{{Short description|Geographical region of the United States}} {{Use American English|date=June 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Southwestern United States | official_name = American Southwest, the Southwest | settlement_type = [[Regions of the United States|Region]] <!-- maps and coordinates -->| coordinates = {{coord|37|-111|region:US_dim:1000km|display=title,inline}} | image_map = Southwest map.png | map_caption = Though regional definitions vary from source to source, [[Arizona]] and [[New Mexico]] (in dark red) are almost always considered the core, modern-day Southwest. The brighter red and striped states may or may not be considered part of this region. The brighter red states ([[California]], [[Nevada]], [[Utah]], and [[Colorado]]) are also classified as part of the [[Western United States|West]] by the U.S. Census Bureau, though the striped states are not; [[Texas]] and [[Oklahoma]] are classified as part of the [[Southern United States|South]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf|title=Census Regions and Divisions of the United States|website=census.gov|publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division|date=n.d.|quote=PDF file link under ''General Reference Maps'' on ''census.gov/geo/maps-data/maps/reference.html''|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228130953/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/maps/pdfs/reference/us_regdiv.pdf|archive-date=December 28, 2013|url-status=live|access-date=November 27, 2016}}</ref> | image_skyline = {{multiple image | align = center | border = infobox | perrow = 1/2/1/2/1/2/1/2 | total_width = 300 | caption_align = center | image1 = Phoenix AZ Downtown from airplane (cropped).jpg | caption1 = [[Downtown Phoenix]], Arizona | image2 = Monument Valley 2.jpg | caption2 = [[Monument Valley]], Arizona | image3 = Cathedral rock sedona arizona 2.jpg | caption3 = [[Cathedral Rock]] – [[Sedona, Arizona]] | image4 = Route 66 Downtown.jpg | caption4 = Route 66 in downtown [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]] | image5 = BosqueNM.jpg | caption5 = [[Rio Grande]] [[Bosque]] near [[Bernalillo, New Mexico]] | image6 = Palace of the Governors Santa Fe.JPG | caption6 = [[Palace of the Governors]] in [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]] | image7 = | caption7 = [[Arches National Park]] | image8 = Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge view from Hoover Dam.jpeg | caption8 = [[Hoover Dam]] | image9 = 2014, Mojave Desert Desert Willow, Four WIng Saltbush, Palo Verde - panoramio.jpg | caption9 = [[Chilopsis linearis|Desert willow]] in the [[Mojave Desert]] | image10 = Bellagio Las Vegas December 2013 panorama.jpg | caption10 = [[Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas|Cosmopolitan]], [[Bellagio (resort)|Bellagio]], and [[Caesars Palace]] on the [[Las Vegas Strip]], Nevada | image11 = YsletaMission.JPG | caption11 = [[Ysleta Mission]] in [[El Paso, Texas]] | image12 = New Mexican breakfast burrito.jpg | caption12 = [[New Mexican cuisine]]: [[breakfast burrito]] }} <!-- location -->| subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = [[United States]] | subdivision_type1 = States | subdivision_name1 = Core:<br />[[Arizona]]<br />[[New Mexico]]<br />Others, depending on boundaries used:<br />[[California]]<br />[[Colorado]]<br />[[Nevada]]<br />[[Utah]]<br />[[Oklahoma]]<br />[[Texas]] |blank_name_sec1=Largest city |blank_info_sec1=[[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]]
|blank_name_sec2=Largest metro |blank_info_sec2=[[Phoenix metropolitan area]] }}
The '''Southwestern United States''', also known as the '''American Southwest''' or simply '''the Southwest''', is a geographic and cultural [[list of regions of the United States|region of the United States]] that includes [[Arizona]] and [[New Mexico]], along with adjacent portions of [[California]], [[Colorado]], [[Nevada]], [[Oklahoma]], [[Texas]], and [[Utah]]. The largest cities by [[List of metropolitan statistical areas|metropolitan area]] are [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], [[Las Vegas]], [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]], [[Albuquerque]], and [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|date=January 2023|title=Annual Resident Population Estimates for Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas and Their Geographic Components: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019; April 1, 2020; and July 78, 2020|url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2010-2020/metro/totals/cbsa-est2020.csv|access-date=January 14, 2023|work=2020 Population Estimates|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]], Population Division}}</ref> Before 1848, in the historical region of [[Santa Fe de Nuevo México]] as well as parts of [[Alta California]] and [[Coahuila y Tejas]], settlement was almost non-existent outside of New Mexico's [[pueblo]]s and [[Santa Fe de Nuevo México#Regions and municipalities|Spanish or Mexican municipalities]]. Much of the area had been a part of [[New Spain]] and Mexico until the United States acquired the area through the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] in 1848 and the smaller [[Gadsden Purchase]] in 1854.
While the region's boundaries are not officially defined, there have been attempts to do so.<ref name="UAtpncd" /> One such definition is from the [[Mojave Desert]] in California in the west (117° west longitude) to [[Carlsbad, New Mexico]], in the east (104° west longitude); another says that it extends from the [[Mexico–United States border]] in the south to the southern areas of Colorado, Utah, and Nevada in the north (39° north latitude).<ref name="CarltonDef">{{cite web | url=http://jsw.library.arizona.edu/3403/defined.html | publisher=University of Arizona | title=Land, Sky, and People: The Southwest Defined | last=Byrkit | first=James W. | editor-last=Wilder | editor-first=Joseph Carlton | year=1992 | access-date=June 13, 2018 | quote=The coordinates 104°–117° West Longitude and 29°–39° North Latitude constitute the boundaries of this region}}</ref> In another definition, the '''core Southwestern U.S.''' includes only the states of Arizona and New Mexico; others focus on the land within the old Spanish and Mexican borders of the [[Santa Fe de Nuevo México|''Nuevo México'' Province]] or the later American [[New Mexico Territory]].<ref name="Kessell 2013 p. ">{{cite book | last=Kessell | first=J.L. | title=Spain in the Southwest: A Narrative History of Colonial New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California | publisher=University of Oklahoma Press | year=2013 | isbn=978-0806180120 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kkCuPLXntpUC | access-date=February 4, 2021 | page=}}</ref><ref name="Douglass Graves 2017 p. ">{{cite book | last1=Douglass | first1=J.G. | last2=Graves | first2=W. | title=New Mexico and the Pimería Alta: The Colonial Period in the American Southwest | publisher=University Press of Colorado | year=2017 | isbn=978-1607325741 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQBbDgAAQBAJ | access-date=February 4, 2021 | page=}}</ref><ref name="Oliva 1993 p. 242">{{cite book | last=Oliva | first=L.E. | title=Fort Union and the Frontier Army in the Southwest | publisher=Division of History, National Park Service | series=Southwest Cultural Resources Center professional papers | year=1993 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rb_RqxgpE2UC&pg=PA242 | access-date=February 4, 2021 | page=242}}</ref>
Distinct elements of the [[Western lifestyle]] thrive in the region, such as [[Western wear]] and [[Cuisine of the Southwestern United States|Southwestern cuisine]]s, including [[Native American cuisine#Southwestern Native American cuisine|Native American]], [[New Mexican cuisine|New Mexican]], and [[Tex-Mex]], or various genres of [[Western music (North America)|Western music]] like [[Indigenous music of North America#Southwest|Indigenous]], [[New Mexico music|New Mexico]], and [[Tejano music|Tejano]] music styles.<ref name="Deep South Dish">{{cite web | title=Favorite Southwestern, Mexican and Tex-Mex Recipes | website=Deep South Dish | url=https://www.deepsouthdish.com/2019/03/favorite-southwestern-mexican-and-tex.html | access-date=February 6, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Arellano 2017">{{cite web | last=Arellano | first=Gustavo | title=The 10 Best Songs of New Mexico Music, America's Forgotten Folk Genre | website=Latino USA | date=November 8, 2017 | url=https://www.latinousa.org/2017/11/08/10-best-songs-new-mexico-music-americas-forgotten-folk-genre/ | access-date=February 6, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Lucero">{{cite web | last=Lucero | first=Mario J. | title=The problem with how the music streaming industry handles data | website=Yahoo! Finance | date=January 3, 2020 | url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/music-streaming-services-mishandle-data-123028308.html | access-date=February 6, 2021}}</ref><ref name="SpicesInc.com The Online Spice Store 2012">{{cite web | title=A Spicy Guide to New Mexican Cuisine | website=SpicesInc.com The Online Spice Store | date=February 24, 2012 | url=https://www.spicesinc.com/p-3700-a-spicy-guide-to-new-mexican-cuisine.aspx | access-date=February 6, 2021 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> Likewise with the sought-after Southwestern architectural styles in the region inspired by blending [[Pueblo architecture|Pueblo]] and [[Territorial Style|Territorial]] styles, with [[Mediterranean Revival architecture|Mediterranean Revival]], [[Spanish Colonial architecture]], [[Mission Revival architecture]], [[Pueblo Deco architecture|Pueblo Deco]], and [[Ranch-style house]]s in the form of the amalgamated [[Pueblo Revival architecture|Pueblo Revival]] and [[Territorial Revival architecture|Territorial Revival]] architectures.<ref name="Wilson Reck 2001 p. ">{{cite book | last1=Wilson | first1=C. | last2=Reck | first2=R. | title=Facing Southwest: The Life & Houses of John Gaw Meem | publisher=Norton | year=2001 | isbn=978-0393730678 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hu8F9Nkh78UC | access-date=February 8, 2021 | page=}}</ref><ref name="Hooker Howard Price 2000 p. ">{{cite book | last1=Hooker | first1=V.D. | last2=Howard | first2=M. | last3=Price | first3=V.B. | title=Only in New Mexico: An Architectural History of the University of New Mexico : the First Century, 1889–1989 | publisher=University of New Mexico Press | year=2000 | isbn=978-0826321350 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ox5s9VpD4EIC | access-date=February 8, 2021 | page=}}</ref><ref name="HGTV 2015">{{cite web | title=Pueblo Revival Architecture | website=HGTV | date=April 27, 2015 | url=https://www.hgtv.com/design/decorating/design-101/pueblo-revival-architecture | access-date=February 8, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Whiffen 1981 p. ">{{cite book |authorlink=Marcus Whiffen |first=Marcus |last=Whiffen | title=American Architecture Since 1780: A Guide to the Styles | publisher=M.I.T. Press | year=1981 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lJwBzgEACAAJ | access-date=February 8, 2021 | page=}}</ref> This is due to the region's [[Vaquero#American Southwest|''caballero'']] heritage of the Native American (especially [[Apache]], [[Puebloans|Pueblo]], and [[Navajo]]), [[Hispanos of New Mexico|Hispano]], [[Mexican Americans|Mexican American]], and frontier [[cowboy]].<ref name="Figueredo 2014 p. ">{{cite book | last=Figueredo | first=D.H. | title=Revolvers and Pistolas, Vaqueros and Caballeros: Debunking the Old West | publisher=ABC-CLIO | series=Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Culture | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4408-2919-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HV9hBQAAQBAJ | access-date=March 18, 2023 | page=}}</ref><ref name="Livingston 2012">{{cite web | last=Livingston | first=Phil | title=The History of the Vaquero | website=American Cowboy | Western Lifestyle – Travel – People | date=July 9, 2012 | url=https://www.americancowboy.com/ranch-life-archive/history-vaquero | access-date=February 6, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Cook">{{cite web | last=Cook | first=Roy | title=Hispanic Role in the West | website=American Indian Source | url=http://americanindiansource.com/cowboys/hispanicrolewest.html | access-date=February 6, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Sood 2012">{{cite web | last=Sood | first=Suemedha | title=Touring the American Southwest in a cowboy's boots | website=BBC | date=June 13, 2012 | url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20120613-touring-the-american-southwest-in-a-cowboys-boots | access-date=February 6, 2021}}</ref>
==Regional geography== [[File:ISS View of the Southwestern USA.JPG|thumb|Panoramic view of the southwestern United States]] The geography of the region is mainly made up of four features: the [[Mojave Desert|Mojave]], [[Sonoran Desert|Sonoran]], and [[Chihuahuan Desert]]s, and the [[Colorado Plateau]]; although there are other geographical features as well, such as a portion of the [[Great Basin Desert]]. The deserts dominate the southern and western reaches of the area, while the plateau (which is largely made up of high desert) is the main feature north of the [[Mogollon Rim]].<ref name=ASW1>{{cite web | url=http://www.americansouthwest.net/deserts.html | publisher=The American Southwest | title=Deserts of Southwest USA | access-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref> The two major rivers of the region are the [[Colorado River]], running in the northern and western areas, and the [[Rio Grande]], running in the east, north to south. [[File:Chihuahuan Desert from South Rim BIBE.jpg|left|thumb|The Chihuahuan desert terrain mainly consists of [[Drainage basin|basins]] broken by numerous small [[mountain range]]s.]] Formed approximately 8000 years ago, the Chihuahuan Desert is a relatively dry desert,<ref name=NMSU /> although it is slightly wetter than the Sonoran Desert to the west.<ref name=ASW1 /> The Chihuahuan Desert spreads across the southeastern portion of the region, covering from southeastern Arizona, across southern and central New Mexico, and the portion of western Texas included in the Southwest.<ref name=NMSU>{{cite web | url=http://ddl.nmsu.edu/chihuahua.html | publisher=New Mexico State University | title=The Chihuahuan Desert | access-date=July 6, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121227092714/http://ddl.nmsu.edu/chihuahua.html | archive-date=December 27, 2012 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> While it is the second largest desert in the United States,<ref name=ASW1 /> only a third of the desert is within the United States, with the rest in Mexico.<ref name=NPSCD /> El Paso and Albuquerque are the major US cities in this desert, with other smaller cities being [[Las Cruces, New Mexico|Las Cruces]] and [[Roswell, New Mexico|Roswell]] in New Mexico and [[Willcox, Arizona|Willcox]] in Arizona.<ref name=ASW1 />
The elevation in the Chihuahuan Desert varies from about {{convert|1,750|to|6,000|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us|-2}}, as well as several larger mountain ranges within or bordering this desert including the [[Black Range]], [[Organ Mountains]], [[Capitan Mountains]], [[Manzano Mountains]], [[Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico)|Sacramento Mountains]], [[Sandia Mountains]], [[Magdalena Mountains]], and [[Chiracahua Mountains]], plus many smaller mountain ranges contained in the area, namely the [[Animas Mountains|Animas]], [[San Andres Mountains|San Andres]], [[Guadalupe Mountains]], and [[Doña Ana Mountains]] in New Mexico; and the [[Franklin Mountains (Texas)|Franklin]], [[Hueco Mountains|Hueco]], and [[Davis Mountains]] in Texas. It also reaches up into the foothills of the higher ranges such as the [[Black Range]] and [[Oscura Mountains]] in New Mexico. High above the desert, these forest-covered and sometimes snow-capped mountains form [[sky island]]s, with radically different flora and fauna than the surrounding desert below. The sky islands also supply the surrounding desert foothills with flowing water during the spring runoff and after the summer storms of the [[New Mexican Monsoon|New Mexican monsoon season]]. The Chihuahuan is a "rain shadow" desert, formed between two mountain ranges (the Sierra Madre Occidental on the west and the Sierra Madre Oriental on the east) which block oceanic precipitation from reaching the area.<ref name=NMSU /> The Chihuahuan Desert is considered the "most biologically diverse desert in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most diverse in the world," and includes more species of cacti than any other desert in the world.<ref name=NPSCD>{{cite web | url=https://www.nps.gov/cave/learn/nature/deserts.htm | publisher=National Park Service | title=Chihuahuan Desert | access-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref> The most prolific plants in this region are [[agave]], [[yucca]] and [[creosote bush]]es,<ref name=ASW1 /> in addition to the ubiquitous presence of various cacti species.
