History of Yuma, AZ. Yuma, AZ was settled during the time of the Gold Rush and was historically called Colorado City because it's on the Colorado River. Yuma has a very colorful history. The first European...
Yuma has a very colorful history. The first European explorers came here in 1540. The beginning of the Arizona settlement was by people traveling east as opposed to west. There were number of native American tribes along the banks of the Colorado River. One tribe was called the Yumas, so perhaps that's where the name of the city originates. We were first known as Colorado City because we're on the Colorado River. The majority of goods for military outposts in the entire southwest were distributed from Yuma by steamships and riverboats from San Francisco. We were basically founded as river town because of that and because this was the only place you could cross the Colorado River. Your choices for crossing the area were the river or the Rocky Mountains. We also played a significant role in the history of the Gold Rush with people settling in the West. Because of the significant role Yuma has played in the history of the United States, we were designated through an act of congress as a National Heritage Area in 2000, one of only 24 in the United States. We are the only one in the West.
The Colorado River has played a major part in our history. We were never really a wild west town, but more of a sophisticated river town. When they started damming up the river with the first dam in 1912, the whole environment of the city changed. We went from being river town to an agricultural community. The river was very wide except at the crossing point. Some points during the winter flooding season would get up to 5 miles wide. When they dammed the river up, it became very small and left behind two very fertile valleys. We set up an elaborate irrigation system of canals with ground water and now produce 93% of the nation's winter vegetable crops. During the summer, we grow cotton. Our winter vegetables include lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, oranges, lemons, wheat, watermelons, cantaloupes, and honeydews. It's a very busy, multi-billion dollar industry.
