A few miles upstream from Yuma are two dams that lie athwart the Colorado River. There are many, many dams along this overused, abused and overallocated river, but these two dams are significant because the Colorado ceases to be a big river at this point. Heck it ceases to be a river at all because below these two dams, the Colorado is more of an irrigation canal than it is a river. The first dam is Imperial Dam. This dam impounds Martinez Lake. This lake is an oasis in the bone dry desert of Arizona and California. There is a settlement called Martinez Lake on the Arizona shore of the man made reservoir.
Five miles further downstream is Laguna Dam. There is no reservoir behind Laguna Dam. It was built as a diversion dam, not an impoundment dam, between 1903 and 1905, and was the first dam on the Colorado River. When maps or atlases show both of these dams, they usually show a reservoir stretching all the way from Laguna Dam to Imperial Dam, but this is not the case. Laguna Dam is no longer needed because of the presence of Imperial Dam nearby. Imperial Dam serves as both an impoundment dam and a diversion dam. At Imperial Dam, 80% of the river's flow gets siphoned off through the All American Canal to water California's famous farming region, the Imperial Valley. On the east side of Imperial Dam, another 16% of the river's flow gets siphoned off to the east to water Arizona's Mohawk Valley, east of Yuma. This is the area I mentioned previously that is a rich agricultural area that is bisected by Interstate 8 and contains the towns of Wellton and Tacna, among others. This leaves only 4% of the river's water to flow downstream to Yuma to water a a region with 200,000 people on the United States side and an even greater number on the Mexican side! Why does the Mohawk Valley, with approximately 5,000 people, get so much more water than the much more populated Yuma Valley? Why does the Imperial Valley get such a disproportionate share? Under normal circumstances the Imperial Valley would not support agriculture at all with a paltry 2 inches of rain per year.
When the Colorado emanates from Laguna Dam, the natural river channel is dry, just a wide, sandy bed. Instead, the river comes out in two narrow, man made channels on each side of the natural channel. After about a mile, these narrow channels merge and flow as a united stream to Yuma and beyond. A paltry amount of water in a wide river channel. At this point, the middle of the river is not necessarily the border between Arizona and California. The border lies in the middle of the natural channel and the narrow channel we see today meanders from side to side in the ancient riverbed. There is an exception to the river being the state border. It involves a loop of the old river channel that lies on the California side. Here the river cut itself a new channel in the past and the two states divided the land in half, putting a brief stretch of the Colorado entirely in Arizona.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
The Death of a River
As I have already said, the Colorado River, when it flows past Yuma, is but a pittance of what it once was. The river is 1,450 miles long if you measure from its official source high in the Never Summer Range in Rocky Mountain National Park, north of Denver, Colorado. If you measure from the river's actual source, the head of the Green River in the Wind River Mountains of central Wyoming, it is over 1,700 miles long. The definition of the beginning of a river is the most distant source, which means the Green River in this case. This makes the Colorado one of the longest rivers in the United States and the world. For most of its lower length, it is still a big river. That being said, it is still not as big as it once was. It is one of the most over-allocated rivers in the world, quenching the thirst of a dry land that has a far bigger population than it can support. When the waters of the Colorado were divided up between the various states that it flows through, it was an unusually rainy year--1927. The river has not had that much water in it since! As a result, the Colorado no longer reaches the Sea of Cortez. It has one of the biggest deltas in the world and yet the delta is usually dry. The only time there is water in the lower reaches of the river is either in unusually wet years or when tidewater from the Sea of Cortez makes its way up the myriad of sunbaked channels at the river's mouth.
Yuma was once extremely prone to flooding because of two things. It was at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers and also because of a phenomenon called the
tidal bore. A tidal bore occurred when the powerful current of the Colorado, augmented by the once powerful flow of the Gila River, collided head on with tidewater from the Sea of Cortez. This phenomenon created a huge wall of water that spread out over the surrounding desert and inundated everything in its path. Well, since the Gila River is now dry and the Colorado is now a mere rivulet compared to what it once was, the tidal bore is no longer an issue.