[[File:AguaFriaNM (cropped).jpeg|thumb|upright|Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert.]] When people think of the desert southwest, the landscape of the Sonoran Desert is what mostly comes to mind.<ref name=ASW1/> The Sonoran Desert makes up the southwestern portion of the Southwest; most of the desert lies in Mexico, but its United States component lies on the southeastern border of California, and the western 2/3 of southern Arizona. Rainfall averages between {{convert|4|and|12|in|mm|abbr=on}} per year. Its most widely known inhabitant is the [[saguaro cactus]], which is unique to the Sonoran.<ref name=WWF>{{cite web | url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/na1310 | publisher=World Wildlife Fund | title=Southern North America: Southwestern United States into northwestern Mexico | access-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref><ref name=LP>{{cite web | url=http://www.questconnect.org/sw_american_southwest.htm | publisher=Lonely Planet | title=The American Southwest; Footsteps of the Ancients Expedition | date= October 1, 2001 | last=Green | first=Kim & Don | access-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref> It is bounded on the northwest by the Mojave Desert, to the north by the Texas Plateau and to the east by the [[Arizona Mountains forests]] and the Chihuahuan Desert.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_geologic_origin.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=The Geologic Origin of the Sonoran Desert | access-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref> Aside from the trademark saguaro, the desert has the most diverse plant life of any desert in the world,<ref name=WWF /> and includes many other species of cacti, including the organ-pipe, senita, prickly pear, barrel, fishhook, hedgehog, cholla, silver dollar, and jojoba.<ref name=WWF /><ref name=LP /> The portion of the Sonoran Desert which lies in the Southwestern United States is the most populated area within the region. Six of the top ten major population centers of the region are found within its borders: Phoenix, [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]], [[Mesa, Arizona|Mesa]], [[Chandler, Arizona|Chandler]], [[Glendale, Arizona|Glendale]], and [[Scottsdale, Arizona|Scottsdale]], all in Arizona. Also within its borders are [[Yuma, Arizona|Yuma]] and [[Prescott, Arizona]].<ref name=ASW1 />
The most northwest portion of the American Southwest is covered by the Mojave Desert. Bordered on the south by the Sonoran Desert and the east by the Colorado Plateau, its range within the region makes up the southeast tip of Nevada, the southwestern corner of Utah and the northwestern corner of Arizona.<ref name=LP /> In terms of topography, the Mojave is very similar to the Great Basin Desert, which lies just to its north.<ref name=ASW1/> Within the region, Las Vegas is the most populous city; other significant population centers include [[Laughlin, Nevada|Laughlin]] and [[Pahrump, Nevada|Pahrump]] in Nevada, [[St. George, Utah|St. George]] and [[Hurricane, Utah|Hurricane]] in Utah, and [[Lake Havasu City, Arizona|Lake Havasu City]], [[Kingman, Arizona|Kingman]], and [[Bullhead City, Arizona|Bullhead City]] in Arizona. The Mojave is the smallest, driest and hottest desert within the United States.<ref name=LP /> The Mojave gets less than {{convert|6|in|mm|abbr=on|-1}} of rain annually, and its elevation ranges from {{convert|3000|to|6000|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us|-2}} above sea level.<ref name=DD1>{{cite web | url=http://mojavedesert.net/description.html | publisher=Digital-Desert | title=What & Where is the Mojave Desert? | access-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref> The most prolific vegetation is the tall [[Joshua tree]], which grow as tall as {{convert|40|ft|m|abbr=on}}, and are thought to live almost 1000 years.<ref name=LP /> Other major vegetation includes the Parry saltbush and the Mojave sage, both only found in the Mojave, as well as the creosote bush.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/nature/mojave.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150304201008/http://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/nature/mojave.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 4, 2015 | publisher=National Park Service | title=Mojave Desert | access-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Delicate arch sunset.jpg|thumb|left|The Delicate Arch at [[Arches National Park]]]] The [[Colorado Plateau]] varies from the large stands of forests in the west, including the largest stand of [[ponderosa pine]] trees in the world, to the Mesas to the east.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ncsu.edu/project/wildfire/Arizona/prescott/prescott.html | publisher=North Carolina State University | title=Community Responses to Wildland Fire Threats in Arizona | access-date=July 2, 2015}}</ref> The Colorado Plateau consists mostly of high desert. Within the Southwest U.S. region, the Colorado is bordered to the south by the Mogollon Rim and the Sonoran Desert, to the west by the Mojave Desert, and to the east by the [[Rocky Mountains]], the [[Rio Grande Rift]] valley, and the [[Llano Estacado]].<ref name=LP /> The Plateau is characterized by a series of plateaus and mesas, interspersed with canyons.<ref name=LP/> The most dramatic example is the [[Grand Canyon]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://arizonaexperience.org/land/colorado-plateau | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130090823/http://arizonaexperience.org/land/colorado-plateau | url-status=usurped | archive-date=January 30, 2013 | publisher=The Arizona Experience | title=Colorado Plateau | access-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref> But that is one of many dramatic vistas included within the Plateau, which includes spectacular lava formations, "painted" deserts, sand dunes, and badlands.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Places/coloplateau4.htm | publisher=Northern Arizona University | title=The Colorado Plateau Region (page 4 of 4) | last=Wheeler | first=Ray | access-date=July 6, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516101657/http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Places/coloplateau4.htm | archive-date=May 16, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> One of the most distinctive features of the Plateau is its longevity, having come into existence at least 500 million years ago.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Places/places.htm | publisher=Northern Arizona University | title=The Colorado Plateau Region (page 1 of 4) | last=Wheeler | first=Ray | access-date=July 6, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429134451/http://cpluhna.nau.edu/Places/places.htm | archive-date=April 29, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The Plateau can be divided into six sections, three of which fall into the Southwest region. Beginning with the Navajo section forming the northern boundary of the Southwestern United States, which has shallower canyons than those in the Canyonlands section just to its north; the Navajo section is bordered to the south by the Grand Canyon section, which of course is dominated by the Grand Canyon; and the southeasternmost portion of the Plateau is the Datil section, consisting of valleys, mesas, and volcanic formations.<ref name=EBCP>{{cite web | url=http://www.britannica.com/place/Colorado-Plateau | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica | title=Colorado Plateau | access-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref> Albuquerque is the most populous city often considered at the edge of this portion contained in the Southwest region, but Santa Fe, New Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona, are also significant population centers.
[[File:Four Corners Monument (1).jpg|thumb|[[Four Corners Monument]]]] [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], Tucson, and [[Las Vegas]] dominate the westernmost metropolitan areas in the Southwest, while [[Albuquerque]]-[[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] and [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]]-[[Las Cruces, New Mexico|Las Cruces]] dominate the easternmost metropolitan areas.<ref>''Meinig'', pp. 123–136</ref>
==History== {{Main|History of New Mexico|History of Arizona|History of Utah|History of Nevada|History of Colorado|History of Texas|Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico|Oasisamerica}} ===Pre-European contact=== {{See also|Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest}} [[File:Pueblo Bonito Aerial Chaco Canyon.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ancestral Puebloan]] ruins at [[Chaco Culture National Historical Park|Chaco Canyon]]]] Human history in the Southwest begins with the arrival of the [[Clovis culture]], a [[Paleo-Indian]] hunter-gatherer culture which arrived sometime around 9000 BC.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sheridan | first=T.E. | title=Arizona: A History, Revised Edition | publisher=University of Arizona Press | series=Southwest Center Series | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-8165-9954-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-8m0NmqUiEC | access-date=2 June 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Sheridan|2012|pp=11–12}} This culture remained in the area for several millennia. At some point they were replaced by three great [[Pre-Columbian]] Indian cultures: the [[Ancestral Pueblo people]], the [[Hohokam]], and the [[Mogollon culture|Mogollon]], all of which existed among other surrounding cultures including the [[Patayan]].<ref>Archaeology of prehistoric native America: an encyclopedia, By Guy E. Gibbon, Kenneth M. Ames</ref> Maize was first cultivated in the region sometime during the early first millennium BC, but it took several hundred years for the native cultures to become dependent on it as a food source.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.crowcanyon.org/EducationProducts/peoples_mesa_verde/basketmaker_II_overview.asp | publisher=Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | title=Peoples of the Mesa Verde Region: Overview | access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> As their dependence on maize grew, [[Pre-Columbian]] Indians began developing irrigation systems around 600 [[Common Era|CE]].<ref name="Chaco">{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Michael |last2=Cincinnati |first2=University of |title=Ancestral people of Chaco Canyon likely grew their own food |url=https://phys.org/news/2018-07-ancestral-people-chaco-canyon-grew.html |website=phys.org |access-date=April 8, 2024 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Sheridan|2012|p=6}}
[[File:Map Anasazi, Hohokam and Mogollon cultures-en.svg|thumb|Map of Paleo-Indians in the American Southwest and Mexico]]
Archaeological evidence suggests the Ancestral Pueblo people, sometimes referred to as the Anasazi, began settling the area in approximately 1500 BC.<ref name="BM2">{{cite web | url=http://www2.nau.edu/d-antlab/Soutwestern%20Arch/Anasazi/basketmaker2.htm | publisher=Northern Arizona University | title=Ancestral Pueblo; Basketmaker II | access-date=June 4, 2018 | archive-date=January 2, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102125308/http://www2.nau.edu/d-antlab/Soutwestern%20Arch/Anasazi/basketmaker2.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> However, the term "Anasazi" is viewed by modern [[Pueblo people]] as derogatory and is increasingly disused. Eventually, the Ancestral Pueblo would spread throughout the entire northern section of the Southwest.<ref>Nash, Gary B. ''Red, White and Black: The Peoples of Early North America'' Los Angeles 2015. Chapter 1, p. 4</ref> This culture would go through several different eras lasting from approximately 1500 BC through the middle of the 15th century AD: the [[Early Basketmaker II Era|Basketmaker I]], [[Late Basketmaker II Era|II]], and [[Basketmaker III Era|III]] phases followed by the [[Pueblo I Period|Pueblo I]], [[Pueblo II Period|II]], [[Pueblo III Period|III]], and [[Pueblo IV Period|IV]]. As the Puebloans transitioned from a nomadic lifestyle to one based on both dry land and irrigated agriculture,<ref name="Chaco" /> their first domiciles were pithouses.<ref name=BM2 /> The [[Mogollon culture]] developed later than the Puebloan, arising in the east at around 300 BC.<ref>{{cite book | isbn=0870449729 | publisher=National Geographic Society | title=World of the American Indian | last=Jennings | first=J. D. | year=1993 | page=56 }}</ref> Their range would eventually extend deep into what would become Mexico, and dominate the southeastern portion of the Southwest.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/240039?redirectedFrom=Mogollon#eid | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica | title=Mogollon | volume=XII | page=204 | date=1957 | access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> Their settlements would evolve over time from pit-dwellings through pueblos and ultimately incorporate cliff-dwellings. The [[Hohokam]] were the last of these ancestral cultures to develop, somewhere around AD 1, but became the most populous of the three by AD 1300, despite occupying the smallest territory of the three, covering most of the southwest portion.<ref name="AZMNH">{{cite web|title=The Hohokam|url=http://www.azmnh.org/arch/hohokam.aspx|publisher=Arizona Museum of Natural History, City of Mesa|access-date=November 30, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130091322/http://www.azmnh.org/arch/hohokam.aspx|archive-date=November 30, 2012}}</ref> Beginning in approximately AD 600, the Hohokam began to develop an extensive series of irrigation canals;{{sfn|Sheridan|2012|pages=22–24}} of the three major cultures in the Southwest, only the Ancestral Puebloans of the [[Chaco culture]] and the Hohokam developed irrigation as a means of watering their agriculture.<ref name="Chaco"/><ref name="AZMNH"/>
Not long after the Hohokam reached the height of their culture, all three major cultures in the Southwest began to decline for unknown reasons, although severe drought and encroachment from other peoples have been postulated. By the end of the 15th century, all three cultures had disappeared. The [[Puebloan|modern Puebloan]] tribes of the [[Isleta Pueblo|Isleta]], [[Sandia Pueblo|Sandia]], [[Cochiti Pueblo|Cochiti]], [[Kewa Pueblo|Kewa]], [[Santa Ana Pueblo|Santa Ana]], [[Taos Pueblo|Taos]], [[Jemez Pueblo|Jemez]], [[Acoma Pueblo|Acoma]], [[Laguna Pueblo|Laguna]], and [[Zia Pueblo|Zia]], as well as the [[Hopi]] and [[Zuni people|Zuni peoples]], trace their ancestry back to the Ancestral Puebloans,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/Ancestral-Pueblo-culture | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica | title=Ancestral Pueblo culture | access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> while the [[Pima people|Akimel O'odham]] and [[Tohono O'odham people|Tohono O'odham]] claim descent from Hohokam.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://arizonaexperience.org/remember/hohokam-canals-prehistoric-engineering | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120914014516/http://arizonaexperience.org/remember/hohokam-canals-prehistoric-engineering | url-status=usurped | archive-date=September 14, 2012 | publisher=The Arizona Experience | title=Hohokam Canals: Prehistoric Engineering | access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> The area previously occupied by the Mogollon was taken over by an unrelated tribe, the [[Apache]].{{sfn|Skibo|Graves|Stark|2007| page=234}} While it is unclear whether any of the modern Indian tribes are descended from the Mogollon, some archeologists and historians believe that they mixed with Ancestral Puebloans and became part of the modern Hopi and Zuni tribes.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Gregory | first1=David A. | last2=Willcox | first2=David A. Willcox | title=Zuni Origins: Toward a New Synthesis of Southwestern Archaeology | publisher=University of Arizona Press | place=Tucson | date=2007 |isbn=978-0816524860}}</ref>
