Arizona Celebrates Statehood Day on a day we all know - Valentine's Day! Arizona struggled to achieve statehood…not gaining statehood until 1912 as the 48th state, the last of the contiguous states! Many eastern and midwestern politicians viewed Arizona as wild west cowboy country and felt it would be a burden to eastern tax payers. To help change this perception, the beautiful mineral rocks found in Bisbee’s crystal caves were sent to World’s Fairs and Museums around the world including the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, which featured hundreds of stunning mineral rocks and crystals from Bisbee. The hope was this would showcase the mineral wealth that Arizona held to change the perception of Arizona as they pushed for statehood.
A United States Representative from my home state of Indiana, saw the large mineral rock display at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and was intrigued and decided to go out to Arizona to visit Bisbee to learn more about these mineral riches and Arizona's push for statehood.
The people of Bisbee wined and dined that Hoosier State Representative for a week. They showed off the mineral riches and even took him back into the Crystal Caves! Get this, as they were shaft mining or tunnel mining in Bisbee for copper, the miners would at times drill into a giant geode of sorts to find what was known as a crystal cave, which was an opening or cave covered floor to ceiling with crystals. Here is an interesting tidbit, some of the Fraternal Lodges in Bisbee would hold special meetings and initiation ceremonies in these Crystal Caves deep inside the mountain - how cool is that!
Now, back to the Indiana U.S. Representative, after being wined and dined for a week by the people of Bisbee, he went back to Washington DC and reported that Arizona was nothing but the wild west and not worth having as a state! Arizona would not gain Statehood until February 14, 1912 as the 48th state...the last of the contiguous states!
Learn more about Arizona History and Tucson History on my Strolls and Stories Tours Guided Walking Tours of Tucson that are small group in-person tours! In addition, I have a Bisbee Walking Tours that is a self-guided audio video tour of the historic sites of Bisbee. I hope to share more of my fascinating tales of Arizona History with you!
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