TUCSON

TUCSON, the second-largest city in Arizona, takes its name from a Tohono O'Odham (Papago) Indian village that stood at the base of Stjukshon Mountain, later known as Sentinel Peak. Situated in the lower Sonoran Desert basin, Tucson is flanked by the Santa Catalina and Santa Rita Mountains. In 1700 Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino founded San Xavier del Bac Indian mission, and the Spanish established the Presidio de San Augustín de Tuguisón in 1775. Tucson became U.S. territory with the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, and served as the capital of Arizona Territory from 1867 to 1877. The Southern Pacific Railroad reached Tucson in 1880 and the city was incorporated in 1883.

From World War II to the year 2000, the city grew by more than four times, to a population of 486,699, with the metropolitan area including 843,746 residents. Tucson's economy in the 1990s included everything from agriculture and mining to state-of-the-art electronics. The rapid population growth threatened a dwindling water supply, but in 1992 the Central Arizona Project began supplying Colorado River water to Tucson. One of the most environmentally conscious cities in Arizona, Tucson is home to the Biosphere experiment and several national environmental groups.

The city offers activities for every taste. Wilderness enthusiasts enjoy mountain climbing and desert trekking, wealthy tourists visit expensive resorts and art galleries, while modest spenders patronize the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Old Tucson, a movie site for more than two hundred films. All visitors can enjoy cultural and athletic events at the University of Arizona plus a variety of theater, symphony, ballet, and opera productions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Logan, Michael F. Fighting Sprawl and City Hall: Resistance to Urban Growth in the Southwest. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995.

Sonnichsen, C. L. Tucson: The Life and Times of an American City. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982.

Walker, Henry P., and Don Bufkin. Historical Atlas of Arizona. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979.

Roger L. Nichols

See also Arizona ; Gadsden Purchase ; Southwest .