Arizona

Nobody planned it this way, but Arizona became a state on Valentine's Day. The signing was supposed to happen on February 12, 1912, Lincoln's birthday, but President Taft got delayed by a trip to New York.

By the time he picked up his pen, it was February 14. That made Arizona the 48th state, the last of the lower 48, and earned it the nickname "the Valentine State."

People lived here for over 12,000 years before any of that paperwork. The Hopi village of Oraibi has been continuously inhabited since before 1100 AD, making it one of the oldest communities in the United States. The Navajo, Apache, and Tohono O'odham built complex societies across the deserts and canyons long before Europeans showed up.

A member of Coronado's Spanish expedition became the first European to see the Grand Canyon in 1540. Spain held the region for centuries until Mexico won independence in 1821. Then the U.S. took most of Arizona after the Mexican-American War in 1848, and bought the southern strip through the Gadsden Purchase in 1854 for $10 million, mostly to build a railroad.

The silver boom turned Tombstone into one of the wildest towns in the West. On October 26, 1881, Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and Doc Holliday faced off against the Clanton-McLaury gang near the O.K. Corral. The whole fight lasted about 30 seconds. Three men died.

During World War II, Navajo Code Talkers used their own language to transmit secret military messages the Japanese never cracked. The Navajo Nation, stretching across northeastern Arizona, covers over 27,000 square miles and remains the largest Native American reservation in the country.

You can stand on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and stare down into 277 miles of rock carved by the Colorado River. In Tombstone, you'll catch reenactments of the famous gunfight and walk past the original O.K. Corral. Head to Saguaro National Park near Tucson to hike among giant saguaro cacti. They only grow wild in the Sonoran Desert.

Then grab a Sonoran hot dog in Tucson, wrapped in bacon and piled with beans, onions, and jalapeños.