(soft music) (Tom) This week on a special July 4th episode of Arizona Illustrated, a gas station owner embodies the American dream.

(Arnaldo) I tell people that United States is a country next to heaven.

(Tom) See what Tucson was like back in 1776.

(Homer) It was a hard life, but for whatever reason people stayed here.

(Tom) Go behind the scenes of a US naturalization ceremony.

(Judge) Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow citizens, I welcome you to America.

(audience applauding) (Tom) And memories from A Mountain.

(Woman) I usually bring friends who are visiting from out of town.

It's the one place where they can see the whole scope of Tucson.

(dramatic music) (Tom) Hello and welcome to a special July 4th edition of Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara.

First up for you, Arnold Mendez moved to the United States from Cuba back in 1965.

He overcame a lot of obstacles to operate the A&M Shell service station on East Speedway for many years.

His story is the embodiment of the American dream that our founding fathers fought for.

[Bell dinging] (Arnaldo Jr. on phone) Ben, good morning, Arnold A and M Shell.

Just wanted to remind you today is our last day.

(Arnaldo Jr.) Well, it's the end of an era.

It is the closing of what used to be something very common, which was service stations.

So it is the termination of a business that has existed since 1965 that my father started.

(Arnaldo Sr.) Well, in those days to open up the service station was fairly easy because the company will provide you with the merchandise like the tire, batteries, oil, gas, and you pay as you sell it.

It was a good relationship with Gulf Oil and myself.

We came from Cuba in 1962.

I had lot a problem with the government.

I was put in prison 29 days, long days, and I was working with the Methodist Church in Cuba.

Then we arrived in Miami where we left hell to be in heaven.

Catalina United Methodist Church was our sponsor to Tucson.

(Analdo Jr.) I look at my father's quest and story and I believe that it is a quintessential immigrant story.

(Analdo Sr.) It was very difficult because first of all we didn't have the money.

I was working at St. Mary's making a dollar nine an hour in those days, but I was happy because I was doing something for myself, not depend on the government.

There was a lot of problems.

I used to go and talk to different clubs and churches about the communists and the liberals and somebody used to threaten me that they were going to do something to my family or myself.

Of course, after coming from a country that killed you, if you say anything, I wasn't afraid, but they set the station on fire in 1969 and I lost everything again.

I knew it was going to be hard, but I bounced it right back.

(Arnaldo Jr.) I think that he sets an example to say, immigrants are important and we need to bring these folks in and give them an opportunity.

(Arnaldo Sr.) I always had a lot of respect for this country.

I tell people that United States is a country next to heaven.

It's the best country in the world.

(Arnaldo Jr.) The generation of my father knew nothing but to work.

And so he set a high, high standard.

And I believe that he is admired for that.

(Chuck) Arnold is a one in a million type guy.

He's a very special person.

I've become a friend with him.

I think he's my friend and I think he provides a great service.

(Gloria) It's gonna be sad.

We've been friends 34 years.

I've seen the kids grow up.

They've helped me after my husband passed away, purchased a car for me, Junior, because I was on my own.

So they've always helped me.

(Patricia) I first came in the nineties.

After my husband died, I can't remember exactly the situation, but I needed some tires.

I didn't have the military paycheck, hadn't come.

And he said, "I'll give you four tires.

You can pay me when you return."

Who does that?

(Arnaldo Jr.) The stories I'm hearing people come in to say goodbye and wish him well.

What they're all telling me are things that he used to do to help them, but it was a service to the community and the full service he took seriously.

(Arnaldo Sr.) Sometimes you go to the service station and nobody even come out and help you if they need help.

And one of the things that I've done is try to emphasize and help people, especially the older people that are used to the old times.

(Gloria) It's gonna be hard, I think, and all the old timers that they take care of.

(Chuck) I have lost a leg.

And so it's basically is good insurance for me to come here.

It just eliminates the chance of a fall.

(Patricia) I wanted to get my last fill up of gas and I wanted Arnold to do it, but Junior did it.

But he did call his dad over, so I got to give him a hug and, you know.

Which I teared up.

(Voice off camera) What makes you tear up about coming to a gas station to get a fill up?

(Patricia) Because this isn't like anything else in Tucson.

I mean, they just, they treat you like family.

Full service means full service.

Check the tires, wash your windows, check the oil.

(Arnaldo Sr.) Well, I think that it's crucial to have that relationship with people.

To know who they are.

All that is changing a lot in this business.

Changing a lot.

But that is the way it looks like the things are going in life.

I'm gonna be 88 years old.

And I look and I say, until when can I work?

And especially take care of my wife and to be with her.

(Gloria) Happy retirement!

(Arnaldo Jr.) I hope that he can look on it positively and feel satisfied that he's accomplished something, you know, beautiful and that he's provided a great service for all these years.

