Arizona, USA
The Grand Canyon State (48)
Capitol: Phoenix
Admitted into Union: February 14, 1912
State Flower: Saguaro Cactus Bloom
State Tree: Yellow Palo Verde
State Reptile: Arizona Ridgenose Rattlesnake
State Gem: Turquoise
Population: 5.6 million

Shine on! Arizona is the top state for copper production. The Phelps Dodge Morenci Mine north of Stafford produces over 750 million tons of copper a year. The copper dome of the State Capitol would make over 4.5 million pennies. The Arizona Rattler celebrates Arizona’s top industry with two shiny stars gleaming on a snakeskin pattern. The turquoise lining brings out the gem in you.

Silver Springs: The name “Arizona” derives from a Spanish interpretation of arizuma, an Aztec Indian word meaning "silver-bearing." It’s also based on the Pima Indian word "arizonac" for "little spring place."

Native pride: Arizona has one of the largest Native American populations in the US. Oraibi, Arizona’s Hopi settlement, is the oldest continuously lived-in Native American site in the Union. More than 14 other tribes live on 20 reservations.

Desert gems: Arizona boasts many natural and man-made attractions, including the Petrified Forest, full of petrified tree trunks up to six feet in diameter; the Painted Desert, a plateau region of lovely strata of red and yellow sediment and clay; and the colossal Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, which created Lake Mead, one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.

Bridging cultures: In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the London Bridge was shipped from England stone by stone and rebuilt over the Colorado River at Lake Havasu City.

Grand Dimensions: The Grand Canyon covers 1,904 square miles, is 18 miles wide from rim to rim, is up to a mile deep, and runs 277 miles along the Colorado River.

Tie One On…Arizona-Style! In 1949, Arizona silversmith Vic Cedarstaff invented a Wild West version of the necktie and called it the bola. The bola tie is a silver or stone ornament fixed on an adjustable loop of leather (often braided) that you slip over your head, then tighten.

Leftover Laws of the Wild West: When in Arizona, don’t hunt camels or let your donkey sleep in a bathtub. In Prescott, you’re not allowed to ride your horse up the stairs of the county courthouse. It’s against the law for women to wear pants in Tucson, and in Tombstone, your smile better not show off more than one missing tooth.

Famous Arizonans: Apache Kid, Erma Bombeck, Glen Campbell, Lynda Carter, Cesar Chavez, Cochise, Alice Cooper, Wyatt Earp, Max Ernst, Louie Espinoza, Geronimo, Barry Goldwater, Zane Grey, Bill Keane, John McCain, Charles Mingus, Stevie Nicks, Linda Ronstadt, Tanya Tucker, Stewart Udall