AZ: The History of Arizona podcast David Rookhuyzen

Arizona is a name that evokes images in everyone's minds, but where did that name come from? We explore the possible Spanish, Native American, Basque and even Aztec roots for the word and how it's all wrapped up in a 1736 discovery of silver in Mexico. As an added bonus, we also learn what "Connecticut" means.

A look into the geologic history of Arizona, discussing plate tectonics, volcanic activity, a meteor impact and the Colorado River/Grand Canyon. Discussions of Lava River Cave, Sunset Crater, Grand Falls, Barringer Meteor Crater, sources of the state's copper and the debate over the age of the Grand Canyon.

From the outside, Arizona - with its venomous snakes, scorpions and lizards; barbed cactus and spiked trees; and imposing geography - looked primed to kill anyone foolish enough to come close. But that impression doesn't do justice to the complex evolutionary forces that have shaped the state's flora and fauna.

At some point, humans entered North America. And the ones that made Arizona their home produced marvels that still capture the imagination today.

No, this isn't the start of a joke. For Coronado and his expedition, the search for glory and gold in Arizona and New Mexico turned out to be no laughing matter.

Spanish North America was a costly, unproductive project. So you can perhaps forgive King Felipe II for telling a new wave of explorers to keep their hands out of his treasury.