Monumental Arizona Trivia Quiz

Answer: Salt River

President Teddy Roosevelt established Tonto National Monument October 21, 1907. The cliff dwellings of Tonto National Monument are hidden among some very rough terrain. The elevation rises 5,000 feet within three quarters of a mile. Mule deer, black bears, cougars, and grey foxes run free throughout.

Answer: Sonoran Desert

The Ironwood Forest was given National Monument status by President Bill Clinton on June 9, 2000. It is located just north of Tucson. Ironwood trees provide shade for animals, such as desert bighorn sheep and pygmy owls, in a landscape that ranges from 1,800 to 4,200 feet in elevation. Several Hohokam Indian relics have also been found in the area.

Answer: Utah

Vermilion Cliffs was established as a National Monument on November 9, 2000, by Bill Clinton. As a wildlife preserve, this 294,000-acre National Monument protects bighorn sheep, mountain lions, and pronghorn, as well as the California condor, which has recently been reintroduced into the area. The park is also home to the bald eagle, golden eagle, and Peregrine falcons.

Answer: San Francisco Volcanic Field

Sunset Crater was declared a National Monument on May 26, 1930 by Herbert Hoover after a film company attempted to detonate explosives within the crater to simulate a volcanic eruption. It is situated just outside of Flagstaff high on the Colorado Plateau, surrounded by pine trees, aspen, elk, and deer at 7,000 feet elevation.

The San Francisco Volcanic Field was named for the San Francisco Peaks, the extinct stratovolcano complex which houses Humphrey's Peak, the highest mountain in Arizona at 12,633 feet (3,851m). The peaks were named by Spanish explorers after St. Francis of Assisi, 147 years prior to the formation of the City of San Francisco, California. As the North American plate is moving over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle, new volcanoes are formed in this field. This is why the volcanoes in the western end of the field are long extinct, but the eastern end is fairly active. Sunset Crater is the most recent eruption in the San Francisco Volcanic Field, and also the easternmost.

Answer: Canyon de Chelly National Monument

This 131 square mile National Monument in Northeastern Arizona is unique in the fact that it exists entirely within Native American tribal land, in the center of the Navajo Nation. Thus, the National Parks Service does not own the land. When Herbert Hoover granted this land National Monument status on April 1, 1931, it was pending the approval of the Navajo Tribal Council.

Canyon de Chelly was granted National Monument status mostly to prevent the widespread vandalism of the Navajo's ancient ruins, and preserve it not just for archaeological study, but also as sacred land to the Navajo. The United States Army in their westward expansion repeatedly vandalized Navajo's homes in the canyon in the early 1800s. In 1864, the United States Army began to gather Navajo in an effort to relocate them all to Ft. Sumner in what was called The Long Walk of the Navajo. Kit Carson invaded Canyon de Chelly in January 1864 in an infamous raid that captured over 10,000 men, women, and children. However, in 1868, the Navajo were allowed to return home to the canyon in what became the first time the government relocated Native Americans onto a reservation back on their traditional homeland.

Answer: Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument was established January 11, 2000, by President Bill Clinton. This park is very remote as there are no visitor services or paved roads. A volcanic fault line runs through the park and is responsible for the creation of many areas of lava flows around the geologic formations carved by the Colorado River.

There is an abundance of biological diversity, including the California condor, Mexican spotted owl and desert tortoise. When the building of the Hoover Dam flooded part of this canyon, Lake Mead was created, the largest reservoir in the United States.

Answer: Coconino National Forest

Walnut Canyon National Monument was established November 30, 1915 by Woodrow Wilson and protects 3,541 acres of the canyon. The dwelling consists of a series of 25 rooms carved into the side of the 350 foot (106 m) deep canyon, making it an archeological gold mine. Walnut Canyon lies within highly forested land, mostly Ponderosa pine, in the hills at 6,690 feet (2,040 m) elevation. Within this same forest, in clear view, are the San Francisco Peaks, which contain the four highest peaks in Arizona.

The tallest of these peaks, at 12,633 feet (3,851 m) elevation is Humphrey's Peak, with Agassiz Peak a close second at 12,356 ft (3,766 m). Prior to its establishment, much of the ancient ruins were being scavenged by looters looking for souvenirs.

The surrounding Coconino National Forest, which contains mostly ponderosa pine, is also home to Douglas fir, quaking aspen, and blue spruce. Elk, black bears, mountain lions, and white-tail deer inhabit this forest, and can be seen frequenting the park.

Answer: Montezuma Castle National Monument

Montezuma Castle National Monument was established December 8, 1906, by Teddy Roosevelt. This five-story, twenty-room marvel was built by the Sinagua people around 1400 A.D, and housed approximately fifty people. Since 1950, access inside the cliff dwellings has been limited to National Park Service personnel, only to keep the place preserved for future generations.

A series of ladders up the cliff side is required to enter the main entrance. The fifth and top level of the ancient city sits indented on the side of the cliff, 100 feet from the bottom.

Answer: Turkey Creek Caldera Eruption

The 12,000 acre Chiricahua National Monument was designated April 18, 1924, by President Calvin Coolidge. It was named after the mountain range just to the north of the park, which in turn was named after the Chiricahua Apache. It was volcanically formed by the Turkey Creek Caldera Eruption.

Answer: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Access to the Arizona Strip from the rest of the state on a paved road is limited without first going through Utah or Nevada. To go around the Grand Canyon on the west, travelers will usually cross at the Hoover Dam into Nevada. On the eastern end of the canyon system, travelers can cross Glen Canyon at Navajo Bridge, a few miles from the Utah border. The Arizona Strip is easily accessible from Nevada and Utah, so it has stronger cultural ties to those states. Several California Condors were released into the Arizona Strip wilderness in the late 1990's as an ideal location for no human interference. It is roughly the size of Massachusetts, but less than seven percent of Arizona's land area.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was created on April 13, 1937 by FDR, and is a 330,000-acre area wildlife preserve in the Sonoran Desert. It is not only a National Monument, but is designated by the United Nations as an International Biosphere Reserve. Far more than just sand, this beautiful desert landscape is home to diverse plant life such as Palo Verde, Mesquite, Ironwood, and elephant trees. Among the many fauna that roam this unspoiled land are bighorn sheep, Sonoran pronghorn deer, javelina, and mountain lions.

Pipe Spring National Monument is a 40 acre ranch that was settled by Mormon settlers in 1858. It was purchased by the Church of Latter Day Saints under direction of Brigham Young. When violence erupted between the local Paiute and Navajo, a large brick fortification was built to protect all the settlers, and served as the ranch's primary residence. Each room along the wall has gun holes instead of windows. This fortification was named Winsor Castle, after the local LDS bishop Anson Winsor, who was the head of the ranch. The isolated location served as a refuge for residents persecuted by the United States Government. Winsor Castle was built over top of a local fresh water spring so residents would not have to leave the wall's protection to obtain fresh water.