From Inside Tucson’s Business July 1, 2011:

Is Tucson really still a “western” town?

….Historically Tucson is one of the real deal Western places. It is right up there with Dodge City and Deadwood and Virginia City and all those other places where Western myths were made.

Tucson is the real thing when it comes to the West…at least it used to be.

One of Tucson’s heritages is cowboys…the whole definition of what a cowboy is evolved right here and southwards…cows have been on the range since Father Kino brought the first herd to San Xavier.

But local environmentalists are determined to wipe out southern Arizona’s ranching community

And the Tucson area had its share of wild and wooly mining towns…most of which are now haunted by ghosts and 21st century mining companies who see copper in them thar hills.

Tucson seems to want to turn its back on his important role as a location of minerals which are in fact mined.

Tucson has been relentless in destroying its history and making itself over as a modern American plain vanilla city.

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