The fact that Yuma, one of the driest cities in the world, is no longer flood prone might sound like good news, but it is actually terrible news. It is the result of the destruction of what famed naturalist Aldo Leopold described as a "milk and honey wilderness" in his masterwork
The Sand County Almanac.
I will describe in more detail the destruction of this once great waterway in the next few installments of this blog.
Yuma was once extremely prone to flooding because of two things. It was at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers and also because of a phenomenon called the
tidal bore. A tidal bore occurred when the powerful current of the Colorado, augmented by the once powerful flow of the Gila River, collided head on with tidewater from the Sea of Cortez. This phenomenon created a huge wall of water that spread out over the surrounding desert and inundated everything in its path. Well, since the Gila River is now dry and the Colorado is now a mere rivulet compared to what it once was, the tidal bore is no longer an issue.
The fact that Yuma, one of the driest cities in the world, is no longer flood prone might sound like good news, but it is actually terrible news. It is the result of the destruction of what famed naturalist Aldo Leopold described as a "milk and honey wilderness" in his masterwork
The Sand County Almanac.
I will describe in more detail the destruction of this once great waterway in the next few installments of this blog.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Downtown Yuma
What is unusual about downtown Yuma is the fact that the major streets run along the edge of downtown, rather than through it. This was not always the case, but, after the city grew away from the river, the traffic was routed to the edges of the commercial core. The western edge of downtown is 4th Avenue, which is presently signed as Interstate 8 Business Loop. It was once U.S. Highway 80, which I have already talked about extensively in this series about Yuma County. The eastern boundary of downtown is Interstate 8, which flies above Old Town Yuma on an unsightly, curving viaduct, basically destroying the historical atmosphere of the area. The northern boundary of downtown is the Colorado River, which is the border with California. The southern boundary of downtown is less well defined, but I believe it to be 4th Street (not to be confused with 4th Avenue). 4th Street is one block south of Harold Giss Parkway, which is a major east-west arterial in the city.
The original "main drag" of Yuma was Main Street. This street is significantly more diminished in stature and importance than it was in the early days of Yuma. It was once one of the widest streets in the United States, so wide a horse and buggy team could turn completely around in the street and still have plenty of room to spare. The street has been narrowed by constructing extremely wide sidewalks along each side with huge planter boxes containing native desert plants. Also, there is angled parking on both sides of Main Street where cars can simply pull in and back out instead of having to parallel park. On my first visit to Yuma, I noticed that the buildings on both sides of Main Street are set a long distance back from the street, suggesting that the street used to be alot wider. Then, when I saw an old photo of Yuma from the 1800s, that confirmed my suspicion.
The north end of Main Street used to be at the Colorado River, where it turned into a steamboat landing. Now, it dead-ends about 100 feet north of 1st Street, about the equivalent of 3 city blocks away from the river.
Until a few years ago, there was a 2 block street of South Main Street that had been closed off to vehicular traffic and converted into an outdoor pedestrian mall. This stretch ran from 2nd Street, just south of the Yuma County Administration Building, down to Harold Giss Parkway. As with most outdoor pedestrian malls, Main Street Mall was a miserable failure. I walked this pedestrian mall several times and, every time I walked it, I noticed that more and more businesses had closed up. Since the street's re-opening, the area has slowly come back to life. More businesses have opened and people are coming back to the area to shop.
The original "main drag" of Yuma was Main Street. This street is significantly more diminished in stature and importance than it was in the early days of Yuma. It was once one of the widest streets in the United States, so wide a horse and buggy team could turn completely around in the street and still have plenty of room to spare. The street has been narrowed by constructing extremely wide sidewalks along each side with huge planter boxes containing native desert plants. Also, there is angled parking on both sides of Main Street where cars can simply pull in and back out instead of having to parallel park. On my first visit to Yuma, I noticed that the buildings on both sides of Main Street are set a long distance back from the street, suggesting that the street used to be alot wider. Then, when I saw an old photo of Yuma from the 1800s, that confirmed my suspicion.
