BobRingReflections

This is an article about Arizona’s early explorers and the pathways they blazed - pathways that opened up Arizona to the world and eventually established important transportation routes that enabled the complete development of the state.   The story starts in the 16 th century, with Spanish Conquistadors, looking for gold and follows history through almost 300 years of Spanish presence, the birth and expansion of the United States into the southwest, Mexican independence, the Mexican-American War, and finally American exploration.   The story concludes with a snapshot of the legacy these pathfinders provided for Arizona. My primary resource for this article was: Historical Atlas of Arizona , by Henry P. Walker and Don Bufkin - particularly the fabulous maps.   I also used numerous online sources. A note about my approach:   I tried to put the various periods of Arizona’s exploration into historical context - thus providing some historical background before going through the va