After the Gadsden Purchase by the United States, the town bordered on the Territory of New Mexico. When started, it was just north of the border between Mexican-ruled Sonora, Mexico and California. Developed on the south side of the river in what is now Arizona by speculator Charles Poston, it was the site of the custom house. It was for a time the larger of the two, with the Butterfield Overland Mail office and station, two blacksmiths, a hotel, two stores, and other dwellings. The one on the California side was called Jaeger City, named after the owner of Jaeger's Ferry, which crossed the river there. This was considered the gateway to California, as it was one of the few natural spots where travelers could cross the otherwise very wide Colorado River.įollowing the United States establishing Fort Yuma, two towns developed one mile downriver.

Military expeditions that crossed the Colorado River at the Yuma Crossing include Juan Bautista de Anza (1774), the Mormon Battalion (1848) and the California Column (1862).ĭuring and after the California Gold Rush to the late 1870s, the Yuma Crossing was known for its ferry crossings for the Southern Emigrant Trail. The Colorado River narrows to slightly under 1,000 feet (300 m) wide in one area. In 1540, Spanish colonial expeditions under Hernando de Alarcón and Melchior Díaz visited the area and immediately recognized the natural crossing of the Colorado River as an ideal spot for a city. Their descendants now occupy the Cocopah and Quechan reservations. The area's first settlers for thousands of years were Native American cultures and historic tribes. The railway bridge over the Colorado River was built in 1877. 1875 Steamboats on the Colorado River at Yuma, c. Yuma is in the state's southwest corner, in the Sonoran Desert, Yuma Desert sub-region. Yuma is also known for its large military population due to several military bases, including the Marine Corps Air Station. Yuma County provides 90% of all leafy vegetables grown from November to March in the United States. Yuma's weather also makes it an agricultural powerhouse, growing over 175 types of crops, the largest of which is lettuce. According to Guinness World Records, Yuma is the 'Sunniest City on Earth,' promising 'sunshine and warm weather at least 91% of the year.' Anywhere from 70,000 to over 85,000 out-of-state visitors make Yuma their winter residence. According to the United States Census Bureau, the 2020 estimated population of the Yuma MSA is 203,247. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Yuma County. The city's population was 95,548 at the 2020 census, up from the 2010 census population of 93,064. Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States.

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