Editing Gadsden Purchase (section)

=== Economic development ===
From the late 1840s into the 1870s, Texas stockmen drove their beef cattle through southern Arizona on the Texas–California trail. Texans were impressed with the grazing possibilities offered by the Gadsden Purchase country of Arizona. In the last third of the century, they moved their herds into Arizona and established the range cattle industry there. The Texans contributed their proven range methods to the new grass country of Arizona, but also brought their problems as well. Texas rustlers brought lawlessness, poor management resulted in overstocking, and carelessness introduced destructive diseases. But these difficulties did force laws and associations in Arizona to curb and resolve them. The Anglo-American cattleman frontier in Arizona was an extension of the Texas experience.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=James A. |last=Wilson |title=West Texas Influence on the Early Cattle Industry of Arizona |magazine=Southwestern Historical Quarterly |year=1967 |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=26–36 |issn=0038-478X}}</ref>

When the Arizona Territory was formed in 1863 from the southern portion of the New Mexico Territory, [[Pima County, Arizona|Pima County]] and later [[Cochise County, Arizona|Cochise County]]—created from the easternmost portion of Pima County in January 1881—were subject to ongoing border-related conflicts. The area was characterized by rapidly growing boom towns, ongoing Apache raids, smuggling and cattle rustling across the United States-Mexico border, growing ranching operations, and the expansion of new technologies in mining, railroading, and telecommunications.

In the 1860s conflict between the Apaches and the Americans was at its height. Until 1886, almost constant warfare existed in the region adjacent to the Mexican border. The illegal cattle operations kept beef prices in the border region lower and provided cheap stock that helped small ranchers get by. Many early [[Tombstone, Arizona]] residents looked the other way when it was "only Mexicans" being robbed.<ref name="stone">{{cite web |url=http://www.discoverseaz.com/History/TStone.html |title=History of Old Tombstone |access-date=February 7, 2011 |work=Discover Arizona }}</ref>

Outlaws derisively called "[[Cochise County Cowboys|The Cowboys]]" frequently robbed [[stagecoach]]es and brazenly stole cattle in broad daylight, scaring off the legitimate cowboys watching the herds.<ref name="oldwest2">{{cite web |title=Tombstones O.K. Corral 2 |url=http://www.oldwesthistory.net/tombstones_ok_corral_2.html |work=The Old West History Net |access-date=May 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616153323/http://www.oldwesthistory.net/tombstones_ok_corral_2.html |archive-date=June 16, 2011 }}</ref> Bandits used the border between the United States and Mexico to raid across in one direction and take sanctuary in the other. In December 1878, and again the next year, Mexican authorities complained about the "Cowboy" outlaws who stole Mexican beef and resold it in Arizona. The ''[[Tucson Citizen|Arizona Citizen]]'' reported that both U.S. and Mexican bandits were stealing horses from the Santa Cruz Valley and selling them in Sonora. Arizona Territorial Governor Frémont investigated the Mexican government's allegations and accused them in turn of allowing outlaws to use Sonora as a base of operations for raiding into Arizona.<ref name=ball>{{cite magazine |title=Pioneer Lawman: Crawley P. Dake and Law Enforcement on the Southwestern Frontier |first1=Larry D. |last1=Ball |magazine=The Journal of Arizona History |volume=14 |number=3 |date=Autumn 1973 |pages=243–256 |publisher=Arizona Historical Society |jstor=41695121}}</ref>

In the 1870s and 1880s there was considerable tension in the region—between the rural residents, who were for the most part [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] from the agricultural South, and town residents and business owners, who were largely [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] from the industrial Northeast and Midwest. The tension culminated in what has been called the [[Cochise County in the Old West|Cochise County feud]], and the Earp-Clanton feud, which ended with the historic [[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral]] and [[Wyatt Earp]]'s [[Earp Vendetta Ride|Vendetta Ride]].

The Gadsden purchase resulted in the division of the [[Tohono Oʼodham Nation]] and its ancestral lands by the new international border. This disrupted traditional migratory practices and transportation of materials and goods essential for their spirituality, economy and traditional culture. Nine communities are on the Mexican side of this boundary. Conflicts have arisen mainly in the 21st century with stronger enforcement of customs laws at the border.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tonation-nsn.gov/history-culture/ |title=Tohono O'odham Nation - History and Culture |year=2016 |access-date=March 3, 2022}}</ref>