AZ: The History of Arizona podcast

Starting in 1943, 3,000 German prisoners of war, mostly naval men, would be held in a POW camp at Papago Park. In 1944, 28 of those deemed to be troublemakers discovered a blindspot in their compound and set upon an audacious plan to break out and make a run for Mexico.

Starting in 1943, thousands of German and Italian POWs were shipped to Arizona. They would leave a mostly honorable legacy while the Sonoran Desert and the mountains of Flagstaff would leave a lasting impression on them.

World War II had the effect of making Fort Huachuca into a a central gathering place for Black men and women serving in the U.S. Army. Their experience ran parallel with their white counterparts, except for a notable undercurrent of segregation, prejudice, and racism. And those same undercurrents would result in a minor war breaking out on the streets of Phoenix on Thanksgiving Day 1942.

After Pearl Harbor, the military turned Arizona into one giant training ground. And many of the soldiers who funnel through the state chose to stay in the desert, chaining the course of Arizona history for decades to come.

Most people connect Pearl Harbor to the USS Arizona that sunk beneath the waves on December 7, 1941. But in the months following the surprise attack, Arizona would have a surprising connection to those who had help plan that most infamous of dates.

Though it was probably not on his mind at all, Adolph Hitler changed the course of Arizona’s history when he invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. One ramification that would unfold a year and a half later was one of the last great instances of Amerindian resistance to the U.S. government.

In 1934, Arizona’s hostility toward California and its water demands reached it zenith, culminating in the governor sending troops and a “navy,” to stop that most heinous of things - a dam across the Colorado River.

The Hoover Dam would be finished two years early, but that feat took a lot of planning, coordination, and sacrifice - and a heavy toll on the men building the project.

It’s time to talk about water once again. In this case, we discuss all the preparation that went into one of the biggest public works projects of the 1930s that just so happens to sit between Arizona and Nevada.

The U.S. Army started to reorganize and consolidate in the 1920s. At Fort Huachuca this meant an end to its time hosting not only the 10th Cavalry and 25th Infantry Buffalo Soldiers, but the last remaining Apache scouts as well.

When they weren’t patrolling the border or invading Mexico, the Buffalo Soldiers had lives filled with Army drills, band concerts, baseball games, dances with eligible women and, oh yeah, all kinds of discrimination.

We continue our deep look into the service of the Buffalo Soldiers with one of the main highlights of their time in Arizona - protesting the border and invading Mexico.

The Buffalo Soldiers left quite a legacy, both in general and in Arizona. Along the border town of Naco, part of that legacy is still standing - and some folks want to keep it that way.

This is the story of how one Chinese man became a legend at Fort Huachuca.

Before it became the very model of a modern Army installation, Fort Huachuca started out as the temporary Camp Huachuca, a remote, frontier outpost that was simply struggling to hold on.

In 1930, a young man from Kansas working in Flagstaff noted an object move 3.5 millimeters between two photographic plates. And our understanding of the Solar System has never been the same.

While you can’t talk about Percival Lowell without mentioning his views on Mars, you also have to discuss his other great obsession - finding the hypothetical ninth planet hiding on the fringes of the solar system.

During the first two decades of its existence, Lowell Observatory furthered both one of the great astronomical misconceptions and breakthroughs of the 20th century.

In May 1894, a rich, globetrotting, and brilliant mathematician from Boston came to Flagstaff for a special purpose - finding evidence of life on Mars.

The Great Depression is a historical period best told through on-the-ground stories. Here is just a smattering of what it looked like in Arizona.

In 1932, FDR pledged to bring his “New Deal” to the American people. You can debate its effectiveness, but in Arizona in general and Phoenix in particular you can see remnants and effects of the New Deal programs to this very day.

Delays in the present, but plans for the future!

During the 1930s, millions of migrant workers and their families fled from the Dust Bowl. Tens of thousands of them drifted into Arizona, lured by the promise of plenty of work in the cotton fields. These workers would find themselves taking the place of displaced Mexican workers, both economically and socially.

In October 1929, the bottom fell out of the stock market, and three of Arizona’s famous 5 C’s each took massive hits in the ensuing depression. But the downturn didn’t just hit people’s pocketbooks; in the case of many Mexican nationals or Mexican-Americans, it affected their ability to live in Arizona at all.

In 1930, thousands of Arizonans came together to celebrate the official dedication of the unique Coolidge Dam. It was the culmination of years of work to get a dam on the Gila River, but its legacy remains a bit complicated. But, hey, at least it gave us one really funny joke.