Some fun, little-known facts about Arizona history:
Geronimo
Did you know that Geronimo...
...was not a chief, but a shaman and war leader
...had at least 9 wives,
sometimes 3 at one time
...had many children, but only 2 survived to give
him descendants
...lost his first wife - the love of his life - their
3 children and his mother
to Mexican soldiers
...was captured only once,
by John P. Clum
...as a baby, was named Goyahkla, meaning “One Who
Yawns”
...in later life, regretted most the killing of children
...during captivity,
wrote beautiful love letters to his wives and children
...was once chased
by Wyatt Earp
...lived much of his life in Mexico
...is buried at Fort Sill, Oklahoma
...rode a Ferris Wheel at the St.
Louis Worlds Fair
Arizona’s Indians during World War II
Did you know that during World War II...
...99% of all eligible American
Indians in the USA registered for service
...the design of the code used
by the Navajo Code Talkers was the brain
child of a white man who spoke
fluent Navajo, but 29 Navajos, the
original Code Talkers, came up with
the actual code
...the Navajo Code Talkers had white body guards assigned
to them
...rumors spread that the Japanese would invade the U.S. from
Mexico,
with help from the Indians
...American Indians across the USA
purchased $50 million in War Bonds
...famed Indian artist, Carl Gorman,
was one of the original 29 Navajo
Code Talkers
...Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian,
was one of the six soldiers who raised the
flag on Mt. Suribachi after
the battle of Iwo Jima
...on the battlefield the nickname for the Code
Talkers was Arizona
...on threat of death, the Code Talkers could not
reveal their role in the
war until the code was declassified in 1968
Arizona’s “unique” governors
Did you know that one of Arizona’s “unique” governors...
...Anson Peacely Killen Safford, granted himself a divorce
...John Charles Fremont, served as governor of California
and ran for
the presidency before being appointed territorial governor
of Arizona
...Frederick Augustus Tritle, was saddled with a legislature
known as
the Thieving Thirteenth
...Conrad Meyer Zulick, was under arrest in Mexico at
the time of his
appointment
...Benjamin Joseph Franklin, was a direct descendent of the Benjamin
Franklin
...Lewis Wolfley, withheld pay from certain judges to
force them out
of office
... Louis C. Hughes, turned down a personal invitation
from Theodore
Roosevelt to attend the christening of the USS Arizona,
as
champagne would be used during the ceremony
...John C. Phillips, refused pay raises for judges, for
fear a competent
one would beat him out of his job
...George W. P. Hunt, is buried in a pyramid
