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Yuma Crossing State Historic Park

We have never been in Yuma, AZ long enough to do much sightseeing before, but this trip changed all that. We would be here for 13 days. One of the sites taken in during our stay was Yuma Crossing State Historic Park. Yuma Crossing was the site of the Yuma Quartermaster Depot which supplied all the military forts in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas.

The supplies were brought in from California by ocean vessels around the Baja Peninsula to Port Isabel near the mouth of the Colorado River in the Sea of Cortez. (Gulf of California) This might be considered the "long way around" by today's standards since the trip is only 200 miles overland from San Diego. After arriving in Port Isabel the goods would be sent upriver on river steamers to Yuma. At one point the depot quartered up to 900 mules with a huge crew of Teamsters to handle them.

In 1877 the Southern Pacific Railroad reached Yuma signaling the end of the Quartermaster Depot and Fort Yuma. Today there are several restored buildings and the park is nicely landscaped. Adjacent to the park is the Ocean to Ocean Bridge which was built and touted as the only place a person could travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific without having to ferry across water.

There were also several exhibits at the Visitor Center including a 1909 Model T Ford sitting on a section of the Old Plank Road. Outside the Visitor Center was an old Railroad Car and a Steam Engine which were both pretty well preserved. The site itself does not give you the feeling of stepping back in time into the past. Everything is too clean and neat, but it was an interesting site to see.

IN THE CAR

We made a couple of road trips this month. The first was to see my Brother Ed and his wife Maxine in Manteca, CA. They always make us feel so welcome that it's almost become mandatory that we visit. And we also enjoy the time we spend with them

Our second trip was a short one. Across the street from our stay in Indio was a second Outdoor Resort Park. In that park was the largest collection of million dollar motorhomes we had ever seen. Parked in the plush sites with the Stainless steel BBQ's and wetbars we drove around drooling. At least that's what Sharon said I was doing, and frankly I couldn't argue with her, as I wiped my mouth.

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park

The Prison was built by the inmates in 1876 and in July of that year the first seven convicts were incarcerated there. Over its 33 year life a total of 3,069 prisoners were housed here, including 29 women. The punishable crimes ranged in severity from murder to polygamy. While serving their sentences 111 persons died before being released. Most of those died from tuberculosis which was very prevalent in that period of time. Pardons were very numerous and easy to receive, so very few people served out the entire length of their sentences. And although the prison retains its infamous reputation, records show that it was administered very humanely and was a model institution for its time. It had its own library, electrical generating station and even included a ventilation system. Although I wonder how well it worked considering there were 6 prisoners in a 6X9 foot room. There were only 2 escapes from the prison confines that were successful. Several other escapes took place from work details. Extra punishment within the prison included a Dark Cell and the Ball and Chain. Infractions of the rules were dealt with by these two methods. In 1907 the prison became severely crowded and a new prison was built, by the inmates, in Florence, Arizona. All the prisoners were relocated there.

Today the Gate, Main Guard Tower, Cemetery and some Cell Blocks are all that remain of the original site. When the prison closed the townspeople used the prison as a free shopping site for building materials and with several fires, weathering and railroad construction, much of the original site was destroyed. What does remain gives the visitor a glimpse into the past, and what life must have been like in the stark cells. Although one can never imagine how bad it must have been.

CA Again!

It seem that traveling in California always seems to create issues for me. I have written about these issues in the past. This year it concerns the Merced Welcome Center location. Why they put these welcome centers in the most inaccessible locations I'll never know. And to get to them with a motorhome is almost impossible. They still issue the State map with the Ramada Inn Advertising all over it, and now they've added a few more advertisers to round it out. And I actually saw 1 exit with the number 158 on it. No more, just 1. How informative.