The north end of Main Street used to be at the Colorado River, where it turned into a steamboat landing. Now, it dead-ends about 100 feet north of 1st Street, about the equivalent of 3 city blocks away from the river.
Until a few years ago, there was a 2 block street of South Main Street that had been closed off to vehicular traffic and converted into an outdoor pedestrian mall. This stretch ran from 2nd Street, just south of the Yuma County Administration Building, down to Harold Giss Parkway. As with most outdoor pedestrian malls, Main Street Mall was a miserable failure. I walked this pedestrian mall several times and, every time I walked it, I noticed that more and more businesses had closed up. Since the street's re-opening, the area has slowly come back to life. More businesses have opened and people are coming back to the area to shop.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
A Town At The Crossroads
Yuma was settled partly because of its strategic location at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. It was also located at a ford, or shallow place, of the Colorado River which made it an ideal place to cross the river on foot, on horseback, or in a wagon train. Also, at the time, the Colorado River was big enough and deep enough that barges could navigate all the way to Yuma and beyond. They would enter the river from the Sea of Cortez and sail about 70 miles upstream to Yuma. This made Yuma a seaport in the desert. At the time, the Colorado was, for the most part, about 1/3 to 1/2 mile wide, except for the place where it squeezed between two bluffs just below the confluence with the Gila River. Now, the Colorado is usually about 20 to 30 feet wide when it flows past Yuma, a sad testament to the manipulation of a river that serves as the lifeblood of an extremely dry area.
Yuma grew on the south bank of the river, the Arizona side. At the time of Yuma's founding, Arizona was a teritory and was attached to New Mexico for administrative purposes. So that means the residents of Yuma, which was initially called Colorado City, then Arizona City, had a very long way to travel to get to the territorial capital at Santa Fe. The people of Yuma identified more with California than anything else.
Downtown Yuma today is very historic, with alot of adobe buildings and narrow streets. While that may make you think it looks like Santa Fe or Taos, it really doesn't. In the early days of the city, it was very flood prone, due to the convergence of two rivers on the eastern edge of town. What made the floods so devastating was the fact that the adobe buildings, dried mud brick buildings, would simply melt when exposed to alot of water. They were dried mud, after all. Another thing that made floods in Yuma so devastating was the tidal bore. A tidal bore occurred when the swift current of the Colorado River, which was augmented by the flow from the Gila River, clashed head on into tidewater making its way up from the Sea of Cortez. Today, the tidal bore is no longer an issue since the river's flow has been drastically diminished due to all the dams and the overallocation of its water, coupled with the fact that the Gila River is now usually dry.
Yuma grew on the south bank of the river, the Arizona side. At the time of Yuma's founding, Arizona was a teritory and was attached to New Mexico for administrative purposes. So that means the residents of Yuma, which was initially called Colorado City, then Arizona City, had a very long way to travel to get to the territorial capital at Santa Fe. The people of Yuma identified more with California than anything else.
Downtown Yuma today is very historic, with alot of adobe buildings and narrow streets. While that may make you think it looks like Santa Fe or Taos, it really doesn't. In the early days of the city, it was very flood prone, due to the convergence of two rivers on the eastern edge of town. What made the floods so devastating was the fact that the adobe buildings, dried mud brick buildings, would simply melt when exposed to alot of water. They were dried mud, after all. Another thing that made floods in Yuma so devastating was the tidal bore. A tidal bore occurred when the swift current of the Colorado River, which was augmented by the flow from the Gila River, clashed head on into tidewater making its way up from the Sea of Cortez. Today, the tidal bore is no longer an issue since the river's flow has been drastically diminished due to all the dams and the overallocation of its water, coupled with the fact that the Gila River is now usually dry.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Frontier Justice
I have visited the Old Yuma Prison several times and it is a fascinating visit! Inside the old dining hall are alot of exhibits such as letters that were written by prsoners and guards and antique items used back in the day such as razors, knives, uniforms, etc.
There are three things at the old prison that stand out in my mind more than anything else.