(Arnaldo Sr.) That is gonna be hard because I'm up at five o'clock in the morning, even on Sunday.

And now I guess I gotta go to different direction.

And just relax.

(Woman) Thank you for everything.

(Arnaldo Jr.) Thank you!

(Arnaldo Sr.) I would say that I'm gonna miss the customers.

Yes, that relationship with them.

I'm very grateful to my customers.

I owe them a lot.

And I want them to know that.

(Arnaldo Jr.) It's a bittersweet experience, but I am so grateful that my father gets to see it while he's alive.

(Man) Nice to see you.

Be good.

(Arnaldo Sr.) Thank you.

(Patricia) They will be missed.

They really will.

Everybody will find somewhere to go, but you can't replace this.

You know, 59 years, you can't replace this.

(Tom) While the founding fathers were declaring their independence in Philadelphia, Tucson was a fledgling fort struggling to survive.

Well next, local historians give us a glimpse into what life was like in Southern Arizona back in July of 1776.

(Narrator) It was summer of 1776 when representatives from the 13 American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain.

The story of the United States was just beginning.

And more than 2,000 miles away, Tucson's story was beginning too, in an unexpected place.

(Shaw) Tucson's story starts in Tubac because the Spanish came up from the South.

So there was a whole series of frontiers, if you will.

There was one just above Mexico City for a while and then it made it all the way up to Durango and then it made its way up to El Paso, which is kind of our region here.

So following east-west from El Paso, this was the frontier.

And the purpose of the frontier in having these presidios all along here was that it was providing protection for the main silver mining areas of Mexico, which was the cash cow for Spain.

(Homer) In 1775, an Irishman named Hugo O'Conor was tasked with inspecting all the presidios from Louisiana to California.

So he came to Tubac, which had a presidio fortress, didn't like what he saw.

And then he came north to Tucson, which was a Native American village and decided this would be a great place to build a new fort.

(Shaw) The word had come down that this presidio was to be closed and that the soldiers were to move with their families to Tucson.

It must have been wrenching because they had made a home here, children had been born here and things like that.

People then have to be a bit like we are where you don't like change.

(Narrator) When the soldiers and their families arrived in Tucson, they found a brand new fort, unfinished and ill-equipped.

(Shaw) It must have been short of housing and short of food and short of supplies for a long time.

So it took some time to get up to speed and so it probably was no picnic.

(Ken) It would be grim at best.

And I'm sure people were thinking at the time, how did I ever get out here?

Cause this is really the end of the world.

The first thing, any strategy for them to survive out here since they moved up from Tubac was to get some kind of roof over their head.

So they would probably set up some type of Ramada to get the heat off whatever encampments they had.

And they would probably use the mesquite trees, the beams from that, and then other cross members or anything to build a Ramada.

And then typically they'd even have some kind of fireplace and chimney for the winter for heat.

So you had to get yourself protected from the elements.

(Narrator) For guidance, these new residents occasionally turned to more experienced Tucsonans.

(Homer) Over at the base of Sentinel Peak, or what now is called A Mountain, was the mission of San Augustín.

And there were several hundred O'odham and Pima people living there.

And they were a farming community.

And then during the hot months, they might go off somewhere else to go hunting or gathering wild foods, the materials they needed to make baskets, that sort of thing.

(Narrator) Eventually, the newcomers settled in to a routine.

(Homer) The soldiers had a variety of tasks.

They would go out on expeditions, looking to see what was going.

They would work on building the fort.

They would be guarding the horse and cattle herds from the Apache who liked to visit and borrow a few of those animals every now and then.

The women who were here would be washing the clothes down in the canal at the base of the terrace and helping to raise the kids, cooking, grinding corn and wheat on the manos and matates.

It was a hard life, but for whatever reason, people stayed here.

(Narrator) With life centered on survival, politics weren't a priority.

(Homer) In 1776, there probably wasn't a lot of news trickling in about what was happening in the American colonies.

Spain was a traditional enemy of England.

So if they heard anything, they would say, "Oh, well that's great because we don't like them."

It wasn't until the 1780s that better information about the American Revolution occurred.

And they actually raised money here in Tucson to give to the American people to help fight the British.

(upbeat music) (Narrator) More than two centuries later, the U.S. is a dramatically different place.

And so is Southern Arizona.

(Ken) If you look at where the Santa Cruz is today and all the development, people can forget, there was a reason why people settled here and had lived along the Santa Cruz for 4,000 years.

Surface flow of water, landscape, in fact in Father Kino's diary, he talks about in the 1690s that when the birds would fly off the trees in the Santa Cruz riparian area, the sky would darken.

This was a lush oasis in the desert.

