Yuma, Arizona

From Wikipedia,

uma is a city in and the county seat[2] of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041.[3]

Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona Metropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Yuma County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the 2008 estimated population of the Yuma MSA is 194,322,[4] though more than 85,000 retirees make Yuma their winter residence.[5]

History

Fort Yuma California, circa 1875, lithograph.

The area's first settlers were Native American tribes whose descendants now occupy the Cocopah and Quechan reservations. In 1540, expeditions under Hernando de Alarcon and Melchior Diaz visited the area and immediately saw the natural crossing of the Colorado River as an ideal spot for a city. Later military expeditions that crossed the Colorado River at the Yuma Crossing include Juan Bautista de Anza (1774), the Mormon Battalion (1848) and the California Column(1862).

Following the establishment of Fort Yuma, a town sprang up on the New Mexico (now Arizona) side of the Colorado. The townsite was duly registered in San Diego, demonstrating that both banks of the Colorado River just below its junction with the Gila were recognized as being within the jurisdiction of California. The county of San Diego collected taxes from there for many years.[6] The town, initially called Colorado City, was renamed Arizona City in 1858. It took the name Yuma in 1873.

steamboats at Yuma Landing, CA, 1880

From the 1850s through the 1870s, the Yuma Crossing was known for its steamboat crossing. It was a stop on the way up and down the river. The steamboats transported passengers and equipment for the various mines and military outposts. The Yuma Quartermaster Depot, today a state historic park, supplied all forts in present-day Arizona, as well large parts of New Mexico, Colorado, New Mexico. Yuma served as the gateway to the new Republic (later State) of California, as it was one of the few natural spots where travelers could cross the otherwise very wide Colorado River. After Arizona became a separate territory, Yuma became the county seat for the area in 1864.

uma Crossing and RR bridge in 1886. The bridge was built in 1877.

The Southern Pacific Railroad bridged the river in 1877.