The first thing is the guard tower, which is still in excellent condition. It overlooks the former confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. Since the Gila now meets the Colorado about 10 miles outside Yuma, the old confluence is not what it used to be since only about 150 feet of the Gila's old channel still exists, but the actual meeting point is still there.
I also vividly remember the dark cell, or solitary confinement cell. It is a room that is cut into the side of the hill and the back part of the room is pitch dark, even in mid afternoon. It must have been a horrible way to spend a few hours, much less days or even weeks.
Lastly, the most vivid memory I have of the old prison are the cells themselves. The typical cell was approximately 10 feet by 6 feet and contained triple bunks on each side of the room. Six prisoners living in an area of roughly sixty square feet! I also cannot get over the narrowness of the beds. They are about half the width of a twin bed! These beds were only about two feet wide! They had iron springs with very thin mattresses on top of the springs. I know that people were generally smaller back then than they are today, but these beds seem to small even for the dimunitive human frames of the nineteenth century. I have visited many former U.S. Cavalry forts that have some original, period furnishings and, while those beds are smaller than beds of today, they are still bigger than the beds in the Old Yuma Prison. Not all of the cells in the Old Yuma Prison still have the beds in them.
The original prison entrance, or sally port, in still standing not far from the guard tower.
The Old Yuma Prison closed in September, 1909 when the new prison in Florence opened. Shortly after the prison closed, it served as Yuma High School for four years, from 1910 to 1914. I will have a bit more to say about that in the next edition of this blog.
Also, during the Great Depression, homeless people took up residence in the abandoned prison. Finally, in 1960, Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park opened to the public to preserve what remained of the symbol of frontier justice. The prison that visitors see today is only about 25% of the original complex. This was only the fourth state park to open in Arizona. Arizona was one of the last states to establish a system of state parks. Since there is so much federal land in Arizona, it was thought that state parks were unnecessary. The first state park in Arizona; Tombstone Courthouse, did not open until 1949. It was the only state park until Jerome State Historic Park opened in 1957 and then Tubac Presidio opened in 1958. These are all historical parks. The first recreational state park, Lyman Lake, opened in 1960, shortly after Yuma Prison opened as a tourist attraction. Lyman Lake is located midway between St. Johns and Springerville on the
pinon-studded grasslands of eastern Arizona, near the border with New Mexico.
There are three things at the old prison that stand out in my mind more than anything else.
The first thing is the guard tower, which is still in excellent condition. It overlooks the former confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. Since the Gila now meets the Colorado about 10 miles outside Yuma, the old confluence is not what it used to be since only about 150 feet of the Gila's old channel still exists, but the actual meeting point is still there.
I also vividly remember the dark cell, or solitary confinement cell. It is a room that is cut into the side of the hill and the back part of the room is pitch dark, even in mid afternoon. It must have been a horrible way to spend a few hours, much less days or even weeks.
Lastly, the most vivid memory I have of the old prison are the cells themselves. The typical cell was approximately 10 feet by 6 feet and contained triple bunks on each side of the room. Six prisoners living in an area of roughly sixty square feet! I also cannot get over the narrowness of the beds. They are about half the width of a twin bed! These beds were only about two feet wide! They had iron springs with very thin mattresses on top of the springs. I know that people were generally smaller back then than they are today, but these beds seem to small even for the dimunitive human frames of the nineteenth century. I have visited many former U.S. Cavalry forts that have some original, period furnishings and, while those beds are smaller than beds of today, they are still bigger than the beds in the Old Yuma Prison. Not all of the cells in the Old Yuma Prison still have the beds in them.
The original prison entrance, or sally port, in still standing not far from the guard tower.
The Old Yuma Prison closed in September, 1909 when the new prison in Florence opened. Shortly after the prison closed, it served as Yuma High School for four years, from 1910 to 1914. I will have a bit more to say about that in the next edition of this blog.
