
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona. In 1700, the Spanish founded the Mission San Xavier del Bac 7 miles upstream from Tucson, and, on 20 August 1775, the fort of Presidio San Agustin del Tucson was established by the Spanish Army. In 1846, the US Army's Mormon Battalion captured Tucson from Mexico, but it remained under Mexican control after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. It became one of the most important routes into California during the California Gold Rush of 1849, and it was acquired by the United States under the Gadsden Purchase of 1854. From 1861 to 1862, Tucson was occupied by the Confederacy during the American Civil War, but it was recaptured by the Union in 1862. From 1867 to 1877, Tucson was the capital of the Arizona Township, and Tucson was incorporated in 1877 as the oldest city in the state. The Tucson suffered from a rash of Wild West stagecoach robberies from 1877 to 1878, and Morgan Earp was murdered in Tucson in 1882. After World War I, Tucson's clean and dry air made the city an attractive destination for war veterans who had been gassed and needed respiratory therapy. In 1910, Tucson had a population of 13,913, rising to 36,818 in 1940 and to 545,975 in 2018.