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Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park
(formerly Yuma Crossing State Historic Park) |
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Brief History... Yuma Quartermaster Depot 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. Park Rules
Nearby Attractions Yuma - Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park, Arizona Historical Society, Yuma Proving Grounds; California - Fort Yuma, St. Thomas Mission, Quechan Indian Museum, Imperial Sand Dunes, Martinez Lake. For additional area information, please contact the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce.
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