Yuma, situated at the mighty Colorado's narrowest point, was the crossroads for these Forty-Niners, a group willing to risk all for the 'pot of gold' believed to be there for the taking in California. When President Polk verified stories of the gold strike in California and declared that the wealth was so great 'it could scarcely command belief,' the nation was said to have gone into 'a state of delirium' in which it talked only of migrating west. Loaned photosĪ singular great event occurred in 1848 which would make the Yuma Crossing a household word in countless American homes: the discovery of gold in California. Diversification continued in the following decades, as winter tourism became the third pillar of the area economy. Having always had a presence here, the military became an economic mainstay in the latter half of the 20th century, with the establishment of Yuma Proving Ground and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. But in the century since then, the Yuma area's economy has diversified. While gold may have brought the Anglos here, agriculture became the area's traditional economy, with the harnessing of the Colorado River for irrigation. Counting communities around the city, the population of the metropolitan area has swelled to around 200,000. Since the arrival of the first Anglo settlers in the 19th century, Yuma has grown to a city of nearly 100,000. Near this place where the Gila and Colorado rivers join, where the hot sun and rich soil make agriculture an ideal industry, the town of Yuma developed and prospered.

Here natives, conquistadors, padres, adventurers, armies and immigrants met the river's challenge. It was here that the old tribal trails converged. This was the only natural river crossing in the desert. Riverboats in the Colorado River circa 1880. Most came to cross the mighty Colorado at its narrowest point and continue their journeys - first the Quechan, then the Spanish, then the Mexicans, and finally American and European explorers and settlers. The water of the Colorado River has provided life and sustenance for many generations of people.įirst, they came to hunt, to camp, to mine and to farm. By Tina Clark, Archaeologist and Historianįor centuries, the Yuma Crossing has been viewed as both an oasis and a gateway.

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