The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1912-03-07

M the forty-eighth member of
kuZ the Union, and completed the
AZ "a nation of states from ocean
) to ocean, has had a history
probably as turbulent and trying as
any state in the Union. The struggles
OF the Pilgrims OF Massachusetts, the
Hollanders who colonized New York,
the Quakers who settled Pennsylvania
and the English who brought civiliza-
ton to the Virginia shores were no
harder than those of the pioneers of
Arizona. They We're killed by Indi-
ans, robbed by lawless people of their
own nationality, starved upon the des-
erts, frozen in the snow-capped noun
tains and bitten by poisonous reptiles.
They had no government for many
years and fought as hard to get terri
torial rights as they have been fight
ing for the past ten years to get
statehood rights. They were on the
point OF rebelling at one time and
ever went SO far as to establish a ter
ritorial form of government of their
own despite the expressed desire Of
congress, exemplified in it's refusal to
grant a territorial government, that
they should remain a part Of New
Mexico.
Their nearest peace and judicial Of
ficials We're Their four hundred miles
away, at Mesilla, N. M, and their law
was the law of the strongest against
the weakest. At one time all of the
present state of Arizona was the
county of Arizona, attached to New
MexIco for purposes of administration
only.
Gen. Nelson A. Miles, General Law
ton, General Crook and many other
gained their first fame in campaigning
in Arizona. 1t was from Arizona that
the only raid of United States troops
was ever made into a foreign country
not then at war with us; the soldiers
were after Indians who had been kill
ing and robbipg in Arizona. The his
tory of Arizona is thrilling from its
inception to the present day.
The origin Of the name Arizona is
not definitely known. Bancroft, the
historian, and some others have in
sisted that the name is from a sup
posed Pima Indian word, "Arizonac,"
although Bancroft admits that the
aboriginal meaning of the term Is not
known" The historian treats as
extremely absurd" the suggestion
that the name is of Spanish deriva-
ton, and he apparently bases that
conclusion upon the fact that there
is no similar word in Spanish.
But it is possible that Arizona"
may have had its derivation from the
Spanish words arida zona (arid zone).
The weil-known tendency of unedu-
Gated speakers of Spanish to leave
off the last syllables of words ending
in vowels and their tendency to run
words together would easily trans
form arida zona into Arizona"
First True Exploration.
1t was about 1927 that Cabeza de
vaca turned his wandering footsteps
to the Hopl and Zuni villages in the
northeast, gaining Mexico at last by
way of the friendly Pima settlements
along the ella.
1t was in 1910 that Vasco de Coro-
nado, governor of Mexico. lured by
the golden tales of a monkish travel
err, started northward on the first true
exploration of that mysterious land.
He sought the tabled Seven Cities Of
Cibola, where gold and precious gems
paved the streets. Though he did not
find the object of his search his ex-
pedition led to Spanish settlements
and agriculture. and mining had
some development.
Back again into barbarism was Ari-
IONA plunged by the Mexican war for
independence. and not until the Gads-
den purchase. In 1S48, did the firm
hand of governmental authority again
take hold. Even then, however, all
that was known Of Arizona was a mar.
row strip within which the Southern
Pacific railroad now runs and along
which flowed the tide of travel from
the eastern states to the gold fields
of California.
T~reachernous Indians Of Long Ago.
When the white man first CAM to
Arizona there were approximately 40
600 Indians within the borders of the
terrItority. The principal tribes were
the Navajos. Hopis. Wallapais. Cheme-
huevis, H~avasupias, Mohaves, Pimas.
Maricopas, Yumas, Papagoes and
Apaches, of which there were several
groups or divisions. The Navajos
perpetrated several massacres in the
early days. but 1t vas not long before
an the Indians except the Apaches
had been subdued.