Arizona

Also see Specific Destinations, Travel and Location Humor.

Page Toppers

Arizona Star
(song by Guy Clark)
Arizona Sunset
By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Come Back to Arizona
Dear Old Arizona
Land of Sunshine
Tucson Too Soon
(song by Tracy Byrd)

Arizona Symbols

Nicknames: Grand Canyon State; Sunset State; Copper State; Sand Hill state
Motto: God enriches
Colors: Blue and Gold
Song: Arizona
March: Arizona March Song
Dance: Square Dance
Animal: Ringtail (related to a racoon)
Bird: Cactus Wren
Fish: Apache Trout (found only in AZ)
Amphibian: Arizona Tree Frog
Reptile: Arizona Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake
Butterfly: Two-tailed Swallowtail
Tree: Yellow Palo Verde
Flower: Saguaro Cactus Blossom
Fossil: Petrified Wood
Gemstone: Turquoise
Mineral: Fire Agate
Neckware: Bola Tie
Pro Sports Teams: Phoenix Suns (men's basketball); Phoenix Coyotes (hockey); AZ Cardinals (football)AZ Diamondbacks (baseball), Phoenix Mercury (women's basketball)

Facts About Arizona

Capital: Phoenix
Residents: Arizonans
State Name Origin: based on an Aztec word meaning "silver bearing" or a Pima Indian words meaning "little spring place"
Admitted to Statehood: 14 Feb 1912
Order of Admission: 48th state
Length: 400 miles
Width: 310 miles
Area: 113,998 square miles
Length: 400 miles
Width: 310 miles
Area: 114,007 square miles
Number of Counties: 15
Streams and Rivers: 90,373 miles
Geographic Center: 55 miles ESE of Prescott in Yavapai Co.
Mean Elevation: 4,100 feet
Highest Point: Humphreys Peak, 12,633 feet
Lowest Point: Colorado River, 70 feet
Commercial Products: electronic equipment, transportation and industrial equipment, instruments, printing and publishing, copper and other metals
Average Annual Rainfall: varies by area (3.3 inches in Yuma, 7.6 inches in Phoenix, 18.3 inches in Flagstaff)
Average Winter Low Temperature: 38 degrees
Record Low Temperature: -40 degrees (7 Jan 1971 Hawley Lake)
Average Summer High Temperature: 100 degrees
Record High Temperature: 128 degrees (29 Jun 1994 Lake Havasu)
Official Language: English
More information about Arizona

Quotes

Standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, and such a fine sight to see: It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me. (from Take It Easy by the Eagles)

Arizona From A - Z

This is a great ABC list about Arizona

Page Idea

Put a large saguaro cactus die-cut on the page. Decorate with ornaments and Christmas lights. Put trees around the bottom.

from Arizona

(words by Margaret Rowe Clifford, music by Maurice Blumenthal)

Come to this land of sunshine
To this land where life is young.
Where the wide, wide world is waiting,
The songs that will now be sung.
Where the golden sun is flaming
Into warm, white shining day,
And the sons of men are blazing
Their priceless right of way.

Chorus:
Sing the song that's in your hearts
Sing of the great Southwest,
Thank God, for Arizona
In splendid sunshine dressed.
For thy beauty and thy grandeur,
For thy regal robes so sheen
We hail thee Arizona
Our Goddess and our queen.

Items of Interest

Arizona has the largest Native American population of any state. More than 14 tribes are represented on 20 reservations.
Part of the Navajo Nation is located in the Four Corners region of AZ, CO, NM, and UT. The capital of the Navajo Reservation is Window Rock.
Arizona has a higher percentage of its land set aside and designated as Indian lands than any other state.
Oraibi, founded by the Hopis, is the oldest Indian settlement in the U.S.
The amount of copper on the roof of the Capitol building is equivalent to 4,800,000 pennies.
The original London Bridge was shipped stone-by-stone and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City.
Four Corners is the only place in the U.S. where a person can stand in four states at the same time.
The world's largest solar telescope is located at Kitts Peak National Observatory in Sells.
At one time camels were used to transport goods across Arizona.
The average age in Sun City, Arizona is deceased ;-) (Bob Uecker)

Notable Natives

Some of these people were born here, others just lived a part of their life in the state.

