| The Yuma Crossing: A Gateway to History By Tina Clark City of Yuma
This was the only natural river crossing on the desert and it was here that the old tribal trails converged. Native Americans, conquistadors, padres, adventurers, armies, and immigrants all met the river’s challenge. Near this place where the Gila and Colorado rivers meet, where the hot sun and rich soil make agriculture an ideal industry, the town of Yuma developed and prospered.
A singular event occurred in 1848 which would make the Yuma Crossing a household word in countless American homes: the discovery of gold 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,” and the nation “went into a state of delerium” in which millions talked only of migrating west.
Yuma, at the Colorado River’s narrowest point, was the crossroads for those Forty Niners who chose the difficult overland route. This group risked all for the “pot of gold” believed to be their’s for the taking in California. Many were fortune hunters, but they escaped humdrum lives in search of a new beginning and unknown adventures.
It must be emphasized that the importance of the Yuma area to these people lay in the fact that it was the end of the perilous Gila Trail. This was the point where they began the last leg of their journey to the gold fields. The trail itself was a natural route west along the Gila River, popular because travelers could be reasonably certain of finding water. They were free of at least one danger—freezing to death, as many did on the northern route through the Colorado Rockies.
Thousands of people crossed at Yuma into the emptiness of the desert, hailing from almost every nation in the world and every state in the Union. These travelers embodied the pioneer spirit of the American West. Yuma reflects this important piece of American history.
The legacy of the Yuma Crossing grew and by 1877, the first railroad bridge was completed, allowing trains to enter Arizona for the first time from the west. Soon after, came the highway system and in 1914 the Ocean–to–Ocean Bridge was completed, linking San Francisco to New York.
Early European explorers of Southern California sailed up the coast from South America and traveled north over land from what would one day be Mexico. Following these explorers were settlers looking to forge new life in a new land. The unique location of the Yuma Crossing on the Colorado River played a significant role in this historical migration—a fact which led Yuma to be designated as a National Heritage Area in October 2000 by the United States Congress.
To receive this honor, the area must have played a principal role in the development of the United States. Presently, there are only 19 National Heritage Area designations in the United States, with the majority located in the East in the original 13 colonies. In fact, the Yuma Crossing is one of only two such areas west of the Mississippi River.
With the designation of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area and associated projects, this important site will be recognized once again as the highly visible gateway to Arizona and the Southwest.
California Biodiversity News: Volume 9, Number 1 |
The water of the Colorado River has provided life and sustenance for many generations of people. They came to hunt, to camp, to mine, and to farm. Most came to cross the Mighty Colorado at its narrowest point and continue their journeys—first the Quechan, then the Spanish, the Mexicans, and finally American and European explorers and settlers. 
Today, more than 6.5 million travelers cross the Colorado River at these same historic narrows. The view from the interstate is now that of a degraded river overgrown with giant reeds. Few realize that they are passing through one of the most important historical sites in the west.