Yuma State Historical Sites

While in Yuma, AZ, my Rving friend, Sandi and I visited a couple of State Historic Sites. The first was the Yuma Territorial Prison, circa 1800s. I had been here before and wrote a blog in 2014 if you are interested in more pictures: http://wheres-liz-2014.blogspot.com/2014/02/mittry-lake-and-yuma-az.html

I had fun teasing Sandi after she rang the old prison bell.

Do you think she got in trouble?

Sandi inside a prison cell... 

Outside the prison, the grounds are pretty.

The prison sits upon a hill overlooking the confluence of the Gila and Colorado Rivers. They have a nice park down by the river.

Nearby is another historic site...the former Yuma Quartermaster Depot. 

This was during the Indian Wars. Supplies were shipped down the coast of California around the Baja peninsula and up the Colorado River to Yuma. 

This model shows a paddlewheeler docked beside the storage buildings. Supplies were stored here and shipped by wagon to the various forts in Arizona Territory and beyond. The stone building on the left was the reservoir. Water was pumped from the river and stored there for use by the Depot. On the far left was the Quartermaster's house. Behind the reservoir is the Quartermaster's office building under construction. All those buildings remain and are part of the tour.

 Inside the storehouses are displays of transportation through the years, and information about dams built on the Colorado after the Bureau of Land Reclamation took over this site.

 This display shows a section of the old Plank Road that was used to cross the desert before a paved road was built.

 About the Plank Road. I don't think I would have ventured on it.

 Outside the storehouse were some examples of wagons that would have been used to transport supplies to the forts.

 Inside the Quartermaster's Office is the original desk that he used in 1872.

 Where we are standing was the original banks of the Colorado River before any dams were built. It was wide and deep and flowed all the way to the Gulf of California. The Land Reclamation Act signed by Teddy Roosevelt resulted in the water being diverted by dams and canals to irrigate farmland.

This is where steamboats would dock. 

Next we toured the Quartermaster's house.

 When the steamboat docked, the Quartermaster would often have guests to entertain. The Parlor was used for that purpose.

Outside we can see where water from a canal on the other side of the river flows through a tunnel under the river and surfaces into this canal.

 This building was used as headquarters for the "Yuma Project" which oversaw the building of those canals.

 Inside are photographs and displays about the building of the tunnel and canals.

 This was the last stop on our tour. I had Blackberry Pie a la mode.

There are more things to see and do in Yuma, but that's all we had time for this trip.