Trail marked
Historic landmark unveiled at Yuma Territorial
Visitors to the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park will now be able to learn about the Anza Trail thanks to a new landmark that commemorates the Spanish overland expedition in 1775.
“We have been working on this for probably four years,” said Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area historian/archaeologist and curator Tina Clark at Saturday’s unveiling ceremony. “I actually sit as a board member for the Anza Trail, and I know the story quite well and how important it is. Really, we haven’t had signage in Yuma, and it’s been one of my personal goals to do something so we can share this incredible story.”
According to a Yuma Visitor’s Bureau news release, the prison overlooks a section of the Colorado River where members of the Quechan Indian Tribe helped Juan Batista de Anza and his band of Spanish colonists cross the river in 1775.
“Of course, Juan Batista de Anza had 100 married couples and soldiers and 1,000 head of cattle,” said Clark. “He left (the) Nogales area and 190 days later founded San Francisco. If Anza was here and we could say ‘What was the most challenging part of the journey?’, it was crossing the mighty Colorado River, which by the way was 100 times (larger than) what it is today. It was deep and there were no dams on it, and it was very rapid.”
“I love the story and it’s an important story in California,” added Clark. “I figured that Yuma had an important role to play. The Quechan Tribe really helped make their journey. There was a part in Anza’s journal where he writes ‘Today we were gifted 1,500 watermelons.’”
“The Quechan were flood irrigation farmers and they had the Garden of Eden here,” explained Clark. “Of course, Anza and his people on the trip where thrilled to have fresh fruit. They were on a very perilous journey, so it’s a joy for me today to finally be able to have some signage and share this story.”
Though the expedition’s exact route and crossing point have been lost to time and the meanderings of the river, the release notes, a section of the rustic riverside trail through the restored East Wetlands habitat area below the prison is being symbolically designated as an official segment of the Anza Trail.
YVB’s release states that the ceremony kicked off the second century of service of the National Park Service, which worked with the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area to designate the landmark.
The project is a partnership with the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, which is a NPS (National Park Service) program that commemorates the Spanish settlement of the San Francisco Bay Area in 1776.
The 1,200 mile Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail marks the Spanish colonial expedition that brought the first non-Native families into California, said Clark.
YVB’s release states that the expedition reached Yuma at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila rivers on Dec. 1, 1775, with the aid of the Quechan people. The Anza Trail connects historic, cultural, and recreation sites across Arizona and California that reveal a legacy of the country’s Hispanic Heritage, the release notes.
“Now, because we have re-enactors willing to come, we will try to do Anza days once a year,” said Clark. “That’s my goal, and to do something fun. The children can dress up and the costumes are great. The Spanish were everything to the founding of Yuma and even naming Yuma, so we will keep the history and the heritage alive.”
To learn more about the Anza Trail, the public can visit the marker, which is located just outside the visitor entrance to the Territorial State Prison at 1 Prison Hill Road. Admission to the prison is not required to view the landmark.