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Phoenix, Arizona--A
Romantic Getaway Driving from the airport to
Phoenix, we knew we were experiencing a city that was very much unlike
many of the major metropolises in the USA or Canada. Our first clue was that everything
seemed new to us, even the expressways with their unique architecture
paying tribute to the city's Native American heritage. What was most impressive was
its unique towering desert mountain skyline that was not hidden by huge
skyscrapers. Yes, there were a few tall buildings around, however, nothing
to compare to those of New York, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Toronto or Montreal. And these were not obstructing the magnificent views of Squaw Peak, Camelback Mountain, the bulky South Mountains, or the McDowells. Nicknamed the "Valley
of the Sun," and blessed with over 300 days of sunshine, Phoenix
is set within a flat valley at an elevation of roughly 1,100 feet. With
its unusual cacti, desert colors of reds, tans and brown, pink bougainvillea
vines and greens, brown grove date palms, spiky yuccas, and glorious sunsets
on its mountains, it can probably boast of being one of the finest natural
settings of any in the USA. 
For hundreds of years, prior
to its incorporation as a city in 1881, a very well civilized and resourceful
community known as the Hohokam,
lived in the area between 700 A.D. and 1400 A.D. They tamed the Salt River
and built an irrigation system that consisted of some 135 miles of canals
thus creating a fertile land where they would grow beans, corn, squash
and cotton.Their name means "the people who have gone." Apparently,
they had disappeared without a trace. In the mid-1800s, one of the
first white settlers to arrive on the scene was John Y. T. Smith. One
day Smith invited his friend, Jack Swilling of Wickenburg, to visit him
at his hay camp. I guess Swilling was impressed with what he had discovered-
an area that was predominately devoid of rocks and where heavy frost or
snow would not interfere with the vegetation. He probably also noticed
the miles of abandoned irrigation ditches stretching across the valley.
He thought to himself, why not bring water once again to the area? With
a capitalization of $10, 0000 he formed the Swilling Irrigation Canal
Company in 1868. No doubt, he reaped the benefits of the ancient Hohokam
canals diverting once again some of the water of the Salt River onto the
land of the valley. It was not too long thereafter that an Englishman, Darrell Dupa, gave Phoenix its name. Just as the mythological Egyptian bird rose to life again from the ashes of its own funeral pyre, so did the new city rise from the ashes of the Hohokam culture, and Phoenix was off and running. continued:
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Lovetripper.com Romantic Travel Guide