[[File:Oraibi.jpg|thumb|left|Oraibi pueblo]] Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Southwestern United States was inhabited by a very large population of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|American Indian]] tribes. The area once occupied by the ancestral Puebloans became inhabited by several American Indian tribes, the most populous of which were the [[Navajo people|Navajo]], [[Ute people|Ute]], [[Southern Paiute]], and Hopi. The Navajo, along with the Hopi, were the earliest of the modern Indian tribes to develop in the Southwest. Around AD 1100 their culture began to develop in the [[Four Corners]] area of the region.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://navajopeople.org/navajo-history.htm | publisher=Navajo People | title=Navajo History | access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> The Navajos [[Pre-modern human migration|migrated]] from northwestern Canada and eastern [[Alaska]], where the majority of [[Athabaskan languages|Athabaskan]] speakers reside.<ref>{{cite web |title=Navajo people |date=July 13, 2023 |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Navajo-people |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> The Ute were found over most of modern-day Utah and Colorado, as well as northern New Mexico and Arizona.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.southernute-nsn.gov/history/ | publisher=Southern Ute Indian Tribe | title=History of the Southern Ute | access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> The Paiutes roamed an area which covered over 45,000 square miles of southern Nevada and California, south-central Utah, and northern Arizona.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://utahindians.org/archives/paiutes/history.html | publisher=Utah American Indian Digital Archive | title=History: The Paiutes | access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> The Hopi settled the lands of the central and western portions of northern Arizona. Their village of [[Oraibi, Arizona|Oraibi]], settled in approximately AD 1100, is, along with [[Acoma Pueblo|Acoma Sky City]] in New Mexico, one of the oldest continuously occupied settlements in the United States.<ref>{{cite book | last=Casey | first=Robert L. | title='Journey to the High Southwest | place=Guilford, CT | publisher=Globe Pequot Press | date=2007 | page=[https://archive.org/details/journeytohighsou00robe_0/page/382 382] | isbn=978-0762740642 | url=https://archive.org/details/journeytohighsou00robe_0/page/382 }}</ref> The Mogollon area became occupied by the Apaches and the Zuni. The Apache migrated into the American Southwest from the northern areas of North America at some point between 1200 and 1500.<ref name=Roberts48ff>{{Cite book |title=A History of New Mexico |last=Roberts |first=Susan A. |author2=Roberts, Calvin A. |year=1998 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |location=Albuquerque, NM |isbn=0826317928 |pages=48–49 }}</ref> They settled throughout New Mexico, eastern Arizona, northern Mexico, parts of western Texas, and southern Colorado.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.americanindianhistory.net/native-americans-of-the-southwest/ | publisher=American Indian History | title=Native Americans of the Southwest | access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> The Zuni count their direct ancestry through the ancestral Puebloans. The modern-day Zuni established a culture along the [[Zuni River]] in far-eastern Arizona and western New Mexico.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.zuniindian.net/zuni-history/ | publisher=Zuni Indians | title=Zuni History | access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> Both major tribes of the O'odham tribe settled in the southern and central Arizona, in the lands once controlled by their ancestors, the Hohokam.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tonation-nsn.gov/history_culture.aspx | publisher=Tohono O'odham Nation | title=History & Culture | access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref>
===Arrival of Europeans=== [[File:Expedition Cabeza de Vaca Karte.png|thumb|Narváez expedition (1528–36)]] The first European intrusion into the region came from the south. In 1539, a Jesuit Franciscan named [[Marcos de Niza]] led an expedition from Mexico City which passed through eastern Arizona.<ref>"The journey of Coronado, 1540–1542: from the city of Mexico to the Grand ..." by Pedro de Castañeda de Nájera, Antonio de Mendoza, Juan Camilo, p. 5 (Google Books {{ISBN|1555910661}})</ref> The following year [[Francisco Vázquez de Coronado]], based on reports from survivors of the [[Narváez expedition]] (1528–36) who had crossed eastern Texas on their way to Mexico City, led an expedition to discover the Seven Golden Cities of Cíbola.<ref name=NPS1>{{cite web | url=https://www.nps.gov/cagr/learn/historyculture/index.htm | publisher=National Park Service | title=A Brief History of the Casa Grande Ruins | access-date=June 30, 2015}}</ref> The 1582–3 expedition of [[Antonio de Espejo]] explored New Mexico and eastern Arizona;{{sfn|Sheridan|2012|p=38}} and this led to [[Juan de Oñate]]'s establishment of the Spanish province of [[Santa Fe de Nuevo México]] in 1598, with a capital founded near [[Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico|Ohkay Oweenge Pueblo]], which he called San Juan de los Caballeros.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.nmmagazine.com/native_american/san_juan.php | title = San Juan Pueblo | work = [[New Mexico Magazine]] | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090105162531/http://www.nmmagazine.com./native_american/san_juan.php | archive-date = January 5, 2009 | df = mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Simmons |first=Marc |title=The Last Conquistador |location=Norman |publisher=U of OK Press |year=1992 |pages=96, 111 |isbn=0806123389 }}</ref> Oñate's party also attempted to establish a settlement in Arizona in 1599, but were turned back by inclement weather.{{sfn|Sheridan|2012|p=38}} In 1610, [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] was founded, making it the oldest capital in United States.<ref>{{cite book |last=McNitt |first=Frank |title=Navajo Wars: Military Campaigns, Slave Raids, and Reprisals |location=Albuquerque |publisher=U of NM Press |year=1972 |pages=10–11 |isbn=0826302467 }}</ref>
In 1664 Juan Archuleta led an expedition into what is now Colorado, becoming the first European to enter. A second Spanish expedition was led into Colorado by Juan Ulibarrí in 1706,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://thegeozone.com/treasure/colorado/history/index.jsp | title=A General History Of Colorado | publisher=The Geo Zone | access-date=July 9, 2015 | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064910/http://thegeozone.com/treasure/colorado/history/index.jsp | url-status=dead }}</ref> during which he claimed the Colorado territory for Spain.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.explore-old-west-colorado.com/spanish-explorers.html | publisher=Explore-Old-West-Colorado.com | title=Spanish Explorers: The Quest for Gold | access-date=July 9, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707163103/http://www.explore-old-west-colorado.com/spanish-explorers.html | archive-date=July 7, 2015 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
From 1687 to 1691 the Jesuit priest [[Eusebio Kino]] established several missions in the [[Santa Cruz River (Arizona)|Santa Cruz River]] valley;{{sfn|Sheridan|2012|p=41}}<ref>{{cite book | last=Kessell | first=John L. | date=1970 | title=Mission of Sorrow: Jesuit Guevavi and the Pimas, 1691–1767 | location=Tucson, AZ | publisher=University of Arizona Press |isbn=0816501920 }}</ref> and Kino further explored southern and central Arizona in 1694, during which he discovered the ruins of Casa Grande.<ref name="NPS1"/> Beginning in 1732, Spanish settlers began to enter the region, and the Spanish started bestowing land grants in Mexico and the Southwest US.{{sfn|Sheridan|2012|p=42}} In 1751, the O'odham rebelled against the Spanish incursions, but the revolt was unsuccessful. In fact, it had the exact opposite effect, for the result of the rebellion was the establishment of the [[Presidio San Ignacio de Tubac|presidio]] at [[Tubac, Arizona|Tubac]], the first permanent European settlement in Arizona.{{sfn|Sheridan|2012|p=43}}
In 1768, the Spanish created the [[Las Californias Province|Provincia de las Californias]], which included California and the Southwest US. Over approximately the next 50 years, the Spanish continued to explore the Southwest, and in 1776 the City of Tucson was founded when the [[Presidio San Augustin del Tucson]] was created, relocating the presidio from Tubac.<ref name=brit1911>{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Tucson | volume= 27 | pages = 361–362 }}</ref>{{sfn|Sheridan|2012|p=46}}
In 1776, two Franciscan priests, Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, led an [[Dominguez–Escalante Expedition|expedition]] from Santa Fe heading to California. After passing through Colorado, they became the first Europeans to travel into what is now Utah. Their journey was halted by bad weather in October, and they turned back, heading south into Arizona before turning east back to Santa Fe.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.uintahbasintah.org/journalmain.htm | publisher=Uintah Basin Teaching American History | title=Domínguez and Escalante Expedition Year 1775 | access-date=July 9, 2015}}</ref>
[[File:1846 Mitchell's Map of Texas Oregon and California - Geographicus - TXORCA-mitchell-1846.jpg|thumb|1846 map: Mexican [[Alta California]] (Upper California) in pink.]] In 1804 Spain divided the Provincia de las Californias, creating the province [[Alta California]], which consisted primarily of what would become California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. In 1821 Mexico achieved its independence from Spain and shortly after, in 1824, developed its [[1824 Constitution of Mexico|constitution]], which established the Alta California territory, which was the same geographic area as the earlier Spanish province.
In 1825, Arizona was visited by its first non-Spanish Europeans, English trappers.{{sfn|Sheridan|2012|p=52}} In 1836, the [[Republic of Texas]], which contained the easternmost of the Southwest United States, won its independence from Mexico. In 1845 the Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States and immediately became a state, bypassing the usual territory phase. The new state still contained portions of what would eventually become parts of other states.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mzr02 | publisher=Texas State Historical Association | title=Republic of Texas | access-date=July 9, 2015}}</ref> In 1846, the Southwest became embroiled in the [[Mexican–American War]], partly as a result of the United States' annexation of Texas. On August 18, 1846, an American force captured Santa Fe, New Mexico.<ref>{{cite book |last=Groom |first=Winston |title=Kearny's March |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2011 |page=89 |isbn=978-0307270962 }}</ref> On December 16 of the same year, American forces captured Tucson, Arizona, marking the end of hostilities in the Southwest United States.<ref name=disturnell-1882>{{Citation |publisher = W.C. Disturnell |location = San Francisco |title = Arizona Business Directory and Gazetteer |date = 1881 |chapter=Tucson P.O. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/arizonabusinessd00districh#page/184/mode/2up}}</ref> When the war ended with the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] on February 2, 1848, the United States gained control of all of present-day California, Nevada and Utah, as well as the majority of Arizona, and parts of New Mexico and Colorado (the rest of present-day Colorado, and most of New Mexico had been gained by the United States in their annexation of the Republic of Texas).<ref>{{cite book|first=Spencer C.|last=Tucker|title=The Encyclopedia of the Mexican-American War: A Political, Social, and Military History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I9ceNvefrToC&pg=PA255|year=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=255|isbn=978-1851098545}}</ref> The final portion of the Southwestern United States came about through the acquisition of the southernmost parts of Arizona and New Mexico through the [[Gadsden Purchase]] in 1853.<ref name=brit1911 />
In 1851, [[San Luis, Colorado|San Luis]] became the first European settlement in what is now Colorado.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/costillacounty/town-san-luis | publisher=State of Colorado | title=Town of San Luis | access-date=July 9, 2015 | archive-date=October 16, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016142145/https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/costillacounty/town-san-luis | url-status=dead }}</ref>
===Becoming states=== [[File:United States 1849-1850.png|thumb|left|United States 1849–1850]] [[File:United States 1850-1853-03.png|thumb|United States 1850–1853]] Of the states of which at least a portion make up the Southwest, Texas was the first to achieve statehood. On December 29, 1845, the Republic of Texas was annexed, bypassing the status of becoming a territory, and immediately became a state.<ref name="TAnnexation">{{Handbook of Texas|id=mga02|name=Annexation}}</ref> Initially, its borders included parts of what would become several other states: almost half of New Mexico, a third of Colorado, and small portions of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.<ref name="comp1850">{{Handbook of Texas|id=nbc02|name=Compromise of 1850}}</ref> Texas current borders were set in the [[Compromise of 1850]], where Texas ceded land to the federal government in exchange for $10 million, which would go to paying off the debt Texas had accumulated in its war with Mexico.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/nbc02 | publisher=Texas State Historical Association | title=Compromise of 1850 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref>
Following the Mexican Cession, the lands of what had been the Mexican territory of Alta California were in flux: portions of what is now New Mexico were claimed, but never controlled, by Texas. With the Compromise of 1850, the states of Texas and California were created (Texas as a slave state, and California as a free state), as well as the [[Utah Territory]] and [[New Mexico Territory]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.history.com/topics/compromise-of-1850 | publisher=History.com | title=Compromise of 1850 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> The New Mexico Territory consisted of most of Arizona and New Mexico (excluding a strip along their southern borders), a small section of southern Colorado, and the very southern tip of Nevada;<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nmgs.org/artcuar6.htm | publisher=New Mexico Genealogical Society | title=A Cuarto Centennial History of New Mexico, Chapter Six: The Territorial Period | last=Torrez | first=Robert J. | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-date=March 26, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326091909/http://nmgs.org/artcuar6.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> while the Utah Territory consisted of Utah, most of Nevada, and portions of Wyoming and Colorado.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700063286/Utah-Territorys-creation-in-1850-paved-way-to-statehood.html?pg=all | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713092342/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700063286/Utah-Territorys-creation-in-1850-paved-way-to-statehood.html?pg=all | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 13, 2015 | publisher=Deseret News | title=Utah Territory's creation in 1850 paved way to statehood | last=Arave | first=Lynn | date=September 5, 2010 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> The New Mexico Territory was expanded along its southern extent, to its current border, with the signing of the Gadsden Purchase Treaty on December 30, 1853,<ref name=brit1911 /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://gadsdenpurchase.com/ | publisher=Official Gadsden Purchase Web Site | title=The Actual Treaty | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> which was ratified by the U.S. Congress, with some slight alterations, in April 1854.<ref>{{cite book | last=Kluger | first=Richard | title=Seizing Destiny: How America Grew From Sea to Shining Sea | date=2007 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/seizingdestinyho00klug/page/502 502–503] | publisher=A.A. Knopf | isbn=978-0375413414 | url=https://archive.org/details/seizingdestinyho00klug/page/502 }}</ref>
