And Spelled Backwards, It’s “Anozira”
By Marshall Trimble, Official State Historian
Arizonans live by their myths and legends. Our state is a land of anomalies and tamales. We have birds that run faster than they fly, flowers that bloom only at night and, frequently, the hottest and coldest national temperatures on the same day. The only poisonous lizard in the United States—the Gila monster—calls Arizona home. The nation’s most dangerous scorpion is the bark scorpion, and it thrives in Arizona. Be forewarned: it doesn’t bark before it stings.
During the winter, it’s possible to snow ski in Flagstaff, then drive an hour and a half to the Valley and go water skiing. Our annual rainfall averages from thirty inches per year in the White Mountains to about three inches per year around Yuma. Arizona’s creeks usually have more water flowing than the rivers do. One river is so new that it’s never had any water in it. That’s why we call it New River.
Arizona is larger than Pennsylvania, Delaware, and all New England combined. Maricopa County alone is larger than the state of Massachusetts. And tiny Santa Cruz County is larger than at least seventeen nations in the world.
The town of Gila Bend isn’t in Gila County—it’s in Maricopa County. The town of Maricopa is in Pinal County. Pinal is in Gila County. The town of Pima isn’t in Pima County, but rather in Graham County. Fort Apache is in Navajo County, while the town of Navajo is in Apache County. If you’re not confused by now, you’re either not thinking clearly.
If you live in Moccasin on the Arizona Strip, you have to drive 360 miles and travel through three states—Utah, Nevada, and Arizona—cross over Hoover Dam, and drive another hundred miles to get to your county seat at Kingman. It’s only 140 miles as the crow flies, but the crow flies over the Grand Canyon. Speaking of the world’s grandest natural architectural masterpiece, the Grand Canyon is the only canyon among the world’s Seven Natural Wonders.