Arizona's History

Arizona's 8th Congressional District covers the southeastern portion of the state, including all of Cochise County and portions of Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties. It comprises approximately 9,000 square miles of ecologically unique and varied environment, consisting of mountainous regions and high desert grasslands including 114 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. The region is one of the fastest-growing in the country.

The urban center of District 8 contains the north and eastern sides of Tucson. The residents of the district represent a large cross section of occupations and ethnicities, with many residents employed in Tucson’s burgeoning high-tech sector, medical facilities and agriculture and ranching industries.

Military

Southern Arizona has an extensive military history. For generations, Spanish and Mexican settlers struggled with the Chiricahua Apache Indians. After the American purchase of the Arizona territory, the United States military deemed it necessary to create an installation to combat the threat posed by the Apaches as well as secure the border region. They chose to locate the base near the Huachuca Mountains in present-day Sierra Vista because of the area’s access to fresh running water and high elevation, which provided a useful vantage point for observing Apache incursions.

The mountainous region was known for its spectacular thunderstorms, earning the name of Huachuca, which is loosely translated from the local Indian dialect, meaning “place of thunder.” After the Apaches surrendered in 1886, the U.S. military closed down 50 camps and forts. However the Army retained Fort Huachuca to preserve the military’s control of the border region. In the years that followed, the base served as a protective installation for the United States border, during World War I, as well as a training ground for soldiers departing to the Pacific and European Theater during World War II.

After WWII, the fort began to assume its current missions as a post for military intelligence and the Signal Corp. Currently, Fort Huachuca serves as the United States Military Intelligence Center and is home of the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade, training the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines. The 11th Signal Brigade, known as the “Thunderbirds,” also operates out of Fort Huachuca. The brigade’s extensive training in the deserts of Southeastern Arizona makes it particularly valuable for the Iraq War, resulting in their deployment at the outset of the conflict in 2003.

The 8th District also is home to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The base originally served as a municipal airport – and was the country's largest. However, in 1927, following a dedication from Charles Lindberg, Davis-Monthan became a military installation, named after two local pilots downed in WWI. During WWII, the base saw a considerable expansion, serving as the operational base for B-18 Bolos, B-24 Liberators, and B-29 Superfortresses.

After the war, activity at the base declined significantly, with the military ultimately deciding that the arid climate of Arizona would serve as an optimal storage site for expended and decommissioned aircraft. The location eventually would be nicknamed “the boneyard,” because it serves as the final resting place for many aircraft. The boneyard remains a mainstay of the air force base. It includes 4,200 aircraft and 40 aerospace vehicles from the Air Force, Navy-Marine Corps, Army, Coast Guard and several federal agencies including NASA – drawing legions of tourists and airplane enthusiasts. In its current capacity, the base serves as a tactical command center, operating as the country’s main training location for A-10 and OA-10 pilots.

Agriculture

The 8th District has a rich agricultural history that continues into the modern day. The earliest evidence of farming culture traces its roots to the Santa Cruz River valley, with settlements forming roughly between 1200 BC and 120 AD. These early inhabitants shared a number of cultural characteristics with the Hohokam to the north and were an agriculturally based tribe known for its highly sophisticated irrigation systems. Originally based in what is now the Phoenix area, the tribe traveled south, settling along the Santa Cruz and Rillito rivers.  They practiced floodwater farming – planting their crops in floodplains and building rock terraces and check dams to capture rainwater. The tribe subsisted on corn, beans and squash.

When the Spanish colonists and Jesuit missionaries arrived in the late 17th century, they found numerous Sobaipuri Indian villages – likely descendants of the Hohokam – along the Santa Cruz and San Pedro rivers raising crops. The missionaries introduced cattle, fruit trees and vegetables to the Indians. Over the next 150 years, Spanish colonists and Mexican settlers built ranches and farms in the area.

For much of the modern era, farming was done on a subsistence basis. However, upon completion of the Hoover Dam in 1935, Arizona obtained much-needed access to water, ushering in commercial cultivation. With the subsequent resource demand for World Wars I and II, the cotton and cattle industries exploded, providing fiber for tires and beef for military consumption.

In 1993, the Central Arizona Project – an irrigation venture that diverts much-needed water from the Colorado River to the state’s interior – constructed an 87-mile aqueduct that provides water to the area. Cochise County, however, still relies on ground water. Today, the top crops in our district are: forage (17,468 acres), corn for grain (16,332 acres), pecans, cotton (11,944 acres), and vegetables (5,590 acres). Additionally, the most important crop commodities by the value of sales are: nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sod ($18.3 million); vegetables, melons, potatoes and sweet potatoes ($14.2 million); grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas ($12.1 million); and cotton and cottonseed ($7.8 million).

Mining

For centuries people traveled to Southern Arizona – from early Spanish settlers to successive generations of Mexican and American prospectors – in search of mineral wealth in the form of gold and silver. In fact, at the height of mineral exploitation, one-fourth of all inhabitants of Southern Arizona were either prospectors or miners. However, although the area contains significant deposits of silver and gold, copper eventually became the predominant mineral, driving the local economy and making the district the leading copper-producing region in the United States.

Archeological evidence points to early use of copper by Native Americans for skin decoration and textiles. Sometime later, missionary Father Francisco Kino noted the existence of “minas,” Spanish for mineral deposits, in the mountains of present-day Santa Cruz County. For centuries, Spanish and Mexican inhabitants of the district explored the area’s mineral wealth to mixed success. However, after the Gadsden Purchase in 1854, American prospectors followed in their predecessors’ footsteps, mining for silver at the Santa Rita, Mowry, and Salero mines in modern Pima and Santa Cruz counties. However, prior to the late 1870s, mining generated little success.

In 1877, army scout Jack Dunn left his Fort Huachuca post on a military reconnaissance mission, only to unsuspectingly stumble upon significant ore deposits. Soon after, the Copper Queen Mine of Bisbee opened to considerable success.

Copper and silver mines dotted the 8th District’s landscape during the 19th and 20th centuries, fulfilling America’s mineral needs and fueling the local economy. Presently, four of the 11 sites at which mining activities continue in Arizona are located within the 8th District, including the Bisbee, Mission, Silver Bell and Sierrita mines.