Arizona: A History of the Grand Canyon State with Jim Turner

This brief history starts with Conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado’s 1540 expedition and covers Catholic missions, mining, Native American conflicts, Mormon immigration, ranching, farming, health seekers, education, tourism, moviemaking, and biographies ranging from Father Eusebio Kino to Sandra Day O’Connor. You can’t cover Arizona history without Wild West legends like Wyatt Earp, stage robbers, and dance hall girls but this presentation focuses more on Arizona’s diverse cultures, unusual characters, and unsung heroes like Hi Jolly, the Greco-Syrian camel driver, The Baron of Arizona, Nellie Cashman, the “Miner’s Angel,” and the Navajo Code Talkers.

This program is cohosted by Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce – McFarland State Historic Park. This is an in-person event.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Before retiring from the Arizona Historical Society, Jim Turner worked with more than 70 museums across the state. He co-authored the 4th-grade textbook The Arizona Story, and his pictorial history, Arizona: Celebration of the Grand Canyon State, was a 2012 Southwest Books of the Year selection. Jim moved to Tucson in 1951, earned a M.A. in U.S. history in 1999, and has been presenting Arizona history for more than forty years. Jim is author of The Mighty Colorado from the Glaciers to the Gulf and Four Corners USA: Wonders of the American Southwest.