Because it was in the mud. The exposed parts did get obliterated, but a significant portion was actually protected by the silt and mud that encased it.

Not much. Wooden ships at the bottom that long aren't really together in a way you can raise anymore.

I went to a meeting of Sedona Republicans for a college course a decade ago. It was dominated by complaints that Flagstaff was stealing their water.

How, you ask? By not clear cutting Coconino National Forest.

They also once justified uranium mining on native / Grand Canyon land despite objections of literally everyone but the mining company by saying, "We've been on earth for 6,000 years and we haven't screwed it up yet." Then took the stunned silence as having won the argument.

Arizona is a beautiful state with at least 3 different biomes and enough political diversity to be a true purple state. But damn do we attract the crazies and the grifters.