The evolution of an arid desert area into the verdant oasis that is the Wigwam Resort was ultimately brought about by an unlikely crop needed by an important American corporation in the early 20th century. The crop was long-staple cotton and the corporation was the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. When the U.S. Department of Agriculture discovered that Arizona's Salt River Valley was an ideal location to domestically grow long-staple cotton, Goodyear purchased 16,000 acres in the desert west of Phoenix to cultivate the crop for their newly developed pneumatic tire. The company built a...