Сентинел Пик тауы және "A" әрпінің тарихы

Mountain in Arizona, United StatesInfobox mountain
| name = Sentinel Peak
| other name = "A" Mountain'''
| photo = Sentinel Peak (Arizona). jpg
| photo caption = The "A" on Sentinel Peak, pictured with its 2003 2013 color scheme. | elevation ft = 2901
| elevation ref =
| prominence ft = 267
| prominence ref =
| location = City of TucsonPima County, Arizona, U. S.
| range = Tucson Mountains
| map = USA Arizona
| map caption = none
| map size = 180
| label = SentinelPeak
| label position =
| coordinates =
| range coordinates =
| coordinates ref =

The fertile land at the base of Sentinel Peak was used for agriculture from c. 2000 BCE until the 1930s. Bedrock mortars found on the sides of the peak are believed to have been used to grind corn and mesquite beans into flour. In the 1690s, the O'odham people living in the area were visited by Eusebio Francisco Kino, who established the nearby Mission San Xavier del Bac. After Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón was constructed in 1775, sentinels were stationed on the peak to watch for raiding Apaches.

Sentinel Peak is made up of several layers of igneous rock representing various types of volcanic activity, though the mountain itself is not a volcano. It is one of a cluster of outcroppings at the eastern edge of the Tucson Mountains that are primarily the remnants of 20–30 million year old (Ma) lava flows that once extended west towards the Tucson Mountains and east into the Tucson Basin, where the city is now. Erosion and faulting are responsible for the peak's conical shape. The layer of rock at the peak of the hill is a basaltic andesite dating to 23–24 Ma. This caps a thick layer of tuff (compacted volcanic ash) above another layer of basaltic andesite, both dating to 26–28 Ma. Tuffs and andesite exposed at the base of the hill, on the south side, date to approximately 60 Ma.

After Arizona's 7–6 victory over Pomona College in 1914, a civil engineering student on the team convinced one of his professors to make a class project of the survey and design for a huge block "A" on Sentinel Peak. Students carried the project to completion on March 4, 1916, when the 70 feet (21 m) wide, 160 feet (49 m) tall "A" was whitewashed on the east side of the peak. The basalt rock used in the construction of the "A" was hauled from a quarry at the mountain's base, which supplied stone for many foundations and walls throughout Tucson, including the wall surrounding the University of Arizona campus. The "A" has traditionally been painted white. On March 23, 2003, four days after the start of the Iraq War, it was painted black in protest. Two weeks later, following much public debate, the Tucson City Council resolved to have the "A" painted red, white, and blue in honor of American troops. A decade later, the council decided to restore it to its traditional white. The "A" has on occasion been painted green for St. Patrick's Day. On April 30, 2018, it was painted red in support of the Red for Ed movement, On May 8, 2020, it was painted blue to honor local healthcare workers during the COVID 19 pandemic, and on May 1, 2024, it was painted the colors of the Palestinian flag in protest of the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people and the Israel Hamas war. Arizona State University (ASU) has a more recently created "A" Mountain (Tempe Butte) near the school's football stadium. During the week of the Arizona – ASU Territorial Cup game, rival fans and students have tried and at times succeeded in painting the "A" of the opposing school with their own school colors.