By Al Bates
This article is one of a series that will appear in this space during this year on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory’s Sesquicentennial and the founding and establishment of Prescott as the Territory’s first capital.
Before there could be a Prescott there had to be an “Arizona,” and that required both a war and a large land purchase President James K. Polk presided over the final land acquisitions that satisfied America’s “manifest destiny” making the United States a bi-coastal giant. In his single term as president, he settled the boundaries for our Pacific Northwest by negotiation with England. Then he created the American Southwest by setting in motion a monumental land grab from Mexico.
The Mexican-American War began in 1846 as a dispute over location of the Texas border with Mexico—Americans wanted the border at the Rio Grande River, the Mexicans thought it should be much further east. President Polk guaranteed war by sending American troops into the disputed area, and Mexican troops obligingly attacked.
When the American response to the Mexican attack climaxed with the capture of Mexico City, the Mexican government conceded that, indeed, the Texas border would be at the Rio Grande. But then the American negotiators dropped the other shoe: We also wanted California and the lands between there and Texas for which we would pay them ten million dollars.
The Mexicans, unhappily, had to cede territory to the United States that became the states of California, Nevada, Utah, and the Territory of New Mexico which then included most of today’s Arizona.
The original instructions to American negotiators for setting terms to end the war were to set the Texas border at the Rio Grande River and to establish the remainder of the southern border for the United States at the 32nd parallel (a few miles below Tucson) to provide room for a transcontinental railroad corridor.
Although the Mexican government did agree to set the Texas border at the Rio Grande, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo established the border with New Mexico Territory well above the 32nd parallel, using the Gila River as a major dividing point. Even so, Mexico ceded a gigantic chunk of its lands, to the United States for peace and a paltry sum of money. However, defects in the boundary settlement quickly brought the treaty under fire from both sides.
The boundary location was at issue because the map used in the treaty negotiations was highly inaccurate and left the exact border position open to interpretation. Attempts at a compromise were rejected by the United States Congress, leading to saber rattling on both sides and a second war appeared imminent unless these issues could be resolved peaceably.
This brings us to a short but important digression into the origin of the name “Arizona.” This has been the topic of speculation for many decades with most attempts to place its origins in the Spanish and Pima-Papago languages. Some of the theories include: Arizuma from the Aztec by way of the Spanish; Arizonac and Ali Sonac from the Pimas; Aleh zone from the Papago; and Zona Arida from the Spanish. Probably the worst pseudo origin was in English, claiming it stood for “Arid Zone.”
It was not until recent years that serious study was done by researcher and author Don Garate, who came up with the most probable origin. He has demonstrated that the name comes from the unique Basque language of northern Spain and southern France. Spanish Basques and their descendents were prominent in settling many areas of New Spain, and one familiar example of their presence is the de Anza family. Garate has shown that the name Arizona stems from a 1736 surface silver find called Planchas de Plata located west of Nogales, Arizona, and just south of the current international boundary. The findings included “balls and slabs of silver, one of over 2500 pounds.” The silver find was located near a ranch settled by Spanish Basques who had named the ranch “Arizona” derived from “aritz ona” for “the good oak” in their unique Basque language.
The name soon became used for surrounding region as well and would later become the common name for the Gadsden Purchase.
Next week we will look further at how the Gadsden Purchase helped make creation of Arizona—and then Prescott—possible.
Days Past is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners, International (www.prescottcorral.org). The public is encouraged to submit articles for consideration. Please contact SHM Library & Archives reference desk at 928-445-3122 Ext. 14, or via email at dayspastprescott@gmail.com for information.