Arizona: In General, 1912-2012 Quiz

Answer: Basque

The name "Arizona" came from a ranch or settlement called Real de Arissona/Real de Arizonac/El puesto del Arizona (variations of the place name on documents from the era) south of Nogales on the current Arizona/Mexico border. However, the source of the word "Arizona" is disputed; the possibility of it just being a version of the Spanish term "zona arida" (arid zone) is largely discounted. For many years, it was believed that the name "Arizona" came from the Tohono O'odham words "ali shonak", meaning "place of the small spring", but Dr. William A. Douglass, a Basque expert, proposed that the name actually came from the Basque words "aritz ona", meaning "good oak".

The latter theory is based on the facts that the owner of the ranch, Bernardo de Urrea, was Basque, that a large number of the settlers in the area were Basque and that the name Arissona/Arizona shows up as a place name in Latin American countries with Basque settlements, such as Honduras and Costa Rica.

The theory has gained converts over the years, and several sources now list Basque as the source of the name.

Answer: Pizza

Pizzeria Bianco received national attention when it was rated as serving the best pizza in the United States by a "New York Times" food critic. The accolade was later shared by "Bon Apetit" magazine, "Vogue" magazine and "Food Network" personalities Rachel Ray and Andrew Zimmern, with "Vogue" magazine declaring it the best pizza in the world in 2004.

The small restaurant moved to Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix in 1996, and after the national attention it received, it became noted for the long wait to get a table.

Answer: The Grand Canyon State

The Grand Canyon became a National Park in 1919, and although Arizona has long been known as "The Grand Canyon State", it didn't become the official nickname until the governor signed the declaration into law on February 14, 2011 on the state's 99th birthday.

The Grand Canyon has been called one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. The North and South rims of the canyon are at 8,000 and 7,000 feet (2.5 and 2.1 km) above sea level (respectively), with the bottom of the canyon averaging 2,000 feet (600 meters) above sea level. Temperatures at the top of the rim are mild in summer and cold in winter, with access to the North Rim often shut down due to snow in winter. At the bottom of the canyon, temperatures mirror Phoenix - mild in winter and hot in summer.

Answer: Ice hockey

Phoenix actually had a professional ice hockey team back in 1967 with the debut of the Phoenix Roadrunners Western Hockey League team. Major league hockey, however, didn't arrive in Phoenix until the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets relocated from Canada to the desert in 1996.

Incidentally, the second major league team in Arizona was the Arizona Cardinals American football team in 1988, and Arizona gained its fourth major league team with the creation of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team in 1998.

Answer: Colorado

When the Spanish first explored the river, they did so by sailing up the delta from the Sea of Cortez, and until the river was dammed, the Colorado was navigable across Mexico. Here's an excerpt from an 1877 book "Arizona as it is: The Coming Country" that describes travel along the Colorado: "One of the two ocean steamers leaves San Francisco every twenty days, running to the head of the Gulf of California, a distance from San Francisco of nineteen hundred miles. At the head of the gulf the passengers and freight are transshipped to four river steamers, and taken thence up the Colorado River to Yuma, one hundred and seventy-five miles, and thence portions are taken up the river to their several destinations. The river steamers make regular trips to Hardyville, three hundred and thirty-seven miles above Yuma, and five hundred and thirteen miles above the mouth of the river."

The main river in the southwest United States, the Colorado River rises in Rocky Mountain National Park in northern Colorado. It is 1,450 miles (2,333 km) long, making it the 7th longest river in the U.S. It used to flow down through Mexico and into the Sea of Cortez/Gulf of California (same place - different names), but dams along the river have diverted nearly all of the water, with the delta of the Colorado becoming essentially a salt flat. The main dams on the river are Hoover Dam which opened in 1936 and Glen Canyon Dam which opened in 1966.

Answer: White Christmas

It does get chilly in the desert, and we occasionally get snow flurries in Phoenix, but a white Christmas would be an unusual occurrence here. Perhaps it was this contrast that inspired Irving Berlin to write the song in 1940. Some sources claim the song was written while Berlin was staying at a hotel in California, but Berlin was a frequent guest at the Arizona Biltmore, and he was interviewed there by a reporter for the "Arizona Republic" newspaper while he was supposedly working on the song. The Arizona Biltmore claims on its website that the song was written there.

Located in central Phoenix, the Arizona Biltmore was built under the consultation of Frank Lloyd Wright. Although Albert Chase McArthur was credited as being the architect, the original buildings decidedly have the appearance of a Wright creation. The hotel has been popular with celebrities and presidents since its opening in 1929. Marilyn Monroe reportedly had a favorite pool at the hotel, the design of which remained as it was in her day through to the end of Arizona's first century.

Answer: A white pyramid

Hunt's tomb sits atop a hill in Papago Park in eastern Phoenix near the Phoenix Zoo. It wasn't a monument to him; he actually had it built for his wife who predeceased him (although he and their daughter were later buried there also). Hunt was a Freemason, and the pyramid design appealed to him. There's a short but steep trail to reach the pyramid, and a nice view of Phoenix can be seen from it.

Other pyramid graves in Arizona include that of Hi Jolly, a camel driver who was a local celebrity in western Arizona, and Charles Poston, the "Father of Arizona" who successfully petitioned for Arizona to become a separate territory from New Mexico. Hi Jolly's pyramid is in Quartzsite, Arizona, and Poston's pyramid is in Florence, Arizona. Poston had originally been buried in a pauper's grave following his 1902 death, but his body was moved to the pyramid tomb by Governor Hunt in 1922.

Answer: He was abducted by aliens.

Based on the book "The Walton Experience", the film starred D.B. Sweeney as Travis Walton. Walton was traveling home with a group of co-workers from a logging site when they allegedly came across a UFO hovering in a field. Walton approached it and appeared to be shot by a ray from the disk, causing his friends to think he was dead. They left but later returned and couldn't find his body. The police suspected foul play, but Walton was found a few days later and claimed to have been abducted.

Arizona has had its share of UFO sightings. In 1997, thousands of people across the state, including the governor, reported seeing a v-shaped formation of lights crossing the evening sky. Sightings were also reported in 2007 and 2008. Various explanations have been given for the lights; they were claimed to be planes or flares dropped from military aircraft.

Answer: Arizona's Spanish heritage

The choice of red and yellow is a reminder of the Spanish explorers who were the first Europeans in Arizona. Some sources only mention that the colors are those of the setting sun, but the "AZ.Gov" official website states that the "rays shows a setting sun" and the colors refer to the colors of "Spanish flags carried by Coronado when he came to Arizona in the sixteenth century".

There are thirteen rays in honor of the original thirteen colonies of the United States, and the copper star recognizes that Arizona is the largest copper producer in the country.

The blue at the bottom of the flag is "liberty blue" - the same shade as the U.S. flag. Blue and "old gold" are the official state colors.

Answer: Maynard James Keenan

Arizona may not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of grape-growing regions, but wine has been produced here since the Jesuits arrived in the 16th century. Most of the vineyards and wineries are located in southeastern Arizona and in the Verde Valley of central Arizona. Maynard James Keenan of Tool and A Perfect Circle fame built his winery in the latter area, near the tourist town of Jerome. His wines have won several awards including a gold medal for the 2011 Dos Ladrones wine at the San Francisco International Wine Competition.