbled upon a cave, Peck began charging visitors 25 cents to descend into the 150-foot cavern on ropes. In 1962, an elevator was built to provide easier access and the attraction was named Grand Canyon Caverns.
first appeared: 2/24/2008
—The Sedona Jazz on the Rocks Festival gave out its first Lifetime Achievement Award last September, presenting it to longtime musician Mose Allison, who also performed at the festival’s 2007 edition in Sedona (pop. 10,192). Recognized as a “musician’s musician,” Allison, whose songs have been recorded by Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt and The Who, hasn’t missed a gig in more than 60 years.
first appeared: 2/10/2008
—In 2006, Desert Edge High School in Goodyear (pop. 18,911) earned a “silver” rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for its environmentally sustainable design. Efficient plumbing fixtures reduce water use by a million gallons a year, while motion and daylight sensors minimize artificial lighting, helping to make the school 28 percent more energy efficient than traditionally constructed schools.
first appeared: 1/27/2008
Deron Beal founded Freecycle—an Internet-based network that allows people to offer items they no longer need to other people for free—in Tucson in 2003, after becoming frustrated with the number of usable items that were being thrown away. Today, Freecycle has millions of members in more than 70 countries, and keeps some 300 tons of material out of landfills every day.
first appeared: 1/27/2008
—Baboquivari Peak, southeast of Sells (pop. 2,799), is the only major peak in Arizona that requires climbers to have technical climbing ability to reach its summit. The granite mountain, some 7,730 feet high, is sacred to the Tohono O’odham people, who consider it the center of their world and the home of their creator.
first appeared: 1/13/2008
—The Murray Springs Clovis site near Sierra Vista (pop. 37,775) offers an excellent record of the Clovis people who lived in the area some 11,000 years ago. Excavated between 1966 and 1971 by researchers from the University of Arizona, the well-preserved archeological site revealed that the prehistoric people hunted animals such as bison, mammoth and horse using spear points and other tools.
first appeared: 12/30/2007
Built in 1931, the Museum Club in Flagstaff (pop. 52,894) became a popular stop on Route 66. Originally designed as a museum by Dean Eldredge to showcase his taxidermy collection, the building was turned into a roadhouse in 1936, but some of the stuffed animals have lingered through the years. Today, the club is known for its historical artifacts and its dance floor.
first appeared: 12/30/2007
—From the 1870s to the 1940s, tent houses often provided shelter for Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon pioneers. The Sedona Heritage Museum now has re-created one of these cabins, which featured a canvas tent placed on top of a low wooden wall, furnished it to reflect the 1920s and 1930s, and placed it on permanent exhibit at Jordan Historical Park in Sedona (pop. 10,192).
first appeared: 12/2/2007
—Born in Douglas (pop. 14,312) in 1914, Stan Jones was a copper miner and park ranger who also wrote “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky,” a song about a ghostly cattle herd. The song became a hit for many singers, including Burl Ives, who released it in 1949, and Gene Autry, who built a movie around it, also released in 1949. Jones died in 1963.
first appeared: 11/18/2007
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Sinagua people carved cliff dwellings into the walls of a canyon near Flagstaff (pop. 52,894). Walnut Canyon National Monument was established to protect the dwellings in 1915, the same year the novel The Song of the Lark, written by Willa Cather and partially set in the canyon, was published. Today, the monument covers about 3,600 acres.
first appeared: 11/18/2007
—The community of Naco (pop. 833) was bombed in 1929, when pilot Patrick Murphy decided to aid Mexican rebels who were fighting just across the border in Naco, Sonora. According to local lore, Murphy left a bar in nearby Bisbee (pop. 6,090), flew to Arizona’s Naco by mistake and dropped suitcases filled with dynamite in the area. Luckily, the bombs resulted only in property damage.
first appeared: 11/4/2007
—State balladeer Dolan Ellis created the Arizona Folklore Preserve in 1996, when he began performing at the 1920s Moffett House on his 15-acre property in Ramsey Canyon, south of Sierra Vista (pop. 37,775). Today, the preserve is a partnership with the University of Arizona South, and features a purpose-built Folklore Center where the state’s songs, legends, poetry and myths are showcased.
first appeared: 10/21/2007
—A Burger King restaurant in Kayenta (pop. 4,922) showcases the contributions of the Navajo Code Talkers during World War II, with display cases along one wall containing photographs, weapons and other artifacts of the American soldiers who used their native language over military radios as a code that Japanese forces couldn’t break. The restaurant owner’s father was one of the code talkers.
first appeared: 10/7/2007
Reported to be Arizona’s only commercial olive oil farm and mill, Queen Creek Olive Mill opened in 2005 to produce extra virgin olive oil from some 1,000 olive trees on its property in Queen Creek (pop. 4,316). Harvested in the fall, the pesticide-free olives, which include Spanish, Greek and Italian varieties, produce cooking oil that can have peppery and even grassy flavors.
first appeared: 10/7/2007
—Along with traditional golf carts, the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa offers a unique, low-impact way to navigate its 27-hole golf course in Scottsdale: the Segway Golf Transporter. The two-wheeled, electric-powered, self-balancing Segway—adapted to hold a golf bag, scorecards, golf balls, tees and drinks—rolls along while a golfer stands on its platform, controlling direction with a large handle.
first appeared: 9/30/2007
—The state has designated 2007 as the “Year of the Buffalo Soldiers,” recognizing Arizona as one of the frontier homes of the buffalo soldier, and also recognizing the contributions made by the black troops to the nation and the state. Black units were based in Fort Huachuca—near Sierra Vista (pop. 37,775) and Huachuca City (pop. 1,751)—in the late 1890s and early 1900s.
first appeared: 9/9/2007
Henry O. Flipper became the first black to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1877, when he was assigned to the 10th Cavalry. Respected for his engineering abilities, Flipper went on to establish a civil engineering office in Nogales (pop. 20,878) after his 1882 dismissal from the army, which the U.S. Army turned into a good conduct discharge in 1976.
first appeared: 9/9/2007
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