AZ: The History of Arizona podcast

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Episode 206: The Colorado River Compact, Part II: Upper Basin, Lower Basin Feb 10, 2025

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When the Colorado River Commission reached an impasse, Delph Carpenter proposed an idea. To get around the myriad of competing entrenched interests, he went with something both simple and (eventually) problematic - why not avoid talking about individual states all together?

Episode 205: The Colorado Compact, Part 1: Stalemate Feb 03, 2025

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By 1922, everyone along the Colorado River agreed to get together and decide how to split up the water amicably. Unfortunately, their first attempt would only last four days.

Episode 204: The League of the Southwest Jan 27, 2025

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Throughout the 1910s, states came together and fell apart as they all discussed differing visions for the use of the Colorado River. Finally, in 1920, one lawyer from Colorado had a brilliant idea — Why didn’t everyone just sit down, come to a final agreement and put it all into writing?

Episode 203: Imperial Dreams Jan 20, 2025

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By the 1920s, everyone was thinking that it was time to tap the Colorado River for irrigation. However, before we cover that, I think we need to go over the ground rules for water rights in the Western United States. Also, just for fun, let’s look at the disaster that followed one of the earliest attempts to harness the Colorado for agriculture.

Episode 202: The Mother of Highways Dec 23, 2024

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As automobiles grew more popular in the 1920s, Arizona suddenly had to invest a lot into building the infrastructure that would allow them to get around. From bridges to tunnels to actual highways, let’s look at some of the first projects to cater to the car-loving crowd.

Episode 201: How to Build a Highway Dec 19, 2024

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Let’s take a trip down some dusty history by examining how Arizona went from a territory of wagon trails to a state of highways. Hint - it involves a lot of hand-wringing over how to pay for everything.

Episode 200 Dec 09, 2024

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To celebrate 200 episodes of getting together to talk all things Arizona history, here’s a jumbo-sized episode where I take your suggestions for what we should cover!

Episode 199: The Unsung Hero Nov 25, 2024

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With tourism exploding across Arizona in the 1920s, the state had to make sure its new visitors had some very nice places to stay … even if those places ostensibly raised cattle.

Programming Notice 4 Nov 18, 2024

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It's a bad news/good news situation

Episode 198: Indian Detours Nov 11, 2024

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As tourism exploded across Arizona in the 1920s, everyone was suddenly interested in Amerindian culture, much to the benefit and detriment of the state’s native population.

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