Rex Allen - singer, actor (Wilcox)
Bruce Babbitt - political leader
Rose E. Bird - jurist
Erma Bombeck - author, humorist
Lynda Carter - actress (Phoenix)
Cesar Estrada Chavez (1927-1993) - labor leader (Yuma)
Cochise - Apache leader
Joan Ganz Cooney (1929- ) - producer of Sesame Street (Phoenix)
Alice Cooper - rock star
Dennis De Concini - U.S. senator
Wyatt Earp - western frontier lawman
Barbara Eden - actress
Max Ernst - painter
Louie Espinoza - first world champion boxer from AZ (Chandler)
Geronimo (1829-1909) - Apache leader (Clifton)
Barry Goldwater - senator, presidential candidate (Phoenix)
Zane Grey (1872-1939) - author of many Western novels (Payson)
Carl Trumbull Hayden - politician (Phoenix)
Helen Hull Jacobs (1908-1997) - tennis champion, writer (Globe)
William "Bill" Keane - cartoonist
Percival Lowell - astronomer
Frank Luke, Jr. - WWI fighter ace (Phoenix)
John McCain (1936- ) senator, war hero, presidential candidate in 2000
Phil Mickelson (1970- ) - pro golfer (Scottsdale)
Charles Mingus - jazz musician, composer (Nogales)
Sandra Day O'Conner (1930- ) - first female supreme court justice in 1981
Dan Quale - U.S. vice president
Linda Ronstadt (1946- )- singer (Tucson)
David Spade (1965- ) - comedian, actor (Scottsdale)
Steven Spielberg (1946- ) - film director (Phoenix)
Kerri Strug - Olympic gymnast (Tucson)
Tanya Tucker - singer
Morris Udall - public official
Stewart Udall (1920- ) - former Secretary of the Interior (Saint Johns)
Frank Lloyd Wright - architect (built a studio near Phoenix in 1939)

The Arizona State Flag
The flag was adopted in 1917. The 13 rays of red and gold in the top half of the flag represent both the 13 original colonies and the rays of the setting sun. The red is the same shade of red found in the US flag. Red and gold were the colors carried by Coronado's Spanish expedition. The lower half of the flag is the same Liberty Blue found in the US Flag. There is a copper star in the center of the flag to symbolize AZ as the largest copper producing state.

You Know You Are in Arizona When...

Hotter water comes from the cold water tap than the hot one.
It's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation and yet all the streets are empty of both cars and people.
No one would dream of putting vinyl inside a car.
Some fools will market mini-misters for joggers and some other fools will actually buy them. Worse...some fools actually try to jog.
Sunscreen is sold year round, kept right at the checkout counter.
Sunscreen with less than 50 spf is a joke.
The best parking is determined by shade...not distance.
You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
You can be in the snow, then drive for an hour...and it will be over 100 degrees.
You can hear the weather forecast of 115 degrees without flinching.
You can make sun tea instantly.
You discover, in July it only takes two fingers to drive your car, because your steering wheel is so hot.
You know a swamp cooler is not a happy hour drink.
You know hot air balloons can't rise because the air temperature is hotter than the air inside the balloon.
You notice your car overheating before you drive it.
You put on fresh sunscreen just to go check the mail box.
You realize that "Valley Fever" isn't a disco dance.
You run your a/c in the middle of winter so you can use your fireplace.
You've signed so many petitions to recall governors you can't remember the name of the incumbent.

You Know You're In Phoenix When...

The AC Service Man is on your list of best friends.
All of your out-of-state friends start to visit after October but clear out come the end of April.
Every other vehicle is a 4x4.
Kids will ask, "What's a mosquito?"
Monday Night Football starts at 7:00 instead of 6:00.
Most homes have more firearms than people.
Most of the restaurants in town have the first name "El" or "Los".
People break out coats when temperature drops below 70.
People with black cars or have black upholstery in their car are automatically assumed to be from out-of-state or nuts.
The pool can be warmer than you are.
The water from the cold water tap is the same temperature as the hot one.
Vehicles with open windows have the right-of-way in the summer.
You buy salsa by the gallon.
You can correctly pronounce: "Saguaro", "Tempe", "Gila Bend", "San Xavier", "Canyon de Chelly", "Mogollon Rim", "Cholla", and "Ajo".
You can finish a Big Gulp in 10 minutes and go back for seconds.
You can say Hohokam and people don't think you're laughing funny.
You see more irrigation water on the street than there is in the Salt River.
You think 6 tons of crushed rock makes a beautiful yard.
You think a red light is merely a suggestion.
You think someone driving wearing oven mitts is clever.
Your Christmas decorations includes a half a yard of sand and l00 paper bags.
Your house is made of stucco and has a red clay tile roof.

It is So Dry in Arizona That...

The cows are giving evaporated milk.
You see two trees fighting over a dog.
You no longer associate bridges or rivers with water.
You eat hot chilies to cool your mouth off.
You can make instant sun tea.
You learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.
The temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly.
You know the best parking place is in the shade, not distance from the door.
Your biggest fear in the case of a wreck is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
A sad native prayed in Church today, "Please, God, let it rain - not so much for me, cuz I've seen it - but for my 7-year-old."