[[File:1860 Colorado Territory map.svg|thumb|left|1860 Colorado Territory map]] [[File:Utah Territory evolution animation - August 2011.gif|thumb|Utah Territory evolution 1850–1868]] The [[Colorado Territory]] was organized on February 28, 1861, created out of lands then currently in the Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, and New Mexico territories.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/28/native-history-colorado-territory-created-amidst-gold-rush-153774 | publisher=Indian Country Today Media Network | title=Native History: Colorado Territory Created Amidst Gold Rush | last=Rose | first=Christina | date=February 28, 2014 | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422023314/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/28/native-history-colorado-territory-created-amidst-gold-rush-153774 | archive-date=April 22, 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Nevada Territory]] was also organized in 1861, on March 2, with land taken from the existing Utah Territory. Initially, only the western 2/3 of what is currently the State of Nevada was included in the territory, with its boundary to the east being the [[39th meridian west from Washington]], and to the south the [[37th parallel north|37th parallel]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Division/Research/Library/Documents/HistDocs/1861Act.pdf | publisher=State of Nevada | title=Act of Congress (1861) Organizing the Territory of Nevada | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> In 1862 Nevada's eastern border shifted to the [[38th meridian west from Washington]], and finally to its current position at the [[37th meridian west from Washington]] in 1866. The boundary modification in 1866 also included adding the southern triangular tip of the present-day state, taken from the Arizona Territory.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/row/landsurveys/Study_material/State_Boundaries/ca-nv-border-p1-2.pdf | publisher=Department of Transportation, California | title=The Colorful History of the California/Nevada State Boundary | last=Wilusz | first=John P. | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/stream/boundariesofunit00gann#page/126/mode/2up | publisher=Washington Printing Office | title=Boundaries of the United States | place=Washington, D.C. | last=Gannett | first=Henry | date=1885 | pages=125–126 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref>
From July 24–27, 1861 a Confederate force under the command of Lt. Colonel John Robert Baylor forced the surrender of the small Union garrison stationed at [[Fort Fillmore]], near [[Mesilla, New Mexico]]. On August 1, 1861, Baylor declared the creation of the [[Confederate Arizona|Arizona Territory]], and claimed it for the Confederacy, with Mesilla as its capital.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mesillanm.gov/mesilla-visiting/2014-10-22-17-21-34/the-civil-war.html | publisher=Town of Mesilla | title=The Civil War | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713081049/http://www.mesillanm.gov/mesilla-visiting/2014-10-22-17-21-34/the-civil-war.html | archive-date=July 13, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The territory, which had been formed by the portion of the existing New Mexico Territory below the 34th parallel, became official on February 14, 1862.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.csawardept.com/documents/secession/AZ/ | publisher=The Confederate War Department | title=Ordinance of Secession of the Arizona Territory | access-date=July 10, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622110945/http://www.csawardept.com/documents/secession/AZ/ | archive-date=June 22, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://alliance.la.asu.edu/maps/Historical_AZ.pdf | publisher=Arizona State University | title=Historical Development of Arizona and New Mexico Boundaries | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322022027/http://alliance.la.asu.edu/maps/Historical_AZ.pdf | archive-date=March 22, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref>
[[File:Wpdms Arizona Territory 1860 ZP.svg|thumb|left|Confederate Arizona (outlined in blue)]] [[File:Wpdms new mexico territory 1866.png|thumb|Split of Arizona and New Mexico territories, in 1866, after small portion ceded to Nevada]] Nevada was admitted to the Union on October 31, 1864, becoming the 36th state.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ahgp.org/inter-mt/mevada-admitted-to-union-1864.html | publisher=The American History and Genealogy Project | title=Nevada Admitted to Union, 1864 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> This was followed by the admittance to the Union of Colorado, which became the 38th state on August 1, 1876.<ref name=Colorado_Statehood_Proclamation>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=70540|title=Proclamation of the Admission of Colorado to the Union|format=[[php]]|author=President of the United States of America|date=August 1, 1876|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> Confederate Arizona was short-lived, however. By May 1862, Confederate forces had been driven out of the region by union troops. That same month a bill was introduced into the U.S. Congress, and on February 24, 1863 [[Abraham Lincoln]] signed the [[Arizona Organic Act]], which officially created the U.S. [[Arizona Territory|Territory of Arizona]], splitting the New Mexico Territory at the 107th meridian.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/local/history/2014/04/15/arizona-explained-statehood-happened/7735503/ | publisher=Arizona Republic | title=Arizona Explained: How statehood happened | last=Stanley | first=John | date=April 15, 2014 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sharlot.org/library-archives/tag/arizonas-organic-act/ | publisher=Sharlot Hall Museum | title=Tag Archives: Arizona's Organic Act | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101220/http://www.sharlot.org/library-archives/tag/arizonas-organic-act/ | archive-date=September 24, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sharlot.org/library-archives/days-past/history-of-the-arizona-territory/ | publisher=Sharlot Hall Museum | last=Poston | first=Charles Debrille | date=September 17, 2011 | title=History of the Arizona Territory | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714183857/http://www.sharlot.org/library-archives/days-past/history-of-the-arizona-territory/ | archive-date=July 14, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref>
Utah, as shown above, evolved out of the Utah Territory, as pieces of the original territory created in 1850 were carved out: parts were ceded to Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado in 1861; another section to Nevada in 1862; and the final section to Nevada in 1866.{{sfn|Gannett|1885|page=124}} In 1890, the LDS church issued the [[1890 Manifesto]], which officially banned polygamy for members of the church.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/topics/the-manifesto-and-the-end-of-plural-marriage?lang=eng | publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | title=The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> It was the last roadblock for Utah entering the Union, and on January 4, 1896, Utah was officially granted statehood, becoming the 45th state.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.utah.com/visitor/state_facts/statehood.htm | publisher=State of Utah | title=Utah Statehood | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-date=July 7, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707125551/http://www.utah.com/visitor/state_facts/statehood.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 1869, [[John Wesley Powell]] led a 3-month expedition which explored the [[Grand Canyon]] and the Colorado River.<ref name="National Atlas US">{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/government/a_usgs.html |title=The Beginnings of the U.S. Geological Survey |publisher=National Atlas of the United States |year=2010 |access-date=October 9, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001205522/http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/government/a_usgs.html |archive-date=October 1, 2012 }}</ref> In 1875, he would publish a book describing his explorations, ''Report of the Exploration of the Columbia River of the West and Its Tributaries'', which was later republished as ''[[The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons]]''.
In 1877 silver was discovered in southeastern Arizona. The notorious mining town of [[Tombstone, Arizona]] was born to service the miners.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Eric L. |last=Clements |title=Bust and bust in the mining West |journal=[[Journal of the West]] |year=1996 |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=40–53 |doi= |issn=0022-5169 }}</ref> The town would become immortalized as the scene of what is considered the greatest gunfight in the history of the Old West, the [[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Hubert I. |last=Cohen |title=Wyatt Earp at the O. K. Corral: Six Versions |journal=Journal of American Culture |year=2003 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=204–223 |doi=10.1111/1542-734X.00087 }}</ref>
Copper was also discovered in 1877, near [[Bisbee, Arizona|Bisbee]] and [[Jerome, Arizona|Jerome]] in Arizona, which became an important component of the economy of the Southwest. Production began in 1880 and was made more profitable by the expansion of the railroad throughout the territory during the 1880s.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.azmining.com/images/HISTORY_FULL.pdf | publisher=Arizona Mining Association | title=A History of Mining in AZ | pages=10–11 | access-date=July 11, 2015 | archive-date=March 5, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305001629/http://www.azmining.com/images/HISTORY_FULL.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[File:Santa Fe Route Map 1891.jpg|thumb|The second transcontinental railroad: the "Santa Fe Route" – 1891.]] The early 1880s also saw the completion of the second transcontinental railroad, which ran through the heart of the Southwest, called the "Santa Fe Route." It ran from Chicago, down through Topeka, then further south to Albuquerque, before heading almost due west through northern Arizona to Los Angeles.<ref name=drury>{{cite book | last = Drury | first = George H. | title = The Train-Watcher's Guide to North American Railroads: A Contemporary Reference to the Major railroads of the U.S., Canada and Mexico | publisher = Kalmbach Publishing | year = 1992 | location = [[Waukesha, Wisconsin]] | pages = 37–42 | isbn = 0890241317}}</ref>
The repeal of the [[Sherman Silver Purchase Act]] in 1893 led to the decline of the silver mining industry in the region.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.azmining.com/images/HISTORY_FULL.pdf | publisher=Arizona Mining Association | title=A History of Mining in AZ | page=11 | access-date=July 11, 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
In 1901, the [[Santa Fe Railroad]] reached the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, opening the way for a tourism boom,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Atchison, Topeka |author2=Santa Fe Railway Company |name-list-style=amp |title=The Grand Canyon of Arizona: Being a Book of Words from Many Pens, about the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in Arizona|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ja5QAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA121|year=1906|publisher=Santa Fe Railroad|page=121}}</ref> a trend led by restaurant and hotel entrepreneur [[Fred Harvey (entrepreneur)|Fred Harvey]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Dimitri|last1=Ioannides|first2=Dallen J.|last2=Timothy|title=Tourism in the USA: A Spatial and Social Synthesis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4tjFW965lPYC&pg=PA21|year=2010|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=21|isbn=978-0415956840}}</ref>
The last two territories within the Southwest to achieve statehood were New Mexico and Arizona. By 1863, with the splitting off of the Arizona Territory, New Mexico reached its modern borders. They became states within forty days of one another. On January 6, 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state in the Union.<ref>{{cite book | last=Simmons | first=Marc | title=New Mexico: An Interpretive History | publisher=University of New Mexico Press | date=1988 | page=[https://archive.org/details/newmexicointerpr00simm/page/166 166] | isbn=0826311105 | place=Albuquerque | url=https://archive.org/details/newmexicointerpr00simm/page/166 }}</ref> Arizona would shortly follow, becoming the last of the 48 contiguous United States on February 14, 1912.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.history.com/topics/us-states/arizona | publisher=History.com | title=Arizona | access-date=July 10, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055223/http://www.history.com/topics/us-states/arizona | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>
===Since statehood=== ====Ski industry==== [[File:Sandia Peak Ski Area, Albuquerque AC, crop1.JPG|thumb|right|Sandia Peak Ski Area, New Mexico]] The 1930s saw the beginning of the ski industry in the Southwest. Resorts were established in Colorado in areas such as [[Estes Park]], [[Gunnison, Colorado#Winter|Gunnison]], and on [[Loveland Pass]].<ref>[http://www.coloradoskihistory.com/history/timelines/1930.html Colorado Ski History.com]. 1930–1939. Retrieved November 3, 2011</ref> New Mexico's oldest ski area is [[Sandia Peak Ski Area]] at the eastern edge of [[Albuquerque]], which opened to skiers in 1936.<ref name="SPSP History">{{cite web |title=History of SPSP |url=http://www.sandiapeakskipatrol.org/history/index.php |website=Sandia Peak Ski Patrol |access-date=March 4, 2021}}</ref><ref name="All-Ski">{{cite web |title=Ski Resorts: Years They Were Founded |url=https://www.skiinghistory.org/history/ski-resorts-years-they-were-founded |website=International Skiing History Association |access-date=March 3, 2021}}</ref> At the end of the decade, in 1939, with the establishment of [[Alta Ski Area]], [[Development of Skiing in Utah|Utah's skiing]] began to be developed.<ref name=atasixty>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0h1OAAAAIBAJ&pg=4268%2C4021508 |newspaper=Deseret News |last=Grass |first=Ray |title=Alta at 60 |date=March 9, 1999 |page=D1 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref>
Due to the ski conditions in the state, during WWII, the [[10th Mountain Division]] established [[Camp Hale]] in Colorado to train elite ski troops.<ref>[http://www.mscd.edu/history/camphale/tmd_001.html 10th Mountain Division History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724023359/http://www.mscd.edu/history/camphale/tmd_001.html |date=July 24, 2010 }} Metropolitan State College of Denver, 2004. Retrieved January 30, 2010.</ref>
==Origins of the term and historical/cultural variations== While this article deals with the core definition for the American Southwest, there are many others. The various definitions can be broken down into four main categories: Historical/Archeological; Geological/Topographical; Ecological; and Cultural. In the 1930s and 1940s, many definitions of the Southwest included all or part of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, and Utah. As time has gone on, the definition of the Southwest has become more solidified and more compact. For example, in 1948 the [[National Geographic Society]] defined the American Southwest as all of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico, and the southernmost sections of Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming, as well as parts of southwest Nebraska, western Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. By 1977, the Society's definition had narrowed to only the four states of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico; and by 1982 the portion of the Southwest in the United States, as defined by the Society, had shrunk to Arizona and New Mexico, with the southernmost strip of Utah and Colorado, as well as the Mojave and Colorado deserts in California.<ref name=UAtpncd /> Other individuals who focus on Southwest studies who favored a more limited extent of the area to center on Arizona and New Mexico, with small parts of surrounding areas, include [[Erna Fergusson]], [[Charles Lummis]] (who claimed to have coined the term, the Southwest), and cultural geographer [[Raymond Gastil]], and ethnologist [[Miguel León-Portilla]].<ref name=UAtpncd />
Geographer [[D. W. Meinig]] defines the Southwest in a very similar fashion to Reed: the portion of New Mexico west of the [[Llano Estacado]] and the portion of Arizona east of the [[Mojave Desert|Mojave]]-[[Sonoran Desert]] and south of the "canyon lands" and also including the [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]] district of western Texas and the southernmost part of Colorado.<ref>''Meinig'', pp. 3–8</ref> Meinig breaks the Southwest down into four distinct subregions. He calls the first subregion "[[Northern New Mexico]]," and describes it as focused on [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]] and [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]]. It extends from the [[San Luis Valley]] of southern Colorado to south of [[Socorro, New Mexico|Socorro]] and including the [[Sandia-Manzano Mountains]], with an east–west breadth in the north stretching from the upper [[Canadian River]] to the upper [[San Juan River (Colorado River)|San Juan River]]. The area around Albuquerque is sometimes called [[Central New Mexico]].
