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Southwest Chronology
By Susan Huetteman

Key to Abbreviations

Main Areas:
AZ = Arizona
CO = Colorado
NM = New Mexico
NV = Nevada
UT = Utah

Other Areas:
MX = Mexico
US and USA = United States of America

Note:  Overlapping dates indicate concurrent events.
 

BC The Ancients Cross Bering Strait
225,000	Dinosaurs roam Petrified Forest National Park Prehistoric Lake Bonneville covers the Great Basin (now only salt flats remain)
55–53,000	Pre-historic nomads, the Ancients, cross Bering Strait into the New World, living in NM at Orogrande Cave
50–20,000	Giant meteorite, 570 feet by 1-3 miles wide, strikes earth near Flagstaff, AZ
18–10,000	Anasazi culture, the Ancient Ones, reaches CO
12,000	Desert culture reaches UT Hunters and gatherers in Great Basin plant corn, beans and gather seeds, nuts, and roots Basket makers weave nets and sandals, work with minerals, and establish irrigation Paleo-Indians in AZ/NM hunt bison, woolly mammoth, mastodon, antelope, camel, horses and prehistoric creatures
10,000	Folsom culture in NM develops spearheads Lovelock culture in NV comes to Humbolt Range, settling near Lake Lahontan
1,400	Lovelock culture declines
900	Anasazi culture at peak near Virgin and Muddy Rivers, NV
500	Mogollon culture develops in southwest NM Anasazi culture builds pit houses in Moapa Valley, NV
100	Anasazi culture moves to CO plateau
2-3	Anasazi, Hohokam and Mongollon build pueblos in north plateau, south central desert and east central mountains of AZ, respectively

AD
200	Hohokam culture migrates to AZ, possibly from MX Hohokam culture builds sites similar to Maya temples and Mexico's Toltec; also builds canals on Salt River in AZ and grows corn, beans, squash, tobacco and cotton Weavers and potters, the Hohokam sculpt stone
400	Fremont culture lives north of Colorado River, UT; a desert culture, they make contact and mix with advanced Mexican cultures
400–1000	Anasazi culture resides in NM, CO, AZ, and southeast UT; builds Sky City in northwest NM Acoma Pueblo, NM, and Oraibi, AZ, are longest inhabited sites Mesa Verde pueblos, CO, is inhabited (750–1100) Anasazi build the Pueblo Grande de Nevada (the lost city) Mogollon Culture resides in southwest NM
1064	Sunset Crater, AZ, erupts, leaving fertile volcanic ash for farming Sinaguas move to ledges and rim of Walnut Canyon and Flagstaff, AZ; by 1500, they disappear
1276	Twenty-three year drought forces Anasazi south

Ancient Native Cultures Disappear New Native Cultures Appear and Remain
13–1400	Ancient cultures disappear New cultures appear in UT:  Shoshonean-speakers, Ute, Paiute, Gosiute, and Navajo in southeastern Monument Valley Hohokam descendants build Casa Grande in AZ, the oldest masonry construction project in the world
1500	Apache, Navajo, Ute and Comanche groups enter NM Spain conquers MX, southwest US and NV

Spanish Exploration Descendants of Ancient Cultures Diverge
1540	Coronado and other Spanish explorers seek gold and riches in the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola Coronado discovers the Grand Canyon and seeks route to MX
15–1700	Native Americans continuously resist imposition of Spanish culture, religion, and enslavement
1582	Spanish settlement begins
1640	One out of every ten Pueblo Indians die of smallpox
1680	Pope', a San Juan Indian, leads Great Rebellion against cruelty of Spanish Conquistadors Spain retreats to MX
1682	French explore CO
1700–40	Spanish return and seek control; strong resistance in NM by Comanche, joined by Ute from north
1776	Navajo found in four corners—UT, AZ, NM, CO After Fremont and Anasazi leave, two native groups, Shoshonean-speakers and Navajo, settle in UT; Shoshonean-speakers enter from southern CA and northern MX Paiute (Pahute), in southern UT, AZ, NV and CA, are farmers and gatherers Gosiute (Goshute) are western desert root diggers Ute, singers and storytellers, use Spanish horses and learn slave trade from Spanish United States of America is founded
1783	African slave trade is prohibited in all northern states, including, DE, MD, and VA

Mexico Breaks Free from Spain
1803	US buys CO from France through the Louisiana Purchase
1806	US Army officer, Zebulon Pike, discovers Pikes Peak in CO
1812	MX wins independence from Spain and controls NM
1821	Mexico breaks free of Spain NV is Mexican Territory, but not explored William Becknell leads wagon trains from Independence, MO, to Santa Fe, NM, opening the Santa Fe Trail
1826	Jedediah Smith and John C. Fremont explore NV Fur trading begins
1834	El Crepusculo de la Libertad (the Dawn of Liberty) is first NM newspaper

Mexican-American War
1845	TX, seeking US protection since 1836, is annexed to US President Polk offers to purchase NM and CA from Mexico; refused, the countries prepare for war
1846–48	Mexican War (Mexican-American) in CA, NV, UT, parts of AZ, NM, CO, and WY Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends war and establishes territorial boundaries Santa Fe Republican is first English-language newspaper in NM
1853	Gadsen Purchase of land from MX settles southern boundaries of CA and NM