And that's why every group has stopped here and why there were so many contests and conflicts here because it was a desirable place.

(Tom) The United States is a nation of immigrants and each year, thousands of new citizens take the oath of allegiance to the U.S. at naturalization ceremonies around the country.

We attended one at the DeConcini Federal Courthouse in Tucson.

(Woman) You speak out, okay?

You speak it out.

We're gonna be watching you and there's cameras here we can verify.

(laughing) (Narrator) It takes at least five years to get here.

To become naturalized citizens of the United States, these 46 immigrants had to go through a lengthy process that required them to be of good moral character, to understand and speak English, to demonstrate knowledge of U.S. history and the workings of government.

It starts with the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner.

The people you see here today decided to appear before a federal judge to take their oath of allegiance.

(Woman) All rise for this naturalization ceremony held on Friday, June 19, 2015.

The honorable Judge Frank R Zapata presiding.

(Judge) Good morning, thank you, please be seated.

My name is Frank Zapata.

I'm a senior United States District judge and I have the honor of presiding over this naturalization ceremony.

(Narrator) Judge Zapata was born and raised in what he calls a little migrant camp outside of Safford, Arizona, known as Little Hollywood.

(Judge) I wish to welcome all of you.

(Narrator) Zapata served in the Federal Public Defender's Office for 20 years, was later selected to be a magistrate judge, and in 1996 was appointed by President Clinton to the District Court bench.

(Judge) I also wish to congratulate and thank the friends and relatives who have supported these candidates in their quest for citizenship.

Without your help, they probably wouldn't be here today.

(Narrator) Judge Zapata recognizes the candidates and their former countries of citizenship before they swear their oath to the United States.

17 countries are represented in the courtroom today.

(Judge) Today is the last day you will answer the call as a citizen of your former country.

From now on, you will answer the call as citizens of the United States of America.

(Narrator) With all the joy around this occasion, the realities of today's world are not lost on Judge Zapata.

(Judge) We don't want criminals coming into the country.

That doesn't better your society.

We don't want people who are coming into the country to harm us, so there needs to be a process where these people are weeded out, but not a process that denies everybody entry because a vast majority of them are coming here to seek a better life for themselves and for their family.

And in doing that, creating a better life for all of the people in the United States.

(Narrrator) To those folks who say it's time to close the door and stop the flow of immigrants, Judge Zapata responds.

(Judge) It is our country because we're here now.

We were and are a country of immigrants, unless you happen to be Native American and you were here before everybody else got here.

But there's been wave after wave of immigrants into this country and every immigrant group that comes in, they come here to better their life.

(Narrator) And for these immigrants, Zapata has this message.

(Judge) The moment they take their oath, they're equal to every other citizen in this country, regardless of when that citizen came here.

(Narrator) And this is that moment.

(Judge) At this time, the clerk, Ms. Melissa Guzman, will now administer the oath of allegiance.

(Woman) All persons who are taking this oath, please rise and raise your right hand and repeat after me, the oath of allegiance.

(all speaking at once) I... state your name... hearby declare on oath... That I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure... all allegiance and fidelity... to any foreign prince... (Judge) I also stress becoming part of what is America, we do have a culture in America.

Become part of that.

Don't give up your culture from the country you came from, because that's important too.

That makes up this whole quilt that we are in America.

Don't give up your language, don't give up your religion.

But become an American, get into America.

And then of course, the most important, register to vote.

If you don't vote, you have no voice in this country.

(all speaking at once) against all enemies... foreign and domestic... (Judge) Now, and I tell them, hey, America is a great country, but now it's up to you and to me to keep it a great country.

(Speaking all at once) So help me, God.

(audience applauding) (Narrator) After the oath, new citizen Georgina Lupido leads everyone in the courtroom as they pledge allegiance to the flag.

(Georgina) I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God.

(Narrator) 52-year-old Georgina is from the Philippines.

Today, her name carries a special meaning.

(Judge) Thank you, you may be seated.

(Georgina) My mom's, give me my name because I was born on February 22nd.

It's George Washington's birthday.

(Narrator) Named after the man often referred to as the father of his country, Georgina is grateful for this day.

(Georgina) I would like to thank first of all God and my family and my husband's family.

And I'm glad that we are here in America too.

I'm the last one.

Now they are teasing me that I'm American girl now.

(Judge) Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow citizens, I welcome you to America and I thank you for coming here.

Since the birth of our nation, it has been a country of immigrants.

In my case, my father was an immigrant to this country from Mexico.

My mother and her family were actually born here in the United States in Arizona before Arizona was a state.

(Narrator) After sharing a bit of his own story, Judge Zapata calls on his fellow citizens and their families to share their thoughts about today and what it means to them.

(Judge) Becoming a citizen is like being born.

