Fort Yuma - why?

One of the things we learned on our tour of the Yuma Proving Ground was why Fort Yuma was established: to protect the river crossing on the Colorado at Yuma Crossing. For much of its length, during the early days of settlement of this area, the Colorado was a very uncontained river, often flooding over its banks with lots of muddy and quicksand areas around it. At Yuma, the river was contained between narrow rock walls which made it relatively easy to cross via a rope ferry system.

Up until the 20th century, the Gila River was a flowing river 365 days a year. It provided a reliable water source and path for people traveling west to follow from New Mexico to where it joined the Colorado just north of Yuma. Those people would then cross the Colorado via the Yuma Crossing.

Now, due to the use of the water by Phoenix and areas up-river from Yuma, the Gila is no longer a flowing river. But it was instrumental to the ability of folks traveling west in earlier days.