….It must be mined.

Last month, I asked my newsletter subscribers what they would like to see on this blog. The most popular response was “More Arizona adventures!” You spoke, I listened.

I thought I’d start out a series on Arizona adventures by sharing a recent excursion that reflects Arizona’s history, culture, and economy: Arizona Mining Day at the Capitol.

Every Arizona grade schooler learns the “5 Cs” of Arizona’s economy: “Cotton, Copper, Canyon, Citrus, and Climate.” Local lore abounds with stories of gold miners, and the Gold Rush is perhaps the most romantic (or maybe just most romanticized) aspect of our Wild West legends. However, copper is the real asset for modern Arizona, thanks to its abundance and uses, and the copper industry employs a huge slice of Arizonans.

Mining Day at the Capitol is an annual affair at on the capitol building lawn. Dozens of industry professionals set up booths to represent their companies, mainly to remind lawmakers how essential the industry is (“If it can’t be grown, it must be mined!”) and also to educate school groups and the general public about mining and the many roles that exist.

The popular imagination sees miners as grizzled old men hunkered down on a mining claim, pickaxe in hand. But modern mining requires much more technology and ingenuity. My dad’s role, for example, is in land management. He spends his time on everything from GIS technology to negotiating deals with cattle ranchers to forest conservation. A friend from church works in the same company in an IT role. Engineers, construction workers, farmers, and more all have a place in harvesting the metals required to operate your phone, car, and appliances.

During Mining Day, my family browsed from booth to booth, watching chemistry demonstrations, snagging cool swag, and hearing about upcoming projects. One of the tables offered copies of a slim textbook on the history of mining. I grabbed one, partially for book research and partially just out of curiosity. Immediately, the words and vintage photos swept me back into a brief and bygone era filled with intrigue, mysterious disappearances, lost fortunes, and handlebar-mustachioed men who longed for the West and gold.

As the perceptive Arizona adventurer knows, century-old mine shafts dot the desert and old wooden buildings molder in the mountains above busy open-pit mines. Arizona’s modern mining industry may be a well-oiled machine run by men and women of science and skill, but echoes from the past remind us of ghost towns that held the dreams of a generation.