"Central Arizona" is a vast metropolitan area spread across one contiguous sprawling oasis, essentially equivalent to the [[Phoenix metropolitan area]]. The city of [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] is the largest urban center, and located in the approximate center of the area that includes [[Tempe, Arizona|Tempe]], [[Mesa, Arizona|Mesa]], and many others.<ref>''Meinig'', pp. 103–106</ref>
Meinig calls the third subregion "El Paso, Tucson, and the Southern Borderlands." While [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]] and [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]] are distinctly different cities, they serve as anchor points to the hinterland between them. [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]] occupies a large oasis at the western end of the El Paso-Tucson corridor. The region between the two cities is a major transportation trunk with settlements serving both highway and railway needs. There are also large mining operations, ranches, and agricultural oases. Both El Paso and Tucson have large military installations nearby; [[Fort Bliss]] and [[White Sands Missile Range]] north of El Paso in New Mexico, and, near Tucson, the [[Davis-Monthan Air Force Base]]. About {{convert|70|mi|km}} to the southeast are the research facilities at [[Fort Huachuca]]. These military installations form a kind of hinterland around the El Paso-Tucson region, and are served by scientific and residential communities such as [[Sierra Vista, Arizona|Sierra Vista]], [[Las Cruces, New Mexico|Las Cruces]], and [[Alamogordo, New Mexico|Alamogordo]]. El Paso's influence extends north into the [[Mesilla Valley]], and southeast along the Rio Grande into the [[Trans-Pecos]] region of Texas.<ref>''Meinig'', pp. 112–114</ref>
The fourth subregion Meinig calls the "Northern Corridor and Navajolands," a major highway and railway trunk which connects Albuquerque and [[Flagstaff, Arizona|Flagstaff]]. Just north of the transportation trunk are large blocks of American Indian land.<ref>''Meinig'', pp. 114–119</ref>
===Historical/archeological=== {{See also|Oasisamerica}} As the [[Territorial evolution of the United States|US expanded westward]], the country's [[American frontier|western border]] also shifted westward, and consequently, so did the location of the Southwestern and [[Northwestern United States]]. In the early years of the United States, [[Overmountain Men|newly colonized lands]] lying immediately west of the Appalachian Mountains were [[State cessions|detached]] from North Carolina and given the name [[Southwest Territory]]. During the decades that followed, the [[Old Southwest|region known as "the Southwestern United States"]] covered much of the [[Deep South]] east of the Mississippi River.
As territories and eventual states to the west were added after the [[Mexican–American War]], the geographical "Southwest" expanded, and the relationship of these new acquisitions to the South itself became "increasingly unclear."<ref name="ReferenceA">"Encyclopedia of Southern Culture". Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris. University of North Carolina Press 1989</ref>
However, archeologist Erik Reed gives a description which is the most widely accepted as defining the American Southwest, which runs from Durango, Colorado in the north, to Durango, Mexico, in the south, and from Las Vegas, Nevada in the west to Las Vegas, New Mexico in the East. Reed's definition is roughly equivalent to the western half of the Learning Center of the American Southwest's definition, leaving out any portion of Kansas and Oklahoma, and much of Texas, as well as the eastern half of New Mexico. Since this article is about the Southwestern United States, the areas of Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico will be excluded. The portion left includes Arizona and western New Mexico, the very southernmost part of Utah, southwestern Colorado, the very tip of west Texas, and triangle formed by the southern tip of Nevada. This will be the defined scope that is used in this article unless otherwise specified in a particular area.<ref name=LCASDefine />
===Geological/topographical=== [[File:LCASMapoftheSouthwest.jpg|225px|thumb|upright=1.35|Map of the Southwestern United States as defined by the Learning Center of the American Southwest<ref name=LCASDefine/>]] Parts of the other states make up the various areas that can be included in the Southwest, depending on the source. The Learning Center of the American Southwest (LCAS){{efn|Quote:"The Learning Center of the American Southwest is a collaboration among 48 national park units in four NPS Inventory and Monitoring Networks, three Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs), and several nonprofit partners. This partnership is dedicated to understanding and preserving the unique resources of the American Southwest through science and education."}} does not rely on current state boundaries, and defines the American Southwest as parts of Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.<ref name=LCASDefine>{{cite web | url=http://www.southwestlearning.org/topics/defining-southwest | publisher=Learning Center of the American Southwest | title=Defining the Southwest | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701090148/http://www.southwestlearning.org/topics/defining-southwest | archive-date=July 1, 2017 | url-status=usurped }}</ref> From this perspective, almost all of the region's physiographical traits, geological formations, and weather are contained within a box between 26° and 38° northern latitude, and 98° 30' and 124° western longitude.<ref name=UAtsd>{{cite web | url=http://jsw.library.arizona.edu/3403/defined.html | publisher=University of Arizona | title=The Southwest Defined | editor-last=Wilder | editor-first=Joseph Carlton | access-date=July 11, 2015}}</ref>
===Ecological=== When looking at the fauna of the region, there is a broader definition of the American Southwest. The Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research defines the Southwest as being only the states of Arizona, New Mexico, with parts of California, Nevada, Texas, and Utah; although they include all of those six states in their map of the region, solely for ease of defining the border.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://southwesternherp.com/americansouthwestdefined.html | publisher=Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research | title=The American Southwest Defined | access-date=July 13, 2015 | archive-date=March 14, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314013924/http://southwesternherp.com/americansouthwestdefined.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>
===Cultural=== [[File:Apache Wickiup, Edward Curtis, 1903.jpg|thumb|The [[Wigwam]]. A dwelling used by various Native American tribes among the Southwestern US.]] [[File:Drawing of a country store by Marguerite Martyn.jpg|thumb|Fanciful drawing by [[Marguerite Martyn]] in the ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'' of October 21, 1906, headed "Passing of the Country Store in the Southwest"]] Lawrence Clark Powell, a major bibliographer whose emphasis is on the Southwest, defined the American Southwest in a 1958 ''[[Arizona Highways]]'' article as, "the lands lying west of the Pecos, north of the [Mexican] Border, south of the Mesa Verde and the Grand Canyon, and east of the mountains which wall off Southern California and make it a land in itself."<ref name=UAtpncd>{{cite web | url=http://jsw.library.arizona.edu/3403/problem.html | publisher=University of Arizona | title=Land, Sky, and People: The Southwest Defined – The Problem: No Consistent Definition | last=Byrkit | first=James W. | editor-last=Wilder | editor-first=Joseph Carlton | year=1992 | access-date=July 11, 2015}}</ref>
Texas has long been the focal point of this dichotomy, and is often considered, as such, the ''core area'' of "the South's Southwest."<ref name="ReferenceA"/> While the [[Trans-Pecos]] area is generally acknowledged as part of the ''desert Southwest'',<ref>"The Southwest Defined. Edited by Joseph Carlton Wilder. University of Arizona Press</ref> most of Texas and large parts of Oklahoma are often placed into a sub-region of the [[Southern United States|South]], which some consider southwestern in the general framework of the original application, meaning the "Western South." This is an area containing the basic elements of Southern [[Confederate States of America|history]], [[Culture of the Southern United States|culture]], [[Solid South|politics]], [[Bible Belt|religion]], and [[Southern American English|linguistic]] and settlement patterns, yet blended with traits of the frontier West. While this particular Southwest is notably different in many ways from the classic "Old South" or [[Southeastern United States|Southeast]], these features are strong enough to give it a separate southwestern identity quite different in nature from that of the interior southwestern states to the west.
One of these distinguishing characteristics in Texas—in addition to having been a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate state]] during the Civil War—is that Indigenous and Spanish American culture never played a central role in the development of this area in relative comparison to the others, as the vast majority of settlers were Anglo and blacks from the South.<ref name="ReferenceB">Cultural Regions of the United States. Raymond Gastil. University of Washington Press 1975</ref> Although the present-day state of Oklahoma was [[Indian Territory]] until the early 20th century, many of these American Indians were from the southeastern United States and became culturally assimilated early on. The majority of members of these tribes also allied themselves with the Confederacy during the Civil War. Combined with that, once the territory was open for settlement, southeastern pioneers made up a disproportionate number of these newcomers. All this contributed to the new state having a character that differed from other parts of the Southwest with large American Indian populations.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
The fact that a majority of residents of Texas and Oklahoma—unlike those in other "southwestern" states—self-identify as living in the South and consider themselves southerners rather than the West and westerners—also lends to treating these two states as a somewhat distinct and separate entity in terms of regional classification.<ref>Southern Focus Poll 1992–1999. Odom Institute; Center for the Study of the American South.</ref>
[[File:A026, Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA, 1998.jpg|thumb|upright|A Joshua tree (''[[Yucca brevifolia]]'')]]
==Vegetation and terrain== Vegetation of the southwest includes various types of [[yucca]], along with [[saguaro cactus]], [[barrel cactus]], [[opuntia|prickly pear cactus]], [[desert spoon]], [[creosote bush]], [[sagebrush]], and [[greasewood]]. Many native cacti grow throughout Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and west Texas.<ref name="Weniger 1969 p. 14">{{cite book | last=Weniger | first=D. | title=Cacti of the Southwest: Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana | publisher=University of Texas Press | series=Elma Dill Russell Spencer Foundation Series | year=1969 | isbn=978-0-292-70000-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EauBqShPEVoC&pg=PR14 | access-date=2 June 2023 | page=14}}</ref> [[Steppe]] is also located all over the high plains areas in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. The mountains of the southwestern states have large tracts of alpine trees. There are also many [[Pinyon pine|pinyons]] and [[juniper]] species native to the southwest.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands - Species Composition and Classification (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/pinyon-juniper-woodlands-species-composition-classification.htm |access-date=2026-05-21 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Curry County Eastern New Mexico 2010.jpg|thumb|left|The [[High Plains (United States)|High Plains]] in [[Eastern New Mexico]], but also located in [[Colorado Eastern Plains|Eastern Colorado]] and [[West Texas]]]] Landscape features of the core southwestern areas include mountains, canyons, mesas, [[butte]]s, high broad basins, plateaus, desert lands, and some plains, characteristic of the [[Basin and Range Province]]. The entire southwestern region features semi-arid to arid terrain. The far eastern part of southwestern Texas, for example, the [[Texas Hill Country]], consists of dry, tall, and rugged rocky hills of limestone and granite. [[South Texas]] and the [[Lower Rio Grande Valley|Rio Grande Valley]] is mostly flat with many places consisting of scrub and bare topsoil, much like the deserts further west.
