Arizona Picnic
Guide
Yuma Crossing
State Historic Park
201 N. 4th Avenue
Yuma, Arizona 85364
(928) 329-0471
Take I-8 to Yuma / Winterhaven 4th
Avenue exit. Go south on 4th Avenue 1/2 mile. Park is located on the
east side of 4th Avenue.
Yuma Crossing State Historic Park,
site of the Yuma Quartermaster Depot, was used by the US Army to store
and distribute supplies for all the military posts in Arizona, Nevada,
Utah, New Mexico and Texas. A six month supply of clothing, food,
ammunition, and other goods was kept at the depot at all times. The
supplies were brought from California by ocean vessels traveling
around the Baja Peninsula to Port Isabel near the mouth of the
Colorado River. There, cargos were transferred to river steamers and
brought upstream to Yuma.
The supplies were unloaded near the
stone reservoir just west of the commanding officer's quarters and
hauled up on a track running from the river dock through the center of
the storehouse. They were shipped north on river steamers and overland
by mule drawn freight wagons. The depot quartered up to 900 mules and
a crew of teamsters to handle them. The Southern Pacific Railroad
reached Yuma in 1877 and heralded the end of the Quartermaster Depot
and Fort Yuma. The railroad reached Tucson in 1880, and the functions
were moved to Fort Lowell in Tucson.
The Signal Corps established a
telegraph and weather station here in 1875. The supply depot was
terminated by the Army in 1883, and the pumps, steam engines and
equipment were sent to Fort Lowell near Tucson, but the Signal Corps
remained until 1891. The U.S. Weather Service was established as a
separate agency and operated at the depot site until 1949.
A few structures from the depot's
active period are still standing. The commanding officer's quarters
were acquired by the U.S. Customs Service. 1908. The Bureau of
Reclamation, the Boundary Commission, the Yuma County Water Users
Association, and the Assistance League of Yuma have also utilized
portions of the old depot during the twentieth century.
Open 7 days a week
November to April:
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
May to October:
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Closed Christmas Day.
Park Facilities
- 1907 Southern Pacific
Steam Locomotive and Coach Car, Commanding Officer's Quarters,
U.S. Army Quartermaster Supply Depot
(in operation from 1864-1883)
- Visitor Center
- Transportation museum
- Gift shop
- Picnic area
- Restrooms
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