Also, during the Great Depression, homeless people took up residence in the abandoned prison. Finally, in 1960, Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park opened to the public to preserve what remained of the symbol of frontier justice. The prison that visitors see today is only about 25% of the original complex. This was only the fourth state park to open in Arizona. Arizona was one of the last states to establish a system of state parks. Since there is so much federal land in Arizona, it was thought that state parks were unnecessary. The first state park in Arizona; Tombstone Courthouse, did not open until 1949. It was the only state park until Jerome State Historic Park opened in 1957 and then Tubac Presidio opened in 1958. These are all historical parks. The first recreational state park, Lyman Lake, opened in 1960, shortly after Yuma Prison opened as a tourist attraction. Lyman Lake is located midway between St. Johns and Springerville on the
pinon-studded grasslands of eastern Arizona, near the border with New Mexico.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
"THe Hell Hole Of The West"
In its day, the Old Yuma Prison was known as "The Hell Hole of the West" by many people. This stereotype was reinforced by Westerns after television became popular. It was also enforced by the many dime novels that came out at the time. However, people who lived in Yuma during the 33 years that it was open, had a different view of the prison that looked down menacingly over the sunbaked, adobe town below Prison Hill. The residents of Yuma actually made alot of comments and allegations that prisoners were being coddled.
Compared to prisons of today, the Old Yuma Prison was barbaric and cruel, but, for its time, it was actually modern and progressive. For example, one of the first electric generating plants in the West was installed at the prison. This plant ran lights and provided ventilation for the complex. The prisoners actually slept cooler at nights than the local residents because of the ventilation system. This was significant in the scorching summer months that this area has always been known for. The prison also had a library, a rarity for the day. Townspeople would pay a fee to use the library at the prison and this money was used to purchase books for the library.
There are some stories that, during the night, prison guards would throw snakes into cells while prisoners were sleeping or would put bugs into prison uniforms that had been freshly laundered. Some of these stories may well be true because that sort of thing did happen at prisons back in the day and, even though Yuma was a modern and progressive prison for its time, I am sure these things still happened on occasion because many of the prison guards were cruel. Also, some of these offenses may have been perpetrated by other prisoners and not necessarily guards.
In the 33 years the Yuma Prison was open(1876-1909), it housed 3,069 prisoners. Among the people incarcerated here, 29 of them were women, including one of the most notorious female outlaws, Pearl Hart. The last prisoner left on September 15,1909 and was transferred to the then brand new Florence Prison, which today is the largest of Arizona's state prisons.
When the last prisoner left Old Yuma Prison, Arizona was still a territory. Statehood was not gained until February 14, 1912.
Compared to prisons of today, the Old Yuma Prison was barbaric and cruel, but, for its time, it was actually modern and progressive. For example, one of the first electric generating plants in the West was installed at the prison. This plant ran lights and provided ventilation for the complex. The prisoners actually slept cooler at nights than the local residents because of the ventilation system. This was significant in the scorching summer months that this area has always been known for. The prison also had a library, a rarity for the day. Townspeople would pay a fee to use the library at the prison and this money was used to purchase books for the library.
There are some stories that, during the night, prison guards would throw snakes into cells while prisoners were sleeping or would put bugs into prison uniforms that had been freshly laundered. Some of these stories may well be true because that sort of thing did happen at prisons back in the day and, even though Yuma was a modern and progressive prison for its time, I am sure these things still happened on occasion because many of the prison guards were cruel. Also, some of these offenses may have been perpetrated by other prisoners and not necessarily guards.
In the 33 years the Yuma Prison was open(1876-1909), it housed 3,069 prisoners. Among the people incarcerated here, 29 of them were women, including one of the most notorious female outlaws, Pearl Hart. The last prisoner left on September 15,1909 and was transferred to the then brand new Florence Prison, which today is the largest of Arizona's state prisons.
When the last prisoner left Old Yuma Prison, Arizona was still a territory. Statehood was not gained until February 14, 1912.
Friday, March 16, 2012
A Frontier Prison
In the northeast corner of the city of Yuma lies a small, but heavily visited state park. This dimunitive state park only covers about 20 acres. Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park is the third most visited state park in Arizona and it is the most visited of the state historic parks. The two more visited Arizona state parks; Lake Havasu and Slide Rock, are water-based, recreational parks, although Slide Rock does have a few historic structures of interest but its primary focus is Oak Creek, which is literally jam-packed with swimmers on every warm to hot day of the year.