You're not gonna be born again and you're not gonna become a citizen again.

Today is the one and only day.

And if you have something that you'd like to share with us, there's a microphone, come up and share your stories with us.

(Diana) Good morning, my name is Diana.

I'm from Brazil and it's an honor to be here to become a citizen of this beautiful country.

I wanna thank you, my husband, for his support and all my family that came from Brazil to witness this moment with me.

Thank you very much.

(audience applauding) (Eduardo) My name is Eduardo Casas from Mexico.

I born in Sonora and I'm very happy.

Thank you, thank you on my wife, my son, my teacher, the English.

(Woman) I'm so happy to be here.

After many years of procrastination, I'm finally here.

And I'm thankful, very, very thankful to God for that.

I also wanna thank my family, my husband, my children, my granny, thank you guys for being here and for supporting me.

I love you guys, thank you.

(audience applauding) (Woman) My name is *unintelligible* I'm so proud.

I'm so proud to be here in this beautiful country and I love to be here.

And...

I'm so sorry.

(audience applauding) (Camila) Hello, my name is Camila and I'm here to congratulate my grandpa Luis Cancio and I just wanted to say that I love him very much.

Thank you.

(audience applauding) (Man) I came here as a young kid to this country, across the border, Mexico.

I've been here for 30 years and now I became a US citizen to have a better job and to help my family.

I have my wife here, my daughter, and my little niece that just surprised me.

I didn't think she was gonna speak.

And I wanna say thank you and congratulations to everyone.

(audience applauding) (gentle music) (gentle music) (Tom) For many Tucsonans, the Fourth of July is synonymous with A Mountain.

The fireworks launched from the top are one of many reasons this local landmark creates special memories for those of us who live here.

(gentle music) (Woman) We're driving and she's like, "Look at mommy, mommy, the A, there's a big giant A."

(Young girl) It was this big.

(laughing) This big.

(Woman) Pretty big.

(Man) What do you wanna do, you wanna go up there?

(Child) All the way.

All the way.

To the top.

(Woman) Up to the top.

(Man) Higher than Tucson.

(Woman) My dad used to bring our whole cross-country team up here.

He'd drop us off at the bottom and then we'd have to run up.

And then this was kinda like our gift at the end.

We got to go up there and climb to the top.

It draws you to it, you know?

You can't help but wanna climb it when you're here.

(Man) I was always here as a kid with the family.

We used to always come up here and just eat food actually and just hang out.

(dramatic music) (Woman) ASU students came and painted it and stuff and there was this whole big fuss over the A right there so I had to come and see for myself but now I just like the view of the city.

(Woman) This is some place I would come not to reflect on a day but to more forget about the day.

(Man) I got good memories and then I got bad memories too.

(soft music) I brought my son up here right after school so we can have some fun.

You know, we were grooving to some music.

We had 50 Cent, we had Taiga, we had just some feeling music to enjoy the night that we're in.

My son right now, I'm with him right now.

I'm building a great memory.

(Child) I like the sunset and all the buildings and the lights.

It's just really nice to look at.

(Man) I stayed at that motel on the second floor and stood on the balcony to watch the fireworks from over here.

And it's hard for me to recognize because a lot of things have happened in 25 years.

I remember empty fields.

Now there are buildings down there.

(Woman) I've lived here for many, many years.

I usually bring friends who are visiting from out of town because it's the one place where they can see the whole scope of Tucson.

(Man) Traveling south to like Kentucky, Tennessee, things like that, you know, you get in the foothills before you get in the mountains and here everything is flat and then pow, there's a mountain right in your face.

(Woman) Oh, it's beautiful.

I mean, Michigan's all flat.

We don't have mountains.

So it's definitely a breathtaking view.

(Man) The views get more and more spectacular as you get higher and higher.

It's like a hot air balloon ride without the hot air balloon.

(Woman) I usually go to the hut that's over there.

I just like to sit and escape school.

(Man) This one time we had come up here around eight o'clock.

Sun was still going down.

It was just so nice.

Clouds were looking white, yellow, maroon.

And you could definitely take a picture that day, post it somewhere online.

If they weren't from Tucson, they were definitely talking about the sunset.

Oh, it's full of Tucson pride.

You see A Mountain you know that's Tucson.

(Woman) Well, my grandson's visiting from the, the East coast.

(Man) Yeah.

And I just was thinking of a nice place that we could go before I brought Nana out to dinner.

And Nana has lived here for what, 15 years now?

About 15 years.

And she had never been up here.

So I thought, why not?

(Woman) So here we are.

Gorgeous, gorgeous sunset.

(Tom) Well, that'll do it for us.

I'm Tom McNamara.

Thanks for watching and enjoy those fireworks.

(dramatic music) (upbeat music)