PHOENIX  , the

capital of Arizona, U.S.A., and the county-seat of Maricopa county, situated on the Salt river, in the south central part of the state . Pop . (189o), 3152; (1900), 5544 (935 being foreign-born and 148 negroes); (1910) 11,134 . It is served by the Arizona Eastern and the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix railways, the former connecting at Maricopa (35 M. distant) with the Southern Pacific and the latter connecting at Ash Fork, near Prescott (194 M. distant), with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe . The city is a popular winter and health resort, with a fine dry climate . The city is the see of a Protestant Episcopal bishopric . About 3 in. north of the city is the Phoenix (non-reservation) boarding-school for Indians, supported by the United States government, with an average attendance of about 700 pupils . The city lies in a great plain, in the centre of a region of pastures, gardens and orchards, the largest and most beautiful farming district of Arizona, irrigated with water stored by the great Roosevelt dam (about 70 M. north-east of Phoenix) . Local interests are almost entirely in agriculture, stock-raising and fruit-growing . In the surrounding region are several large ostrich farms and a small exhibition ranch . Phoenix was settled in 187o, became the county-seat on the organization of Maricopa county in 1871, was incorporated in 1881, and became the capital of Arizona in 1888 .