Another important angle: the prevailing notion of taking "good air" for people with various ailments. This was an especially powerful lure for the southwest, wi

Another important angle: the prevailing notion of taking "good air" for people with various ailments. This was an especially powerful lure for the southwest, with its drier climes. My great-aunt's first husband developed TB, possibly connected with his service in the first World War. Several decades later he hitchhiked from New York to the VA hospital in Tucson for treatment and recuperation (he rallied but died soon after returning to NY). His entire family eventually relocated to Mesa for similar reasons - the daughter developed some sort of lung condition and they felt that the dry air in the Southwest would help.