Published December 20, 2022, for State 48 A2Z
History is all around us throughout our country but arguably nowhere more so than in Arizona. No matter where you travel in State 48 you are never more than a stone's throw from history, even if you can’t easily see it. Many towns have managed to find a way to survive by embracing their past and enabling future generations to learn from it. Yuma is one of those cities.
One destination attraction that Yuma offers is the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. Yuma also has a nicely restored historic “Old-Town” district in addition to historic buildings such as the converted San Carlos Hotel and the abandoned Hotel del Sol. And, just across the river in Winterhaven, California is the St. Thomas Indian Mission located on the site of a short-lived Spanish mission. Yuma has had its share of history and not just for the infamous prison and historic buildings.
European missionaries and settlers have been in the area now known as Yuma since 1540 when Hernando de Alarcon, who accompanied Francisco Vázquez de Coronado on his search for the Seven Cities of Cibola, passed through the area. About a century and a half later, Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino passed through the area on his second expedition to California.
Then in 1781, Francisco Hermenegildo Tomás Garcés, a Spanish Friar who served as a missionary and explorer for the Viceroyalty of New Spain, would establish the Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción across the river in what is now Winterhaven, California. This was one of two missions Garces established in what is now the Yuma area. The second mission he established was the Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer.
Garces would broker a treaty between the Spanish settlers and the Native Americans in the area, but the settlers would not hold their end of the treaty. This eventually led to an uprising among the Native Americans and the settlers. In the melee known as the Yuma Uprising, Garces, along with other friars, was killed at the Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer in July 1781. Over the course of the three-day battle, both missions were destroyed. Today, the St. Thomas Indian Mission stands on the locale of the short-lived Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción in Winterhaven.
The United States gained control of the area in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo which ended the Mexican-American War in 1848 and expansion west was on. By 1849 the California Gold Rush was hitting its stride and the Yuma Crossing area saw a lot of prospectors and immigrants travel through the area on their way to their envisioned riches in California.
In 1850, a US military post was established in the area, followed by a US Army Quartermaster Depot in 1864. The Quartermaster Depot’s mission was to store and supply provisions to the frontier Army posts in what is now Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. The location on the Colorado River was important as supplies were mainly received and distributed using riverboats and mule wagon trains. The depot, which was tasked with maintaining a six-month supply of provisions such as food, clothing, and ammunition at all times, also had up to 900 mules in its stables.
The development of transcontinental railroads in the 1860s and 1870s marked the beginning of the end for the depot. While the railroad reached Yuma in 1877, the depot remained in operation until 1880 when the tracks reached Tucson and pushed the depot into obsolescence.
The Colorado River State Historic Park today is located on a portion of the grounds where the Quartermaster Depot sat, a short distance off the Colorado River, and not only houses five remaining buildings and artifacts from the depot but also houses exhibits on the history of the Colorado River, the steamboats that traveled along it, and wagon mule trains.
The Colorado River State Historic Park has gone by a few names over the years as it has grown and developed. You may have heard it called Yuma Crossing State Historic Park, or Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park. Its name was changed in 2017 to the Colorado River State Historic Park following the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area’s development of a new master plan that expanded the park’s focus from mainly being on the Quartermaster Depot to the broader past, present, and future of the Colorado River and its importance to life in the area.
In addition to the historical buildings and artifacts located here, the park also has picnic areas with tables and a shade ramada that is available for group use. To learn more about the Colorado River State Historic Park, visit their page here.
That’ll wrap things up for this week. As always, thanks for reading, stay safe, and happy travels. Be sure to like and follow us on social media (links below), share our blog posts, and feel free to give us your feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Peace!
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