YUMA CROSSING-QUARTERMASTER DEPOT
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YUMA CROSSING-QUARTERMASTER DEPOT |
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NAME: Yuma Crossing-Quartermaster Depot COUNTY: Yuma ROADS: 4WD LEGAL INFO: 1 CLIMATE: Warm winter, Very hot summer BEST TIME TO VISIT: All year around |
COMMENTS:
The place is north of junction of First
Street and Second Avenue in north/central Yuma (on I-8). Not a ghost town
but a nice historical place to visit. REMAINS: Numerous buildings. |
| Crossing the Colorado River was a dangerous thing in the old days. Only at the place were the Colorado and Gila River meet each another was it possible to cross over. Even though the Colorado river area was searched by Spanierds in the beginning of 1540's, the first Spanish settlement was not founded until 1775, when Fr. Francisko Garces (who lead missionarys together with the soldiers), founded the mission close to the place were the rivers ran together.The next 6 years settlers terrorized Quechan Indians who lived along the river, forcing them to katolism and destroyed their farmland with grassing cattle and horses. After they lived in terror, the Indians started killing soldiers, settlers and Fr.Garces - all were killed except the woman and children. In the next 50 years nobody tried to settled here. A change came in 1829 when Kit Carson came to the place which will get the name Yuma Crossing. He collected more then 2000 pounds of beaver skin during his time here. Carson came back with the military in 1846 together with Cpt. Philip St.George Cook and the Mormon Battalion who were occupied building the first wagon road through the country witch eventually became Arizona. During the Mexican war (1846-48), Mexican and American soldiers crossed the Colorado River close to the Spanish mission. Later, streams of people came to California for the gold rush, and there was so many that Maj. Samuel Peter Heintzelman in 1850 lead a group of 92 man and founded Camp Calhoun on a hilltop on the California side (at that time under Arizona's command) with a great overview over the crossing place. In 1852 this military post was known as Fort Yuma and the same year arrived the first steamboat cargo from Gulf of California. One society started growing on the Arizona side, across the Fort. The first post office was founded in 1857 and named Colorado City, but one year later, the name was changed to Arizona City. In 1883, six years after railroad arrived, the need for military protection was over. The next year the Fort Yuma was given to the Department of the Interior and thereafter to Quechan Indians. In 1866 the post office was officially named Yuma. Submitted by: Bobby Krause Zlatevski |
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