==Wildlife== The region has an extremely diverse bird population, with hundreds of species being found in the American Southwest. In the [[Chiricahua Mountains]] alone, in southeastern Arizona, there can be found more than 400 species. Species include [[Canada goose|Canada]] (''Branta canadensis'') and [[Snow goose|snow geese]], [[sandhill crane]]s (''Grus canadensis''),<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.desertusa.com/mag08/jun08/birds-in-the-southwest.html | publisher=DesertUSA | title=Looking for Birds in the Southwest | last=Sharp | first=Jay W. | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> and the [[Greater roadrunner|roadrunner]], the state bird of New Mexico and most famous bird in the region, is found in all states of the Southwest.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_roadrunner_new.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Greater Roadrunner | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> Birds of prey include the [[red-tailed hawk]] (''Buteo jamaicensis''), [[Cooper's hawk]] (''Accipiter cooperii''), the [[osprey]] (''Pandion haliaetus''), [[golden eagle]]s (''Aquila chrysaetos''), [[Harris's hawk]] (''Parabuteo unicinctus''),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_hawks_eagles.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Hawks & Eagles | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> American kestrel (''Falco sparverius''), peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_caracaras_falcons.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Caracaras & Falcons | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> the gray hawk (''Buteo plagiatus''),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/652/articles/introduction | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | title=Gray Hawk | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> the [[American barn owl]] (''Tyto furcata''), the [[western screech owl]] (''Megascops kennicottii''), the [[great horned owl]] (''Bubo virginianus''), the [[elf owl]] (''Micrathene whitneyi''), and the [[burrowing owl]] (''Athene cunicularia'')<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_owls.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Owls | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref>
Other bird species include the [[turkey vulture]] (''Cathartes aura''), the [[black vulture]] (''Coragyps atratus''),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_vultures.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Vultures | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> the [[northern cardinal]] (''Cardinalis cardinalis''), the [[blue grosbeak]] (''Passerina caerulea''),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_cardinals_grosbeaks.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Cardinals & Grosbeaks | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> the [[house finch]] (''Haemorhous mexicanus''), the [[lesser goldfinch]] (''Spinus psaltria''),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_finches.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Finches | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> the [[broad-billed hummingbird]] (''Cynanthus latirostris''), the [[black-chinned hummingbird]] (''Archilochus alexandri''), [[Costa's hummingbird]] (''Calypte costae''),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_hummingbirds.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Hummingbirds | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> [[Gambel's quail]] (''Callipepla gambelii''),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_quail.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Quail | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> the [[common raven]] (''Corvus corax''),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_raven.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Common Raven | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> the [[Gila woodpecker]] (''Melanerpes uropygialis''), the [[gilded flicker]] (''Colaptes chrysoides''),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_woodpeckers.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Woodpeckers | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> the [[cactus wren]] (''Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus''), the [[rock wren]] (''Salpinctes obsoletus''),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_wrens.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Wrens | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> and the federally endangered [[Southwest willow flycatcher]] (''Empidonax traillii extimus'').<ref>{{cite web |title=Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/southwestern-willow-flycatcher.htm |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=May 17, 2024 |language=en}}</ref> Four types of doves call the Southwest home: the [[white-winged dove]] (''Zenaida asiatica''), the [[mourning dove]] (''Zenaida macroura''), the [[common ground dove]] (''Columbina passerina''), and the [[Inca dove]] (''Columbina inca'').<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_doves.php | publisher=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | title=Doves | access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Desert Bighorn Sheep Joshua Tree cropped.JPG|thumb|[[Desert bighorn sheep]]]] Mammal species include the [[bobcat]], [[coyote]], [[American black bear|black bear]], [[black-tailed jackrabbit]], [[desert cottontail]], [[desert bighorn sheep]], [[mule deer]], [[white-tailed deer]], [[gray fox]], [[Cougar|mountain lion]], [[North American river otter|river otter]], [[long-tailed weasel]], [[western spotted skunk]], [[pronghorn]], [[raccoon]], [[cactus mouse]], and [[Ord's kangaroo rat]], all of which can be found in parts of every southwestern state. [[Elk]] are found in parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona. [[White-nosed coati]] and [[collared peccary]]{{emdash}}or ''javelina''{{emdash}}in the Southwest are normally found in southern areas of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas near the Mexican border. [[Jaguar]]s can be found in the [[New Mexico Bootheel|bootheel region]] of [[Southwestern New Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://infohost.nmt.edu/~klathrop/FGmammals.htm | publisher=New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | title=Mammals Index Page | access-date=July 13, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715064838/http://infohost.nmt.edu/~klathrop/FGmammals.htm | archive-date=July 15, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The [[Mexican wolf]] (''Canis lupus baileyi'') was reintroduced to Arizona and New Mexico in 1998.<ref name="paquet2003">Paquet, P. & Carbyn, L. W. (2003). Gray wolf ''Canis lupus'' and allies", in Feldhamer, George A. et al. ''Wild Mammals of North America: Biology, Management, and Conservation'', JHU Press, pp. 482–510, {{ISBN|0801874165}}</ref> A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study reported a minimum population of 241 Mexican wolves in southwest New Mexico and southeast Arizona at the beginning of 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-27 |title=Mexican Wolf Numbers Soar Past 200 {{!}} U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |url=https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-02/mexican-wolf-numbers-soar-past-200 |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=FWS.gov |language=en}}</ref>
There is a large contingent of snakes native to the region. Among them include the [[rosy boa]] (''Lichanura trivirgata''); several sub-species of the [[glossy snake]] (''Arizona elegans''); the [[Bogertophis subocularis|Trans-Pecos ratsnake]] (''Bogertophis subocularis''); several sub-species of shovel-nosed snakes; several sub-species of kingsnake, including the [[desert kingsnake]] (''Lampropeltis getula splendida'') and the [[Lampropeltis pyromelana|Arizona mountain kingsnake]] (''Lampropeltis pyromelana''); the [[Micruroides|Arizona coral snake]] (''Micruroides euryxanthus''); the [[Crotalus atrox|western diamondback rattlesnake]] (''Crotalus atrox''); the [[Agkistrodon contortrix pictigaster|Trans-Pecos copperhead]] (''Agkistrodon contortrix pictigaster''); the [[Crotalus cerastes cercobombus|Sonoran sidewinder]] (''Crotalus cerastes cercobombus''); the [[Crotalus cerberus|Arizona black rattlesnake]] (''Crotalus oreganus cerberus''); the [[Crotalus viridis|western rattlesnake]] (''Crotalus viridis''); the [[Crotalus oreganus abyssus|Grand Canyon rattlesnake]] (''Crotalus oreganus abyssus''), found only in Arizona; several sub-species of the [[Crotalus willardi|ridge-nosed rattlesnake]] (''Crotalus willardi''), the most recent rattlesnake species to be discovered in the United States, including the [[Crotalus willardi obscurus|New Mexico ridge-nosed rattlesnake]] (''Crotalus willardi obscurus''), and the Arizona ridge-nosed rattlesnake, the state reptile of Arizona; and the [[Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii|desert massasauga]] (''Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii'').<ref>{{cite web | url=http://southwesternherp.com/snakes/index.html | publisher=Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research | title=Snakes of the American Southwest | access-date=July 13, 2015 | archive-date=March 14, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314014151/http://southwesternherp.com/snakes/index.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>
Other reptiles in the region include lizards and turtles. Lizards are highly represented in the region, the most distinctive denizen being the [[Gila monster]], native only to the American Southwest and the state of Sonora in Mexico. The [[New Mexico whiptail]] is the [[List of state symbols of New Mexico|state reptile]] of New Mexico. Other lizards include: [[Sonoran collared lizard]] (''Crotaphytus nebrius''); several types of geckos, including [[western banded gecko]] (''Coleonyx variegatus''), the [[common house gecko]] (''Hemidactylus frenatus''), and the [[Mediterranean house gecko]] (''Hemidactylus turcicus''), the last two species being non-native to the region but have been introduced; the [[desert iguana]] (''Dipsosaurus dorsalis''); the [[chuckwalla]] (''Sauromalus ater''); the [[greater earless lizard]] (''Cophosaurus texanus scitulus''); several sub-species of [[horned lizard]]s (''Phrynosoma''); numerous species of [[spiny lizard]]s (''Sceloporus''); [[Gilbert's skink]] (''Plestiodon gilberti''); the [[western skink]] (''Plestiodon skiltonianus''); [[Trans-Pecos striped whiptail]] (''Aspidoscelis inornata heptagrammus''); and the [[Arizona night lizard]] (''Xantusia arizonae'').<ref>{{cite web | url=http://southwesternherp.com/lizards/index.html | publisher=Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research | title=Lizards of the American Southwest | access-date=July 13, 2015 | archive-date=March 14, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314015836/http://southwesternherp.com/lizards/index.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> Turtles are less numerous than their other reptilian counterparts, but several are found in the region, including: the [[Painted turtle#Western painted turtle|western painted turtle]] (''Chrysemys picta bellii''); the [[Rio Grande cooter]] (''Pseudemys gorzugi''); the [[desert box turtle]] (''Terrapene ornata luteola''); the [[Big Bend slider]] (''Trachemys gaigeae gaigeae''); the [[Sonora mud turtle]] (''Kinosternon sonoriense''); and the [[desert tortoise]] (''Gopherus agassizii'').<ref>{{cite web | url=http://southwesternherp.com/turtles/index.html | publisher=Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research | title=Turtles of the American Southwest | access-date=July 13, 2015 | archive-date=July 13, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713224848/http://southwesternherp.com/turtles/index.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>
Amphibians include numerous toads and frogs in the American Southwest. Toads which can be found in the region include the [[Great Plains toad]] (''Anaxyrus cognatus''); the [[Anaxyrus debilis|green toad]] (''Anaxyrus debilis''); the [[Arizona toad]] (''Anaxyrus microscaphus''); the [[New Mexico spadefoot toad|New Mexico spadefoot]] (''Spea multiplicata stagnalis''); and the [[Colorado River toad]] (''Incilius alvarius''), also known as the Sonoran Desert toad. Frog representation includes: [[Craugastor augusti|western barking frog]] (''Craugastor augusti''); the [[canyon tree frog]] (''Hyla arenicolor''); the [[Wright's mountain tree frog|Arizona treefrog]] (''Hyla wrightorum''); the [[western chorus frog]] (''Pseudacris triseriata''); [[Chiricahua leopard frog]] (''Lithobates chiricahuensis''); and the [[relict leopard frog]] (''Lithobates onca''). There are quite a few salamanders throughout the region, including: the [[barred tiger salamander#Subspecies|Arizona tiger salamander]] (''Ambystoma mavortium nebulosum'') and the [[Ensatina#Subspecies|painted ensatina]] (''Ensatina eschscholtzii picta'').<ref>{{cite web | url=http://southwesternherp.com/amphibians/index.html | publisher=Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research | title=Amphibians of the American Southwest | access-date=July 13, 2015 | archive-date=March 14, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314014155/http://southwesternherp.com/amphibians/index.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>
Despite the Southwest being mostly arid, various fishes are found where water is available, including various species unique to the region. [[Apache trout]] and [[Gila trout]] are two [[Salmonidae|salmonids]] endemic to the area, with the former found only in Arizona and the latter only in Arizona and New Mexico.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/freshwater-fish-of-america/apache_trout.html|title=Apache trout|website=Fish and Aquatic Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211130010712/https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/freshwater-fish-of-america/apache_trout.html |archive-date= Nov 30, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://westernnativetrout.org/gila-trout/|title=Gila Trout – Western Native Trout|website=westernnativetrout.org}}</ref> Desert [[pupfish]]es are several closely related species of fish in the genus Cyprinodon, many of which are found in isolated spring-fed ponds hundreds of miles from each other, ranging from far West Texas to [[Death Valley]] in California. These pupfishes often thrive in water considerably higher in temperature and dissolved solids than most fish can tolerate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.desertusa.com/fish/pupfish.html|title=Desert Pupfish DesertUSA|website=desertusa.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/balmorhea/endangered-species-san-solomon-springs|title=Balmorhea State Park Endangered Species and San Solomon Springs — Texas Parks & Wildlife Department|website=tpwd.texas.gov}}</ref> Many of these desert fish species are endangered due to their limited and tenuous habitat, as well as loss of habitat due to human consumption of groundwater and diversion of surface water, as well as the introduction of species such as sportfish for recreation (see: [[Rio Grande Silvery Minnow v. Bureau of Reclamation]]).
==Climate== [[File:Sonoradesert 1.JPG|thumb|[[Sonoran Desert]] terrain near [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]]]] The southwestern United States features a semi-arid to arid climate, depending on the location.<ref name="BATTG19">{{Cite journal|last=Battaglia|first=Steven M.|date=November 1, 2019|title=No Fairy Tale Ending: The Future of Water and the American Southwest|journal=[[Weatherwise]]|volume=72|issue=6|pages=36–43|doi=10.1080/00431672.2019.1659034|bibcode=2019Weawi..72f..36B |s2cid=214466152|issn=0043-1672}}</ref> Much of the Southwest is an arid desert climate, but higher elevations in the mountains in each state, with the exception of West Texas, feature alpine climates with very large amounts of snow. The metropolitan areas of Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and El Paso hardly ever receive any snow at all, as they are strictly desert lands with mountains.<ref name="BATTG19" /> Albuquerque receives less snow than other cities, but still receives significant snowfalls occasionally in the winter. Although it snows in this region, the snow in this part of the United States melts rapidly, often before nightfall. This is due mainly to the higher altitude and abundant sunshine in these states.
Nevada and Arizona are both generally arid with desert lands and mountains, and receive large amounts of snow in the higher elevations in and near the mountains. New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado are generally arid, with desert lands and mountains as well. They all receive decent amounts of snow and large amounts of snow in the high elevations in the mountains, although some areas in far southwestern and southern New Mexico do not receive much snow at all at lower elevations. West Texas is generally arid as well but does not receive the same amount of snow that the other southwestern states receive at their high elevations. The terrain of western Texas in the Southwest is the flat, rolling land of the plains, which eventually turns into a desert with some hills. There are significant mountains as well in west Texas upon reaching the [[Trans-Pecos]] area.
[[File:Carlsbad caverns entrance.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chihuahuan Desert]] terrain near [[Carlsbad, New Mexico|Carlsbad]]]] The term "High Desert" is synonymous with this region. The High Desert is generally defined as the [[Mojave Desert]] and the [[Colorado Plateau]],<ref name="PBS">{{cite web |title=Canyonlands |url=https://www.pbs.org/edens/canyonlands/exquisite.htm |publisher=Public Broadcasting Company |access-date=March 3, 2021}}</ref> which extends from inland southern California into southern Nevada, east to the [[Rio Grande Rift]] in New Mexico. The High Desert also extends into parts of the [[Northwestern United States|Northwest]], such as the [[Red Desert (Wyoming)|Red Desert]] in southwestern Wyoming. The High Desert is very different from the lower desert lands found in Arizona, in the [[Sonoran Desert]]. This area of the desert land generally sits at a very high elevation, much higher than the normal desert land, and can receive very cold temperatures at night in the winter (with the exception of California, southern Nevada and southwestern Utah), sometimes near zero degrees on very cold nights. The High Desert also receives a decent amount of snowfall in the winter (with the exception of California, southern Nevada and southwestern Utah) which melts very quickly. Rain falls in this region mainly in the summer, during the [[North American Monsoon]] season.
[[File:CONM Independence monument 2.jpg|thumb|Monument Canyon, some of the high desert lands found in Colorado]]
The desert lands found in Eastern Utah, Northern Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico are usually referred to as the high desert. Colorado has scattered desert lands found in southern, southwestern, western, and northwestern parts of the state. These scattered desert lands are located in and around areas such as, the [[Roan Plateau]], [[Dinosaur National Monument]], [[Colorado National Monument]], [[Royal Gorge]], [[Cortez, Colorado|Cortez]], [[Dove Creek, Colorado|Dove Creek]], [[Canyons of the Ancients National Monument]], [[Four Corners Monument]], [[Montrose, Colorado|Montrose]], [[Blue Mesa Reservoir]], [[Pueblo, Colorado|Pueblo]], [[San Luis Valley]], [[Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve|Great Sand Dunes]] and [[Joshua Tree National Park]]. Besides the [[Chihuahuan Desert]], lands in southwestern and southern New Mexico, they also have scattered desert lands in the northwestern and northern portions of their state, which is referred to as the high desert.
During [[El Niño]], winters and springs are generally colder and wetter across southern portions of the region, while the northern portion stays warmer and drier due to a southern jet stream. Under [[La Niña]], the opposite happens, meaning the cool and wet weather tends to stay farther north.<ref name="BATTG19" /> The Southwest also experiences multi-year and multi-decade episodes of severe drought, including the ongoing [[southwestern North American megadrought]] which emerged starting year 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-climate-driven-megadrought-emerging-western.html |title=Climate-driven megadrought is emerging in western US, study says |first=Kevin |last=Krajick |publisher=phys.org |date=April 16, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author=Williams, A. Park |display-authors=etal |title=Large contribution from anthropogenic warming to an emerging North American megadrought |journal=Science |volume=368 |issue=6488 |pages=314–318 |doi=10.1126/science.aaz9600 |date=April 17, 2020|pmid=32299953 |bibcode=2020Sci...368..314W |s2cid=215789824 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8127q52g }}</ref>
==National parks, monuments and forests== [[File:Grand Canyon Août 2006.jpg|thumb|upright=3.65|center|{{center|[[Grand Canyon]] from the South Rim}}]] The southwestern United States contains many well-known national parks including [[Grand Canyon National Park|Grand Canyon]] in Arizona, [[Death Valley National Park|Death Valley]] in California, [[Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve|Great Sand Dunes]] in Colorado, [[Arches National Park|Arches]] in Utah, [[Big Bend National Park|Big Bend]] in Texas, [[Great Basin National Park|Great Basin]] in Nevada, and [[White Sands National Park|White Sands]] in New Mexico.
