Phoenix

[edit] History

[edit] Native American period

For more than 1,000 years, the Hohokam peoples occupied the land that would become Phoenix.[6] The Hohokam created roughly 135 miles (217 km) of irrigation canals, making the desert land arable. Paths of these canals would later become used for the modern Arizona Canal, Central Arizona Project Canal, and the Hayden-Rhodes Aqueduct. The Hohokam also carried out extensive trade with nearby Anasazi, Mogollon, and other Mesoamerican tribes.

It is believed that, between 1300 and 1450, periods of drought and severe floods led to the Hohokam’s abandonment of the area.[6] Local Akimel O'odham settlements, thought to be the descendants of the formerly urbanized Hohokam, concentrated on the Gila River alongside those of the Tohono O'odham and Maricopa peoples. Some family groups did continue to live near the Salt River, but no large villages existed.

[edit] Hispanic period

Father Eusebio Kino, an Italian Jesuit in the service of the Spanish Empire, was among the first Europeans to travel here in the 1600s and 1700s. By this time, the valley was within the territory of New Spain, which was controlled by Spain and later independent Mexico. Father Kino named the river “Río Salado” (Salt River) due to the water’s high mineral content. He interacted with the few native peoples who remained in the valley but focused mostly on the Pima missions established in southern Arizona as well as exploring other parts of the Southwest and California. Only southern Arizona experienced the full influence of Hispanic cultures – the Salt River Valley itself remained almost depopulated for several centuries.

See also: European colonization of Arizona

[edit] Early United States period

American and European "Mountain Men" likely came through the area while exploring what is now central Arizona during the early 19th century. They obtained valuable American Beaver and North American River Otter pelts; these animals, as well as deer and...