Today’s question: If Arizona and New Mexico were both settled by the Spanish, why does New Mexico seem to have a much stronger Hispanic heritage than we do?
That’s a good one. For help on this I turned to good old Marshall Trimble, author, singer, teacher, Arizona state historian and all-around swell guy.
The answer in a nutshell is because the early Spanish settlers and explorers weren’t completely stupid.
It starts in 1540 with Coronado, who wandered around the Southwest and up into Kansas for a couple of years looking for the fabled cities of gold, which, of course, he did not find. So he went home, where, according to legend, he found out his wife had been fooling around with another guy while he was out traipsing around, and eventually he died.
Then nothing much happened for 40 years or so because the Spanish had plenty to do in Mexico and, since there weren’t any cities of gold here, they decided to stay home. They had to wait to forget, as Trimble put it.
So 40 years later a new generation of the Spanish got the exploring bug and headed north looking for treasure and settlement opportunities and even the Northwest Passage. The thought was it was someplace in northern New Mexico or southern Colorado. Those wacky Spaniards.
Q: What is the meaning of the stars with the names of old celebrities in them on the sidewalk at the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Monroe Street?
A: This was a deeply disturbing question, not because of the stars themselves, but because we had to get up off our pert little butt and actually walk over there and check it out.
And it occurred to us that we had trod that very stretch of sidewalk hundreds of times and never noticed the stars before.
The stars—eight of them—are a reflection of the past glory of the Hotel San Carlos, 202 N. Central Ave., which is still a very nice hotel, but at one time was Phoenix’s premier hostelry.
And when Hollywood stars were in town, that’s where they stayed. After all, it offered elevators and “automatic cooled air,” a kind of forerunner of air-conditioning, and ice-water spigots in the rooms.
The gold and silver rushes, more than anything else, provided the inspiration for people to give up relative comforts in the East and come west. Opportunity to get rich quick is a uniquely American article of faith and was virtually born in the West. With a single lucky break, one could instantly make more money than he could lend, spend in a lifetime. So, it was “off to Californey, Coloradie, or Arizonie with my wash pan on my knee,” looking for, as Bret Harte said, “a fresh deal all around.” Most were either trying to get something or get away from something. It was called the “greatest mass migration of greenhorns since the children of Israel set out in search of Canaan.”
I was born and raised in Arizona, and a love affair with the sun has pretty much solidified my future here. I’ve lived in the Valley for about six years, and the toasty summers are a small price to pay for year-round comfort and recreation.
With the New Year in full gear, I thought it fitting to share reasons why I’m looking forward to an AZ-filled 2010. Last year was a tumultuous year for many Arizonans, yet despite many economic challenges, it’s important to recognize what’s going right.