[[File:Dunes as White Sands NM.jpg|thumb|[[White Sands National Park]], New Mexico]] Arizona parks and monuments include Grand Canyon, [[Monument Valley]] (a [[Navajo Nation]] park), [[Petrified Forest National Park|Petrified Forest]], and [[Saguaro National Park|Saguaro]] national parks; the national monuments of [[Agua Fria National Monument|Agua Fria]], [[Canyon de Chelly National Monument|Canyon de Chelly]], [[Casa Grande Ruins National Monument|Casa Grande Ruins]], [[Chiricahua National Monument|Chiricahua]], [[Ironwood Forest National Monument|Ironwood Forest]], [[Montezuma Castle National Monument|Montezuma Castle]], [[Navajo National Monument|Navajo]], [[Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument|Organ Pipe Cactus]], [[Pipe Spring National Monument|Pipe Spring]], [[Sonoran Desert National Monument|Sonoran Desert]], [[Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument|Sunset Crater]], [[Tonto National Monument|Tonto]], [[Tuzigoot National Monument|Tuzigoot]], [[Vermilion Cliffs National Monument|Vermilion Cliffs]], [[Walnut Canyon National Monument|Walnut Canyon]], and [[Wupatki National Monument|Wupatki]]. Other federal areas include the [[Apache–Sitgreaves National Forests]] and [[Tumacacori National Historical Park]].
Southern California parks and monuments include Death Valley and [[Joshua Tree National Park|Joshua Tree]] national parks; the national monuments of [[Castle Mountains National Monument|Castle Mountains]], [[Mojave Trails National Monument|Mojave Trails]], [[Sand to Snow National Monument|Sand to Snow]], and [[San Gabriel Mountains National Monument|San Gabriel Mountains]]; and [[Mojave National Preserve]].
Colorado parks and monuments include Great Sand Dunes, [[Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park|Black Canyon of the Gunnison]], and [[Mesa Verde National Park|Mesa Verde]] national parks; the national monuments of [[Browns Canyon National Monument|Browns Canyon]], [[Canyons of the Ancients National Monument|Canyons of the Ancients]], [[Colorado National Monument|Colorado]], [[Hovenweep National Monument|Hovenweep]], and [[Yucca House National Monument|Yucca House]]. Other federal areas include [[Curecanti National Recreation Area]] and [[Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site]]; as well as the national forests of [[San Isabel National Forest|San Isabel]], [[San Juan National Forest|San Juan]], and [[Uncompahgre National Forest|Uncompahgre]].
[[File:A511, Little Finland, Nevada, USA, 2016.jpg|left|thumb|[[Little Finland]] in [[Gold Butte National Monument]], Nevada]] Nevada has one national park at Great Basin, and the national monuments of [[Basin and Range National Monument|Basin and Range]], [[Gold Butte National Monument|Gold Butte]], and [[Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument|Tule Springs Fossil Beds]]. Other federal areas include [[Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest]], [[Lake Mead National Recreation Area]], and [[Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area]].
New Mexico has two national parks, at [[Carlsbad Caverns National Park|Carlsbad Caverns]] and White Sands. National monuments include [[Aztec Ruins National Monument|Aztec Ruins]], [[Bandelier National Monument|Bandelier]], [[El Malpais National Monument|El Malpais]], [[El Morro National Monument|El Morro]], [[Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument|Gila Cliff Dwellings]], [[Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument|Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks]], [[Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument|Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks]], [[Petroglyph National Monument|Petroglyph]], [[Rio Grande del Norte National Monument|Rio Grande del Norte]], and [[Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument|Salinas Pueblo Missions]]. Other federal park areas include [[Chaco Culture National Historical Park]], [[Pecos National Historical Park]], [[Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge]], and the national forests of [[Apache National Forest|Apache]], [[Carson National Forest|Carson]], [[Gila National Forest|Gila]], [[Lincoln National Forest|Lincoln]], and [[Santa Fe National Forest|Santa Fe]].
West Texas has two national parks, at Big Bend and [[Guadalupe Mountains National Park|Guadalupe Mountains]]. Other federal park areas include [[Chamizal National Memorial]] and [[Fort Davis National Historic Site]]. [[File:Mountains in Zion National Park, Utah.jpg|left|thumb|Mountains in [[Zion National Park]], Utah]] Utah national parks include Arches, [[Bryce Canyon National Park|Bryce Canyon]], [[Canyonlands National Park|Canyonlands]], [[Capitol Reef National Park|Capitol Reef]], and [[Zion National Park|Zion]]. National monuments include [[Bears Ears National Monument|Bears Ears]], [[Cedar Breaks National Monument|Cedar Breaks]], [[Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument|Grand Staircase–Escalante]], Hovenweep (also in Colorado), [[Natural Bridges National Monument|Natural Bridges]], and [[Rainbow Bridge National Monument|Rainbow Bridge]]. Other federal areas include [[Glen Canyon National Recreation Area]], [[Dixie National Forest]], and [[Manti–La Sal National Forest]].
==Demographics== Hispanic Americans can be found in large numbers in every major city in the Southwest such as [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]] (80%), [[San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio]] (63%), [[Los Angeles]] (48%), [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]] (47%), [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] (43%), [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]] (41%), [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] (32%), and [[Mesa, Arizona|Mesa]] (27%). Over 60 percent of the Latino population in the Southwest is [[Mexican Americans|Mexican American]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/outgeogr/geog13.htm|title=An Outline of American Geography - Chapter 13 - About the USA}}</ref>
Very large Hispanic American populations can also be found in the smaller cities such as [[Eagle Pass, Texas|Eagle Pass]] (96%), [[Las Cruces, New Mexico|Las Cruces]] (56%), [[Yuma, Arizona|Yuma]] (55%), [[Blythe, California|Blythe]] (53%), [[Pueblo, Colorado|Pueblo]] (48%), [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] (48%), and [[Glendale, Arizona|Glendale]] (36%). Many small towns throughout the southwestern states also have significantly large Latino populations.
The largest Asian American populations in the southwest can be found in [[California]] and [[Texas]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF2/PCT1/0100000US.04000.001/popgroup~031 |title=Total Population: Asian Alone or in combination with one or more other races |work=2010 Census Summary File 2 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=May 4, 2019 }}</ref>{{New archival link needed|date=April 2026}} with some significant Asian population in Phoenix. The most significant American Indian populations can be found in [[New Mexico]] and [[Arizona]].
More than 20% of Native Americans live in the Southwest.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Southwest-Indian Southwest Indian | History, Tribes, Culture, & Facts | Britannica]</ref>
Before 1700, the only permanent Spanish settlements in the Southwest were along the valley of the upper Rio Grande in New Mexico.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/spanish-southwest|title= Spanish in the Southwest}}</ref>
==Cities and urban areas== The area also contains many of the nation's largest cities and metropolitan areas, despite relatively low population density in rural areas. [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] is the fifth most populous city in the country, and [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]] and [[Las Vegas]] were some of the fastest-growing cities in the United States.<ref name="m1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.infoplease.com/us/cities/top-50-cities-us-population-and-rank|title=Top 50 Cities in the U.S. by Population and Rank|website=www.infoplease.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/02/14/americas-20-fastest-growing-cities/ | work=Forbes | title=America's 20 Fastest-Growing Cities | access-date=July 12, 2015}}</ref> Also, the region as a whole has witnessed some of the highest population growth in the United States, and according to the [[United States Census Bureau|US Census Bureau]], in 2008–2009, [[Utah]] was the fastest-growing state in America. As of the 2010 Census, [[Nevada]] was the fastest-growing state in the United States, with an increase of 35.1% in the last ten years. Additionally, Arizona (24.6%), Utah (23.8%), Texas (20.6%), and Colorado (16.9%) were all in the top ten fastest-growing states as well.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/pf/1012/gallery.fastest_growing_states/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223072912/http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/pf/1012/gallery.fastest_growing_states/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 23, 2010|title=10 fastest-growing states - Winner: Nevada (1) - CNNMoney.com|website=money.cnn.com}}</ref>
The largest [[List of metropolitan statistical areas|metropolitan areas]] are centered around [[Phoenix metropolitan area|Phoenix]] (with an estimated population of more than 5 million {{as of|2020|lc=y}}), [[Las Vegas–Paradise, NV MSA|Las Vegas]] (more than 2.2 million), [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]] (more than 1 million), [[Albuquerque metropolitan area|Albuquerque]] (more than 900,000), and [[El Paso metropolitan area|El Paso]] (more than 840,000).<ref name=":0" /> Those five metropolitan areas have an estimated total population of more than 9.6 million {{as of|2017|lc=y}}, with nearly 60 percent of them living in the two [[Arizona]] cities—Phoenix and Tucson.
{{center|'''The five largest cities of the American Southwest (2020 census)'''}} <gallery mode="packed"> File:Downtown_Phoenix_Aerial_Looking_Northeast.jpg|1. [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] (also the largest [[Metropolitan statistical area|MSA]]) File:El Paso Cityscape (cropped).jpg|2. [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]] (5th largest MSA) File:Las Vegas 89.jpg|3. [[Las Vegas]] (2nd largest MSA) File:Abqdowntown.jpg|4. [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]] (also the 4th largest MSA) File:Tucson shab1.JPG|5. [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]] (3rd largest MSA) </gallery>
===Largest cities and metropolitan areas (2020 census)=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Rank ! City ! State ! Population<ref name=Census1>{{cite web | url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/AZ | title=2020 Census QuickFacts | publisher=U.S. Census Bureau | access-date=April 12, 2022 }}</ref> ! Metro Population<ref name=Census1 /> |- | align=center | 1 | [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] | [[Arizona]] | align=right | {{Nts|1,608,139}} | align=right | {{Nts|4,845,832}} |- | align=center | 2 | [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]] | [[Texas]] | align=right | {{Nts|678,815}} | align=right | {{Nts|868,859}} |- | align=center | 3 | [[Las Vegas]] | [[Nevada]] | align=right | {{Nts|641,903}} | align=right | {{Nts|2,265,461}} |- | align=center | 4 | [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]] | [[New Mexico]] | align=right | {{Nts|564,559}} | align=right | {{Nts|916,528}} |- | align=center | 5 | [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]] | [[Arizona]] | align=right | {{Nts|542,629}} | align=right | {{Nts|1,043,433}} |- | align=center | 6 | [[Mesa, Arizona|Mesa]] | [[Arizona]] | align=right | {{Nts|504,258}} | align=right | {{Nts|4,845,832}} |- | align=center | 7 | [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]] | [[Colorado]] | align=right | {{Nts|478,961}} | align=right | {{Nts|755,105}} |- | align=center | 8 | [[Henderson, Nevada|Henderson]] | [[Nevada]] | align=right | {{Nts|317,610}} | align=right | {{Nts|2,265,461}} |- | align=center | 9 | [[Chandler, Arizona|Chandler]] | [[Arizona]] | align=right | {{Nts|275,987}} | align=right | {{Nts|4,845,832}} |- | align=center | 10 | [[Gilbert, Arizona|Gilbert]] | [[Arizona]] | align=right | {{Nts|267,918}} | align=right | {{Nts|4,845,832}} |}
==Sports== ===Professional=== [[File:Josh Jacobs Raiders-WFT DEC2021 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Runningback [[Josh Jacobs]] of the [[Las Vegas Raiders]] [[NFL]] team]] [[File:T. J. McFarland April 29, 2018 (50121467337).jpg|thumb|[[T. J. McFarland]] pitcher for the [[Arizona Diamondbacks]] professional baseball team.]] Of the four [[Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada|major professional sports]], Phoenix and Las Vegas are the only metropolitan areas in the Southwest that have representatives. Las Vegas is home to the [[Las Vegas Raiders]] [[NFL]] football team and the [[Vegas Golden Knights]] [[NHL]] hockey team. Phoenix is home to the [[Arizona Diamondbacks]] in [[Major League Baseball]], [[Arizona Cardinals]] in the [[National Football League]], and the [[Phoenix Suns]] in the [[National Basketball Association]]. The Greater Phoenix area is home to the [[Cactus League]], one of two spring training leagues for Major League Baseball; fifteen of MLB's thirty teams are now included in the Cactus League.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://mlb.mlb.com/springtraining/index.jsp | title=Sun, scenery, history mark Spring Training baseball in Arizona, Florida | publisher=MLB | access-date=February 12, 2014}}</ref> The region has also been the scene of several NFL super bowls. Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe held [[Super Bowl XXX]] in 1996, when the [[Dallas Cowboys]] defeated the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.onpointevents.com/super-bowl-xxx_578.htm | title=Super Bowl XXX | publisher=onpointevents.com | access-date=February 14, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228071756/http://www.onpointevents.com/super-bowl-xxx_578.htm | archive-date=February 28, 2014 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona hosted [[Super Bowl XLII]] on February 3, 2008, in which the [[New York Giants]] defeated the [[New England Patriots]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ihavenet.com/nfl-superbowl-XLII-giants-patriots.html | title=Super Bowl XLII: Giants 17 Patriots 14; Road Warrior Giants Bring It Home | date=February 6, 2011 | publisher=ihavenet.com | access-date=February 14, 2014}}</ref> as well as [[Super Bowl XLIX]], which resulted in the [[New England Patriots]] defeating the [[Seattle Seahawks]] 28–24. The U.S. Airways Center hosted both the [[1995 NBA All-Star Game|1995]] and the [[2009 NBA All-Star Game]]s.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nba.com/history/all-star/index.html | title=NBA All-Star Game History | work=NBA.com | access-date=February 14, 2014}}</ref>
In 1997, the [[Phoenix Mercury]] were one of the original eight teams to launch the [[Women's National Basketball Association]] (WNBA).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.wnba.com/mercury/archives/history_index.html | title=Mercury History | access-date=February 14, 2014}}</ref> [[Indoor American football]] is represented by the [[Arizona Rattlers]] located in Phoenix.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/arena/rattlers/2014/08/25/champion-arizona-rattlers-to-parade-through-phoenix/14593565/ | title=Champion Arizona Rattlers to parade through Phoenix | publisher=azcentral.com | access-date=September 10, 2014}}</ref> The region is also host to several major professional golf events: the [[LPGA]]'s [[RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup|Founder's Cup]];<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lpgafounderscup.com/ | title=LPGA Vision for Founders Cup Now Long-Term Reality | publisher=LPGA | date=November 4, 2013 | access-date=February 14, 2014}}</ref> the [[Phoenix Open]] and the [[Shriners Hospitals for Children Open]] (in Las Vegas) of the [[Professional Golfers' Association of America|PGA]];<ref>{{cite web | url=http://wmphoenixopen.com/category/history/ | title=Waste Management Phoenix Open | publisher=wmphoenixopen.com | access-date=February 14, 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209051522/http://wmphoenixopen.com/category/history/ | archive-date=February 9, 2014 | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.shrinershospitalsopen.com/ | publisher=Shriners Hospitals for Children Open | title=Shriners Hospitals for Children Open | access-date=July 14, 2015}}</ref> and the [[Tucson Conquistadores Classic]] (in Tucson), and the [[Charles Schwab Cup Championship]] (in Scottsdale) on the [[Champions Tour]] of the PGA.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pgatour.com/champions/news/2014/06/10/tucson-classic-champions-tour-schedule-2015.html |title=Tucson Classic added to Champions Tour schedule |publisher=PGA Tour |date=June 10, 2014 |access-date=June 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pgatour.com/champions/tournaments/charles-schwab-cup-championship.html | publisher=PGA Tour, Inc. | title=Charles Schwab Cup Championship | access-date=July 14, 2015}}</ref>
[[NASCAR]] has two venues within the region: The [[Phoenix International Raceway]], was built in 1964 with a one-mile oval, with a one-of-a-kind design, as well as a 2.5-mile road course,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.phoenixraceway.com/About-Us/Timeline.aspx | title=Timeline | publisher=phoenixraceway.com | access-date=February 14, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125084424/http://www.phoenixraceway.com/About-Us/Timeline.aspx | archive-date=November 25, 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref> and the [[Las Vegas Motor Speedway]], a 1,200-acre (490 ha) complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lvms.com/ | publisher=Speedway Motorsports, Inc. | title=Las Vegas Motor Speedway | access-date=July 14, 2015}}</ref> There are several nationally recognized running events in the region, including The Phoenix Marathon, a qualifier for the [[Boston Marathon]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bmo-harris-bank-announces-multi-year-sponsorship-of-the-phoenix-marathon-2013-09-17-121731557 | title=BMO Harris Bank Announces Multi-Year Sponsorship of The Phoenix Marathon | publisher=marketwatch | access-date=February 12, 2014}}</ref> and the [[Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series]] in both [[Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon|Phoenix]] and [[Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon|Las Vegas]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://competitorgroup.com/brands/events/ | title=Events | publisher=competitorgroup.com | access-date=February 12, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727024028/http://competitorgroup.com/brands/events/ | archive-date=July 27, 2013 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/jun/11/nv-las-vegas-marathon-061109/?california|title=Las Vegas Strip to close for marathon runners|date=June 11, 2009|publisher=The San Diego Union Tribune|access-date=August 24, 2011}}</ref> Las Vegas is also the end point for the annual Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay, a 120-mile-long foot race by law enforcement teams from around the world,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bakervegas.com/ |title=BakerVegas |publisher=BakerVegas |access-date=August 7, 2012}}</ref> which is the largest law enforcement athletic event in the world.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://bakervegas.net/about-us/race-history/ | publisher=Baker to Vegas | title=Challenge Cup "Baker To Vegas" History | access-date=July 14, 2015}}</ref>
The [[Professional Bull Riders]] association has its headquarters in Pueblo, Colorado. The [[Professional Bull Riders#World Finals Event Champions|PBR World Finals]] are held annually in Las Vegas,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pbrworldfinals.com/ | publisher=The Professional Bull Riders | title=PBR World Finals | access-date=July 14, 2015}}</ref> which also hosts the [[National Finals Rodeo]].
