The name, Arizona, is derived from a combination of two words from the Papago Indian dialect of the Pima language; "Aleh" and "Zon" together as "Aleh-zon" meaning "little spring." The "little spring", located in Mexican territory, is near a large silver discovery made in Arizona Creek.
Other names suggested in 1854, when the inhabitants of the area petitioned the U.S. Congress for territorial recognition, were Pimeria and Gadsonia. According to Thomas Edwin Farish's History of Arizona printed in 1915, Arizona was selected because it sounded the best.
Over 550 years ago Franciscan friar Marcos de Niza and Francisco Vasquez de Coronado both failed to discover the wealth of the Seven Cities of Cibola. Today, the wealth of Arizona can be found in the startling natural wonders of the state, in vast mineral reserves, in the healthful climate and in the rich cultural heritage of the "Pueblos".
One of the "Seven Natural Wonders of the World", the Grand Canyon attracts nearly five million visitors each year and Monument Valley's sandstone monoliths have served as the breathtaking backdrop for many classic western films.
Arizona leads all states in the production of copper and non-fuel minerals.
From about 700 A.D. to 1200 A.D. the Pueblo (Spanish for village) people flourished, building the great communal cliff dwellings that today, serve as testament to a remarkably unique culture.
This state with a tumultuous past was also the home of Geronimo and Cochise and set the scene for the "Gunfight at the OK Coral" where the score was finally settled between the Earps and the Clantons.
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