Anyway, Old Yuma Prison, as I will call it for short, lies on a bluff above the Colorado River. This is the spot I mentioned in the last edition of this blog where the Colorado River gets pinched between two bluffs, one on each side of the river. Old Yuma Prison is on the Arizona side of the river. It lies at the former confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. Yes, I said "former confluence." Just below the bluff on which the prison sits is where the Gila River, which starts 652 miles away in western New Mexico, once flowed into the Colorado River. Now the Gila meets the Colorado about 10 miles east of Yuma. I have heard conflicting reports about the new location for the two rivers' meeting point. I have heard that the Gila carved itself a newer, straighter channel during a flood like rivers are known to do and I have also heard that the confluence was deliberately moved several miles outside of Yuma as a flood control project because, in its early days, Yuma suffered several catastrophic floods and the Army Corps of Engineers moved the confluence away from the city to spare it from the wrath of repeated floods in the future. I am not sure which story is correct, but, at any rate, the Gila River no longer meets the Colorado River just below the Old Yuma Prison. However, about 1,000 feet of the Gila River's old channel can still be seen at the site of the former confluence. Water from the Colorado usually backs up into the Gila's old channel. At the end of the old channel, there is a massive levee and the old channel has been obliterated at that point.
The Old Yuma Prison today is only a fraction of the original complex. After the prison closed in 1909, many of the buildings were demolished. The Southern Transcontinetal Railroad came through Yuma in 1877, but in a different location. It was re-routed to its current location in the early 1900s and that is when many of the old prison's buildings were demolished. A new bridge was built at the narrowest point of the river, atop the bluffs on either side, right next to the old prison. Now, with the main line of the railroad running right alongside the Old Yuma Prison, it makes for a noisy and bone-jarring visit to this fascinating place, but the old prison is still a worthwhile visit for anyone because it offers an eye-opening glimpse into the "Wild West Days" of the United States as this country continued to expand westward and become a coast to coast nation.
Anyway, Old Yuma Prison, as I will call it for short, lies on a bluff above the Colorado River. This is the spot I mentioned in the last edition of this blog where the Colorado River gets pinched between two bluffs, one on each side of the river. Old Yuma Prison is on the Arizona side of the river. It lies at the former confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. Yes, I said "former confluence." Just below the bluff on which the prison sits is where the Gila River, which starts 652 miles away in western New Mexico, once flowed into the Colorado River. Now the Gila meets the Colorado about 10 miles east of Yuma. I have heard conflicting reports about the new location for the two rivers' meeting point. I have heard that the Gila carved itself a newer, straighter channel during a flood like rivers are known to do and I have also heard that the confluence was deliberately moved several miles outside of Yuma as a flood control project because, in its early days, Yuma suffered several catastrophic floods and the Army Corps of Engineers moved the confluence away from the city to spare it from the wrath of repeated floods in the future. I am not sure which story is correct, but, at any rate, the Gila River no longer meets the Colorado River just below the Old Yuma Prison. However, about 1,000 feet of the Gila River's old channel can still be seen at the site of the former confluence. Water from the Colorado usually backs up into the Gila's old channel. At the end of the old channel, there is a massive levee and the old channel has been obliterated at that point.
The Old Yuma Prison today is only a fraction of the original complex. After the prison closed in 1909, many of the buildings were demolished. The Southern Transcontinetal Railroad came through Yuma in 1877, but in a different location. It was re-routed to its current location in the early 1900s and that is when many of the old prison's buildings were demolished. A new bridge was built at the narrowest point of the river, atop the bluffs on either side, right next to the old prison. Now, with the main line of the railroad running right alongside the Old Yuma Prison, it makes for a noisy and bone-jarring visit to this fascinating place, but the old prison is still a worthwhile visit for anyone because it offers an eye-opening glimpse into the "Wild West Days" of the United States as this country continued to expand westward and become a coast to coast nation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)