Arizona Trivia & Tidbits - Page 18

Looking for Arizona trivia? Try our list Arizona little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Lake Havasu City owes its existence to chain saw tycoon Bob McCulloch and his partner C.V. Wood Jr., a planner of Disneyland. In the 1960s, the two developed the community on the lake behind Parker Dam and even brought in a most unusual attraction—London Bridge, built in London, England, in 1824 and moved to Arizona in 1968.

first appeared: 8/12/2001

Though he was a sheriff and member of the territorial legislature in the mid- to late-1800s, perhaps John Lorenzo Hubbell’s greatest contribution was the trading relationship he established in the 1870s in Ganado (pop. 1,257). Hubbell spoke English, Spanish, Navajo, and Hopi, and was able to help local Indians sell their silver work, wool, sheep, and rugs at his trading post—a renowned landmark that still thrives today.

first appeared: 8/5/2001

Though nowhere near as large as the lakes along Arizona’s famed “West Coast,” Watson Lake, just north of Prescott (pop. 33,938), also is a scenic man-made reservoir popular with boaters and anglers. Decorated by granite rock formations surrounding the lake, the area also lures hikers and rock climbers.

first appeared: 7/29/2001

The Tombstone Courthouse has not served as the center of Cochise County government since 1929, when the county seat was moved to Bisbee, but the building still serves an important role as a state historical site. Built in 1882, the courthouse was made a part of the state park system in 1959 and today houses displays of ranching, mining, and gambling from the county’s past.

first appeared: 7/22/2001

The Hassayampa River Canyon Wilderness, near Wickenburg (pop. 4,515), offers bird enthusiasts plenty of opportunities to view rare Arizona hawks, great blue herons, snowy egrets, and other native and migratory birds. The habitat is also home to mule deer, raccoons, and zebra-tail and whiptail lizards.

first appeared: 7/15/2001

Navajo National Monument on the Shonto Plateau, near Kayenta (pop. 4,372), contains three of the best-preserved cliff dwellings of the ancient Anasazi people.

first appeared: 7/8/2001

Northern Arizona’s Vermilion Cliffs, near Page (pop. 6,598), are a brilliant sight at sunset. The sandstone cliffs are noticeably red during bright sunshine but even more colorful as the sun begins to set. The cliffs also include remains of ancient pueblos.

first appeared: 7/1/2001

Just outside Quartzsite (pop. 1,876) stands a pyramid topped with a camel statue—a monument to Arab camel driver Hi Jolly (Hadji Ali), who was part of an 1800s U.S. Army experiment to check the feasibility of using camels in the American desert. The practice never caught on, but Hi Jolly was so regarded by the soldiers that the monument was erected at his last camp.

first appeared: 6/24/2001

For a landlocked state, Arizona offers plenty of water sports opportunities. Lakes Mead, Havasu, and Mohave on the state’s “West Coast” attract swimmers, boaters, and water-skiers. These man-made waterways result from dams along the Columbia River.

first appeared: 6/17/2001

Chloride, northwest of Kingman (pop. 18,934), became northwest Arizona’s first mining town in the early 1860s and is the only one remaining today. Named for the type of silver found in the area, Chloride is near the base of the Cerbat Mountains, where early American Indian petroglyphs can be found, along with 30-foot murals painted by Roy Purcell in the 1960s.

first appeared: 6/10/2001

Tuzigoot National Monument at Clarkdale (pop. 2,144) contains an ancient village built by the Sinagua people around A.D. 1000. The three-story pueblo once contained 110 rooms. The agricultural Sinaguans had a trade network stretching for hundreds of miles.

first appeared: 6/10/2001

The town of Carefree (pop. 1,666) is one of Arizona’s earliest planned communities. Begun in the 1950s, the town tries to live up to its name with such roadway designations as Easy Street and Ho and Hum roads.

first appeared: 6/3/2001

The name Arizona has its roots in any of four American Indian words. “Arizuma” is Aztec for “silver bearing,” while “Ali shonak” or “Ari-son” are Pima Indian words for “small spring,” and “Aleh-zone” also meant “small spring” to the Tohono O’odham Indians.

first appeared: 5/27/2001

Montezuma Castle, near Camp Verde (pop. 6,243), was named a national monument in 1906 to preserve the five-story, 20-room cliff dwelling that was home to Sinagua Indians more than 600 years ago. Contrary to popular belief, Aztec emperor Montezuma was never connected with the structure. In fact, the “castle” was abandoned long before he was born.

first appeared: 5/20/2001

You might not expect to see a rain forest or a million-gallon saltwater ocean in Arizona, but Biosphere 2, a three-acre airtight greenhouse near Oracle (pop. 3,043), includes those features, along with various ecosystems. The facility is now a tourist stop and ecological laboratory for New York’s Columbia University, but a decade ago it was the site of an experiment to see how humans fared in a closed ecosystem.

first appeared: 5/13/2001

The first major exploration of what would become the American Southwest had its beginnings in the Coronado National Memorial near the United States-Mexico border at Hereford (pop. 1,762). The 16th-century Coronado Expedition, on a quest seeking the fabled riches of the Seven Cities of Cibola, instead found many now-famous landmarks, including the Grand Canyon.

first appeared: 5/6/2001

Chiricahua National Monument near Willcox (pop. 3,122) is the site of unique rock formations with equally unique names. Called “Land of the Standing-Up Rocks” by the Apaches, the area is the site of formations with names such as Duck on a Rock, Kissing Rocks, and Punch and Judy.

first appeared: 4/29/2001

The legendary Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine is said to lie undiscovered (for 117 years now) in the shadow of Weaver’s Needle, a rock spire standing 1,220 feet high inside the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix.

first appeared: 4/29/2001

Canyon de Chelly National Monument near Chinle (pop. 5,059) is a virtual history lesson that begins with the earliest basket-making people. The ruins of American Indian villages there date between 350 and 1300 AD.

first appeared: 4/22/2001

The bola tie, a cord fastened around the neck with an ornamental clasp that often includes silver and turquoise, is the state’s official neckwear. The adornment is said to have originated in Arizona.

first appeared: 4/15/2001

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