Yuma Crossing
Immediately after the Mexican–American War in 1848, the U.S. Army built Fort Yuma here to protect travelers from Indians raiding the area. It was the center point of conflict in the Yuma War of 1850–53. From 1864–1890, the fort and nearby facilities was the main army base to support the US Army's efforts to control the Indians throughout the greater southwest.
Yuma War
In October 1850, U.S. Army Topographical Engineer Lt. George H. Derby was ordered to travel from California to the Colorado River to determine a supply route over water to Heintzelman's command. For his voyage, Derby was provided with transport by Captain Alfred H. Wilcox commanding the army transport schooner "Invincible". They departed San Francisco on November 1, 1850. In December, after making it only thirty miles from the Gulf of California, the "Invincible" was unable to proceed up the river any further. Suspecting a problem and nearly out of food, Captain Heintzelman constructed a raft with sails to travel down the river, some sixty miles to the "Invincible". With eight men and two civilians, the captain first sailed down the Colorado for three days before finding the "Invincible", missing an anchor and ran hard aground. After some work trying to free the schooner, it was finally released and Captain Wilcox decided to offload his supplies onto the Sonora side of the river. The raft was too small to carry the provisions so Heintzelman directed First Lieutenant Edward Murray to cross into Mexico with a train of wagons to retrieve the supplies. Fortunately for the Americans, their little invasion of Mexico in January 1851 went unnoticed and the much needed supplies were brought to the fort.