Tucson (pronounced /ˈtuːsɒn/ ) is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States, located 118 miles (188 km) southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles (98 km) north of the U.S.-Mexico border. As of July 1, 2006, a Census Bureau estimate puts the city's population at 541,811, with a metropolitan area population at 1,023,320 as of July 1, 2008. In 2005, Tucson ranked as the 32 nd largest city and 52 nd largest metropolitan area in the United States. It is the largest city in southern Arizona and the second largest in the state. Tucson is home to the University of Arizona.
Major incorporated suburbs of Tucson include Oro Valley and Marana northwest of the city, Sahuarita south of the city, and South Tucson in an enclave south of downtown. Communities in the vicinity of Tucson (some within or overlapping the city limits) include Casas Adobes, Catalina, Catalina Foothills, Flowing Wells, Green Valley, Tanque Verde, New Pascua, Vail and Benson.
The English name Tucson derives from the Spanish name of the city, Tucsón , which was borrowed from the O'odham name Cuk Ṣon , meaning "(at the) base of the black ", a reference to an adjacent volcanic mountain. Tucson is sometimes referred to as "The Old Pueblo".
History
Ancient Period
Tucson was probably first visited by Paleo-Indians, known to have been in southern Arizona by about 12,000 years ago. Recent archaeological excavations near the Santa Cruz River have located a village site dating from 4,000 years ago. The floodplain of the Santa Cruz River was extensively farmed during the Early Agricultural period, circa 1200 BC to AD 150. These people constructed irrigation canals and grew corn, beans, and other crops while gathering wild plants and hunting animals. The Early Ceramic period occupation of Tucson saw the first extensive use of pottery vessels for cooking and storage. The groups designated by archaeologists as the Hohokam lived in the area from AD 600 to 1450 and are known for their red-on-brown pottery.
Spanish Period
Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino visited the Santa Cruz River valley in 1692, and founded the Mission San Xavier del Bac about 7 miles (12 km) upstream (south) from the site of the settlement of Tucson in 1700. The Spanish established a walled fortress, Presidio San Agustín de Tucson, on August 20, 1775 (near the present downtown Pima County Courthouse). At least three known battles occurred in Tucson between Apache warriors, Spanish colonists and Spanish soldiers. The first known battle, only remembered due to the discovery of archival evidence, occurred in 1779 at the beginning of Spain's involvement in the American Revolutionary War. The Second Battle of Tucson in 1782 and a third battle in 1784.
Mexican Period
Eventually the town came to be called "Tucson" and became a part of the Mexican state of Occidente (Sonora after 1830) after Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. The time there after in Sonora was relatively. Until the Mexican-American War of 1846, of this year the Mormon Battalion marched across southern Arizona. Along the San Pedro River, north of Tucson, the Mormon soldiers fought the " Battle of the Bulls ", a skirmish between infantry and wild cattle. Resulting in two men injured and several pounds of fresh meat. On December 16, 1846, they attacked Tucson. The smaller Mexican garrison of Fort Tucson, quickly fled without conflict. A brief occupation ensued and then the Mormons continued their march to the Pacific.
Early United States Period
Following the Gadsden purchase in 1853, Tucson became part of the New Mexico Territory, an organized territory of the United States of America, although the American military did not formally take control of the community until March 1856. In July 1860, a convention of settlers from the southern part of the territory was held in Tucson. The convention drafted a constitution for a "Territory of Arizona" to be organized out of the New Mexico Territory, south of the 34th parallel. The convention elected Lewis Owings as the territorial governor, and elected a delegate to Congress. The proposal, however, did not succeed because of opposition from anti-slavery Congressmen who feared the new territory might eventually become a slave state.
Confederate States Period
In July 1861, after the civil war began, a force of Texans under Lt. Colonel John Baylor conquered the southern New Mexico territory, including Mesilla and Tucson. On August 1, 1861, the victorious Baylor proclaimed the existence of a Confederate Arizona Territory, which comprised the area defined in the Tucson convention the previous year, with Tucson as its capital. He appointed himself permanent governor.
The proposal to organize the territory was passed by the Confederate Congress in early 1862 and proclaimed by President Jefferson Davis on February 14, 1862. Efforts by the Confederacy to secure control of the region led to the New Mexico Campaign. Later in 1862, Baylor was ousted as governor of the territory by Davis, and the Confederate loss at the Battle of Glorieta Pass forced their retreat. The following month, a small Confederate picket force defeated a Union cavalry patrol north of Tucson at the Battle of Picacho Pass. The next year the rebels won a victory at the Battle of Canada Alamosa. The rebels also won several other battles involving Apaches. By July 1862, Union forces had taken Tucson and the territorial government had vacated to Texas.
Later United States Period
Tucson, and all of Arizona, remained part of the New Mexico Territory until February 24, 1863, when the Arizona Organic Act passed the Senate forming the Arizona Territory. In 1867, the territorial capital was moved to Tucson from Prescott, where it remained until 1877. In 1885, the University of Arizona was founded in Tucson – it was situated in the countryside, outside the city limits of the time.
During the territorial and early statehood periods, Tucson was Arizona's largest city and commercial center, while Phoenix was the seat of state government (beginning in 1889) and agriculture. The establishment of Tucson Municipal Airport increased its prominence. Between 1910 and 1920, Phoenix surpassed Tucson in population and has continued to outpace Tucson in growth. However, both Tucson and Phoenix have experienced among the highest growth rates in the United States.
Modern Period
By 1900, 7,531 people lived in the city. The population increased gradually to 13,913 in 1910, 20,292 in 1920, and 36,818 in 1940. In 2006 the population of Pima County, in which Tucson is located, passed one million while the City of Tucson's population was 535,000.
Crime
In late January 1934, five members of the Dillinger gang, including John Dillinger, himself, were arrested in Tucson. They were five of the top six names on the FBI's first Public Enemy list. A fire allowed firemen to discover their identity and the police promptly arrested Harry Pierpont, Charles Makley, Russell Clark, Ed Shouse, and Dillinger. The police found the gang in possession of over $25,000 in cash, three sub-machine guns, and five machine guns. Tucson celebrates the historic arrest with an annual "Dillinger Days" festival, the highlight of which is a reenactment.
Hospitals
In 1919, Lieutenant Neill MacArtan of the Army Medical Corps arrived in Tucson, Arizona, looking for a sanatorium site. He found nearly 700 veterans scattered in squalid conditions throughout the area and commenced a decade's struggle to build a southwestern veterans hospital. Tucson's success is the story of city officials and citizens volunteering, organizing, battling other contenders like Livermore, California, and lobbying Congress. Despite MacArtan's death from tuberculosis in 1922, Veterans Administration Hospital Number 51 opened at Pastime Park in 1928. Many TB sufferers and veterans who had been gassed in World War I and were in need of respiratory therapy came to Tucson after the war because of the clean, dry air.
Chinese
Chinese and Mexican merchants and farmers transcended racial differences to form 'guanxi,' kith relations of friendship and trust. Chinese leased land from Mexicans, operated grocery stores, and aided compatriots attempting to enter the United States from Mexico after the Mexican Revolution in 1910. Chinese merchants supplied Gen
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