Gold Rush Begins
1844–47	Mormons leave IL for UT Mormons declare State of Deseret with Brigham Young as governor; instead Congress establishes Utah Territory with Young as governor
1846–48	Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mills—race in Sacramento Valley begins January 24, 1848
1849	With President Tyler's blessing, CA declares statehood and prohibits slavery
1846–54	Wilmot Proviso closes MX to slave emigration South protects slavery in the Washington, D.C., Indian Territory, TX, LA, and FL NM and UT territories are established
1857	Mormon War with Utes ends 1861, disrupted by Civil War

 

Fifty-Niners Begin the Gold Rush
1858	Gold is discovered in Cherry Creek, CO
1859	Comstock Lode is found in Virginia City, NV Gold Rush begins the expansion to the Southwest
1860	Overhunting reduces Buffalo herds Native American unrest, Kit Carson requests compensation for Native Americans Gold is discovered in Leadville, CO First public library in Denver The Pony Express operates in UT Lincoln is elected president South Carolina secedes from Union

Territories and Human Rights
1861	NV territory is created from western UT and CO territory from eastern UT—new territories quickly establishes support for the Union side in Civil War Telegraph lines meet in Salt Lake City, UT, connecting Atlantic and Pacific coasts Confederate States of America is declared Old Missouri Compromise establishes line between free and slave territories Abolitionist President Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation; country is divided
1862	Apaches and Navajos are forced to relocate to central NM reservations, thousands die of starvation Confederates seize Sante Fe, but Battle of Glorieta Pass keeps NM in Union
1863	AZ territory is created, establishing present boundaries of NM
1864	Col. Kit Carson defeats Navajo, forcing 8,000 people on a 300 mile march to Bosque Redondo, NM—the "Long Walk" Ute Indians are placed on Utah Reservation NV is 36th state, providing electoral vote for the Union Mark Twain, after two years in Confederate Army, defects and moves to west
1865	NV creates first school districts Civil War ends 13th Amendment abolishes slavery, but with limited civil rights President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated President Andrew Johnson begins Reconstruction Federal troops occupy south until 1877

19TH Century Transition
1866	NV gains eastern land from UT First public school in UT
1867	NV gains southern triangle land from AZ
1869	Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads meet in Golden Spike ceremony at Promontory Summit, UT; this is the first continental railroad in the US
1870	First National Bank found in Santa Fe, NM Matchless Mine, CO, makes Horace A.W. Tabor the "Silver King" (his wife, Baby Doe, lives to 1935 in poverty, a story told in the 20th century opera, The Ballad of Baby Doe)
1873	US Mint Act limits use of silver currency resulting in drop in silver prices; towns become ghost towns
1876	CO, the Centennial State, is 38th state in the Union
1879	Native American children are taken from reservations to "make them white" in Carlisle Indian School in PA Native American unrest continues
1880	Basque sheepherders remain in northern NV
1881	Gunfight at OK Coral Boot Hill cemetery is established
1885	General Allotment Act gives tribes small parcels of land to farm; excess land sold to white settlers
1886	Geronimo and Apache leaders surrender Native Americans sent to reservations in AL, FL, and OK

Last Big Gold Find before the Fall
1891	Cowboy Bob Womack finds gold in Cripple Creek, CO—the last big camp
1892	Kathryn E. Bates writes America the Beautiful after seeing Pikes Peak (alt. Date 1893)
1893	Silver prices collapse creating economic depression
1894	Biggest silver nugget is found in Aspen, 1,840 lbs., creating fifty-year "silver bust"
1895	UT becomes 45th state during Grover Cleveland's presidency

20TH Century Growth
1900	Bighorn sheep are reintroduced at Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
1901	Newlands Reclamation Act appropriates funds for dams and irrigation projects in the West
1906	Mesa Verde National Park is established in CO
1912	NM becomes 47th state during William Howard Taft's presidency; main language is Spanish AZ becomes 48th state Margaret Tobin (Molly) Brown is rescued from the sinking Titanic (story becomes 20th century Broadway musical and movie) First electric traffic light is installed; is invented by Salt Lake City, UT, policeman

Age of Innocence Ends
1914–18	US troops participate in World War I
1915	Rocky Mountain National Park is established in CO
1916	Voting rights is given to Indians in NM and AZ
1923	Willa Cather, living in NM, wins Pulitzer Prize in fiction
1925	Scott Carpenter is born in CO; will become astronaut in the Space Age
1929–39	Drought and crashing stock market create the Great Depression; the effects continue until beginning of World War II Eleanor Roosevelt champions Native American self-determination Bureau of Indian Affairs is formed
1935	Boulder Dam (renamed Hoover Dam) is built in Black Canyon, NV
1941	Japan bombs Pearl Harbor US enters World War II (1941-45)
1942–45	J. Robert Oppenheimer develops the first atomic bomb at Los Alamos Ranch School outside Santa Fe, NM
1945	The Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, NM, tests the atomic bomb near Alamogordo, NM Japanese Americans are interned in Millard County, UT, by order of President Roosevelt
1950	Uranium ore is discovered in NM; atomic testing above ground in NV, 1950–51 Rocket testing begins in UT
1963	Nuclear Test Ban Treaty moves atomic testing underground in NV
1966	The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is located underground in Cheyenne Mt., Colorado Springs, CO
1981	Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope is in Socorro, NM
1982	US Supreme Court rules Indian nations and tribes may set tax on oil, natural gas, and minerals taken on Indian lands
1999	Three hand-woven Indian baskets—valued at $300,000—made by Dat So La Lee of the Washoe Tribe (1850–1925) are stolen from Nevada Historical Society

Susan Huetteman is a retired teacher from Rhode Island.