Since the 1950s, Las Vegas has been host to many of professional boxing's largest events, beginning with the Heavyweight non-title bout in 1955 between world light heavyweight champion [[Archie Moore]] and perennial contender [[Niño Valdés]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2193325-how-las-vegas-became-the-boxing-capital-of-the-world|title=How Las Vegas Became the Boxing Capital of the World|first=Jonathan|last=Snowden|website=Bleacher Report}}</ref> [[Muhammad Ali]] fought his last world title bout in Las Vegas against [[Larry Holmes]] in 1980, and [[Floyd Mayweather]] fought many of his major fights there.
===College=== The Southwest is home to a rich tradition of college sports. The [[Big 12 Conference|Big-12 Conference]] has two teams in the region, the [[Arizona State Sun Devils]] and the [[Arizona Wildcats|University of Arizona Wildcats]]. The [[Mountain West Conference]] also has two teams, the [[UNLV Rebels]] and the [[New Mexico Lobos|University of New Mexico Lobos]]. [[Conference USA]] is represented by the [[UTEP Miners|University of Texas at El Paso Miners]]. The [[Big Sky Conference]] has two teams: the [[Northern Arizona Lumberjacks|Lumberjacks]] of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, and the [[Southern Utah Thunderbirds|Southern Utah University Thunderbirds]] in Cedar City, Utah. The [[Western Athletic Conference]] also has two representatives, the [[New Mexico State Aggies|New Mexico State University Aggies]] in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and the [[Grand Canyon Antelopes|Grand Canyon University Antelopes]] in Phoenix.
Las Vegas is becoming the nexus for NCAA league basketball tournaments. The [[Mountain West Conference]], the [[Western Athletic Conference]], the [[West Coast Conference]], and the [[Pac-12 Conference]] all hold their conference basketball tournaments in Las Vegas.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/pac-12-bring-basketball-tourney-mgm-grand-garden | publisher=Las Vegas Review-Journal | title=Pac-12 to bring basketball tourney to MGM Grand Garden | last=Carp | first=Steve | date=March 13, 2012 | access-date=July 14, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715111401/http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/pac-12-bring-basketball-tourney-mgm-grand-garden | archive-date=July 15, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref>
The Southwest is the site of six college football bowl games: the Rate Bowl, formerly known as the [[Insight Bowl|Cheez-it Bowl]], in Phoenix;<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.football-bowl.com/bowls/insight-bowl.html | title=Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl | publisher=football-bowl.com | access-date=February 14, 2014 }}</ref>{{New archival link needed|date=April 2026}} the [[Arizona Bowl]] in Tucson; the [[Fiesta Bowl]], played at the University of Phoenix Stadium;<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fiestabowl.org/index.php/insight/ | title=Fiesta Bowl | publisher=fiestabowl.org | access-date=February 14, 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106042237/http://www.fiestabowl.org/index.php/insight | archive-date=January 6, 2009 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> the [[Las Vegas Bowl]];<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lvbowl.com/media/releases/201300925 | publisher=Las Vegas | title=Royal Purple Announced as Bowl Game's Title Sponsor | date=September 25, 2013 | access-date=July 14, 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> the [[New Mexico Bowl]] in Albuquerque;<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gildannewmexicobowl.com/ | publisher=ESPN | title=Gildan New Mexico Bowl | access-date=July 14, 2015}}</ref> and the [[Sun Bowl]] in El Paso, Texas.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sunbowl.org/ | publisher=Sun Bowl Association | title=Hyundai Sun Bowl | access-date=July 14, 2015}}</ref>
The erstwhile [20th century] [[Southwest Conference]] might seem to have been named after this region, but it had no teams from [[Arizona]] nor [[New Mexico]]. All but one of its teams were from schools in [[Texas]].<ref name="SWC">"See also" [the article about the] [[Southwest Conference]].</ref>
==Politics== {|class="wikitable" |- | colspan="10" align="center" | '''Presidential electoral votes in Southwestern states since 1952''' |- !Year !! Arizona !! California !! Colorado !! Nevada !! New Mexico !Oklahoma!! Texas !! Utah |- | [[1952 United States presidential election|1952]] || {{party shading/Republican}}| [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]]|| {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] |- | [[1956 United States presidential election|1956]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Εisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}| [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] |- | [[1960 United States presidential election|1960]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Democratic}} |[[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] |- | [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Barry Goldwater|Goldwater]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson]] || {{party shading/Democratic}} |[[Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson]] |- | [[1968 United States presidential election|1968]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Democratic}} |[[Hubert H. Humphrey|Humphrey]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] |- | [[1972 United States presidential election|1972]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] |- | [[1976 United States presidential election|1976]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Gerald Ford|Ford]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Gerald Ford|Ford]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Gerald Ford|Ford]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Gerald Ford|Ford]]|| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Gerald Ford|Ford]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Gerald Ford|Ford]] || {{party shading/Democratic}} |[[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Gerald Ford|Ford]] |- | [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] |- | [[1984 United States presidential election|1984]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] |- | [[1988 United States presidential election|1988]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] |- | [[1992 United States presidential election|1992]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] |- | [[1996 United States presidential election|1996]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Robert J. Dole|Dole]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Robert J. Dole|Dole]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Robert J. Dole|Dole]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Robert J. Dole|Dole]] |- | [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Al Gore|Gore]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Al Gore|Gore]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[George W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[George W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George W. Bush|Bush]] |- | [[2004 United States presidential election|2004]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[John F. Kerry|Kerry]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[George W. Bush|Bush]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[George W. Bush|Bush]] |- | [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[John McCain|McCain]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Barack Obama|Obama]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}| [[Barack Obama|Obama]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Barack Obama|Obama]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Barack Obama|Obama]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[John McCain|McCain]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[John McCain|McCain]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[John McCain|McCain]] |- | [[2012 United States presidential election|2012]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Mitt Romney|Romney]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Barack Obama|Obama]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}| [[Barack Obama|Obama]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Barack Obama|Obama]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Barack Obama|Obama]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Mitt Romney|Romney]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Mitt Romney|Romney]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Mitt Romney|Romney]] |- | [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Donald Trump|Trump]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Hillary Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}| [[Hillary Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Hillary Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Hillary Clinton|Clinton]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Donald Trump|Trump]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Donald Trump|Trump]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Donald Trump|Trump]] |- | [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Joe Biden|Biden]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Joe Biden|Biden]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}| [[Joe Biden|Biden]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Joe Biden|Biden]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Joe Biden|Biden]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Donald Trump|Trump]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Donald Trump|Trump]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Donald Trump|Trump]] |- | [[2024 United States presidential election|2024]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Donald Trump|Trump]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Kamala Harris|Harris]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}| [[Kamala Harris|Harris]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Donald Trump|Trump]] || {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Kamala Harris|Harris]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Donald Trump|Trump]] || {{party shading/Republican}} |[[Donald Trump|Trump]] || {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Donald Trump|Trump]] |}
==See also== * [[List of online encyclopedias of U.S. states]] * [[Pacific Southwest]] * [[Southwest Conference]] (for a different division of the US for sports) * [[Water Education Foundation]] * [[Western United States]] * [[Cuisine of the Southwestern United States]]
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== * Bozanic, Andrew D. A., "Preserving Pictures of the Past: The Packaging and Selling of the American Southwest with an Emphasis on the Historic Preservation," ''Nevada Historical Society Quarterly,'' 53 (Fall–Winter 2010), 196–214. * {{cite book | last=Burke | first=F. | title=A Land Apart: The Southwest and the Nation in the Twentieth Century | publisher=University of Arizona Press | series=The Modern American West | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-8165-2841-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3rQ9DgAAQBAJ | access-date=2 June 2023}} * {{cite book | last=Busby | first=M. | title=The Southwest | publisher=Greenwood Press | series=Greenwood encyclopedia of American regional cultures | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-313-32805-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lmg142dU3wQC | access-date=2 June 2023 | page=}} * {{cite book |last = Chávez |first = John R. |title = The Lost Land: The Chicano Image of the Southwest |url = https://archive.org/details/lostland00john |url-access=registration |year=1984 |location=Albuquerque }} * {{cite book | last=León | first=Arnoldo De | title=Mexican Americans in Texas | date=1999 | publisher=Harlan Davidson | isbn=0-88295-948-4}} * Garcia, Richard A. "Changing Chicano Historiography," ''Reviews in American History'' 34.4 (2006) 521–528 in [[Project MUSE]] * {{cite book |last=Griffin-Pierce |first=T. |title=Native Peoples of the Southwest |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8263-1908-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2MszsCnZbQC |author-link=Trudy Griffin-Pierce |access-date=2 June 2023}} * Lamar, Howard, ed. ''The New Encyclopedia of the American West'' (Yale U.P., 1998) {{isbn|0300070888}} * Meinig, Donald W. ''Southwest: Three Peoples in Geographical Change, 1600–1970,'' (1971), [[Oxford University Press]], {{ISBN|0-19-501288-7}} * Prampolini, Gaetano, and Annamaria Pinazzi (eds). "The Shade of the Saguaro/La sombra del saguaro," Firenze University Press [http://www.fupress.com/ Firenze University Press] (2013) * {{cite book |first1=James M.|last1=Skibo |author1-link=James M. Skibo |first2=Michael W. |last2=Graves |first3=Miriam T. |last3=Stark |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=L9oJ1z7U0uQC&q=Mogollon+pueblo&pg=PA234 |title = Archaeological Anthropology: Perspectives on Method and Theory |publisher=University of Arizona Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8165-2517-1 }} * {{cite book | last=Weber | first=David J. | title=The Mexican Frontier, 1821-1846 | publisher=UNM Press | date=1982 | isbn=0-8263-0603-9}} * Weber, David J. "The Spanish Borderlands, Historiography Redux." ''The History Teacher'', 39#1 (2005), pp. 43–56. JSTOR, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/30036743 online].
==External links== {{Wikivoyage|Southwest (United States of America)|Southwestern United States}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070625090928/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/amsw/ American Southwest, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary] * [http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS57937 Water-use Trends in the Desert Southwest, 1950–2000], [[United States Geological Survey]]
{{Regions of the world}} {{Regions of the United States}} {{United States topics}} {{Spanish Empire}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Southwestern United States| ]] [[Category:Cultural regions of the United States]] [[Category:Regions of the Western United States]]