By Matthew Kemph

Arizona became the 48th state to the United States February 14th, 1912.  Initially, the terrirtory of Arizona belonged to Mexico, but Mexico had lost much of Arizona after the Mexican American War.  The wrest of Arizona's territory was secured after the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 (DeLong, 1905).

Before Phoenix was offically recognized as a city on May 4, 1868, it started out as a small colony approximately four miles east of where it is presently located.  Phoenix was also not the first name of the city.  It's previous names were: Swilling's Mill, Helling Mill, Mill City, and East Phoenix (City of Phoenix, 2013).  By 1950, Phoenix was rapidly developing into a major American city with an area of 17.1 square miles.  Today Phoenix covers an area of 500 square miles and has a population of more than 1.4 million people, ranking it sixth in the nation, as well as being the top industiral and corporate center in the southwest (City of Phoenix, 2013).

By Amanda C. Nieves

Arizona seems to be an unlikely place for industry; the deserts, gullies, mountains, and little vegetation could not seem less promissing.  However, Arizona's industrial beginning was a wealthy one: early settlers found copper, gold, silver, and turqoise among the desert desolation.  Tombstone, founded in 1877 was on of the first industrial towns; its revenue acquired from copper and silver.  Tombstone's mines are operating to the present day.  The town's founder, Ed Schieffelin, founded on of Arizona's prime exports by simply picking up rocks ("The history of Tombstone", n.d.).  Desert land is not necessarily percieved as bountiful; however, Arizona's major exports/imports still include minerals, citrus, cotton, and premier solar energy.

During the Gold Rush Era (1849-50), many emigrants tried to reach California, completely unaware of the mineral wealth in the state next door.  Government exploration of Arizona territory began in the 1850's; researchers, explorers, surveyors,  and prospectors created maps of the land.  Information of Arizona's potential resources and transport routes mobilized government investment (Wilson, 1946).  According to the Arizona Mining Association, in 2010 "...the copper mining industry contributed approximately $12.1 billion to Arizona's economy and provided an estimated 73,100 jobs to Arizona residents in 2010" (Arizona Mining Association, 2012).

Mining copper still provides an immense economic boost for the stats's budget.  Today, Arizona residents' jobs/income are tied to the state's mining industry in some fashion.  "The association's mission is to advocate and support the continued growth of a responsible and sustainable mining industry for Arizona through the development and sharing of industry best practices, and by promoting sound public policy at all levels of government (Arizona Mining Association, 2012).

Arizona's economic industry also depended on agriculture; specifically cotton and citrus farming.  More recently, rapid urbanization has negatively affected the state's agriculture (especially citrus).  According to the Western Farm Press, "The writing was on the wall for a decade as bulldozers pushed out central Arizona citrus orchards so real estate developers could sprout new fields of dreams - subdivisions, strip malls and sporting facilities" (Blake, 2010).  Even so, Mesa, Yuma County, and Fort McDowell Tribal Farm champion the barely existent citrus industry.