Ronnie Adventure #0255 - Yuma, Arizona

As I traveled south on Highway 95 toward Yuma, I happened to look up in the sky and noticed a U.S. Board Patrol blimp tracking me; so I quickly pulled into the General Motors Desert Proving Ground parking lot and acted like I was going to work. The only problem was that the GM security guards came over and wanted to know what I was doing. I explained that I was an former GM employee and had worked at both the Milford (Michigan) and Mesa (Arizona) Proving Grounds, but I had never been to the Yuma Proving Ground, so I thought I would just stop in for a visit. Since I did not have any current credentials, I was asked to leave. (Note: The Mesa Proving Ground land was sold a number of years ago and the GM facilities were moved to Yuma. The Mesa land is now being used for other purposes.)

Yuma Proving Ground (Google Picture)

Milford Proving Ground (Google Picture)

Mesa Proving Ground (Google Picture)

The United States Army Yuma Proving Ground is located in the same general area and is also closed to the public. However, the Army has a number of tanks and other equipment on display near the highway in an unrestricted area that is open to the public. 

The 798-foot-long "McPhaul Bridge to Nowhere" was constructed in 1929 and named for Henry McPhaul, the only Yuma resident to ever become an Arizona Ranger. In 1968 a dam was built upstream from the bridge and the river was diverted to a new channel. At the same time the highway was rerouted to a new smaller bridge because the McPhaul Bridge was considered to be too flimsy and unstable for modern traffic. Then, in 1993 a flood destroyed the new bridge, but the McPhaul Bridge is still standing, even though it is not connected to a road at either end of the bridge; thus, the "Bridge to Nowhere" name. It just looks strange to see a bridge standing out in the desert by itself.

The Pause Rest Worship Chapel is located near the bridge about 1/4 of a mile from the highway and is one of the smallest chapels that I have ever seen. Two is company, but three is a crowd!

In Yuma we drove through old Downtown part of town and then went over to the Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park, which also contains a Visitor Information Center and some retail space.

The Commanding Officer's Quarters, Kitchen, and Quartermaster's Office have all been restored and the buildings are furnished with period items. However, my favorite building was the Storehouse that contained a number of transportation items. One vehicle was displayed sitting on a section of the Old Plank road that crossed the Imperial Sand Dunes just west of Yuma in the early 1900s.

The Visitor Center contained an interesting display about the Yuma Siphon that was completed under the Colorado River in 1912 to bring cleaner water to the area. Divers that constructed the siphon were provided air by a single cylinder hand operated air pump. Not my type of Work!

And did I mention that near the visitor center there was a homemade pie shop that served strawberry-rhubarb pie!

However, the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park is probably the main tourist attraction in Yuma.

The prison opened in 1876 while Arizona was still a U.S. Territory and prisoners that were sent there quickly named it the "Hell Hole." There were six prisoners per cell with one chamber pot and no running water. In the summer, when the air temperature was 120 degrees outside, who knows hot the temperature was in the cells, not to mention the smell! According to prison records, the worst place to be sent was the "Dark Cell" because in addition to being hot, there was no light or air movement. It is reported that some inmates sent to the "Dark Cell" went insane before they were released.

Some of the more interesting people to be incarcerated at the Territorial Prison included "Fast Gun" Buckskin Frank Leslie who worked for Wyatt Earp at the Oriental Bar in Tombstone. Leslie killed Billy Clairborne of the Clanton Gang and then went on to kill his girlfriend in a drunken rage. Wyatt Earp was reputed to have said "Leslie was the only man who could compare to Doc Holiday's blinding speed and accuracy with a six gun."

R.L. McDonald, "The Book Keeper," was a phoenix school superintendent sentenced to prison for the crime of forgery. While incarcerated, the prison officials were so impressed with his credentials and accounting knowledge that they asked him to manage the prisoners' earnings. Of course, after he was released they discovered that he had walked off with $130 of the prisoners' money.

Ricardo Flores Magon, the "Mexican Revolutionary," established Partido Liberal Mexicano to oppose dictator Porfirio Diaz, but was jailed in Yuma for violations of the Neutrality Act. He died under questionable circumstances at Leavenworth Penitentiary. 

However, some of the most interesting prisoners were women! Pearl Hart, "Bandit Queen," along with two other men became famous when she helped rob the Globe to Florence Stagecoach. Using her female charm with the prison staff, she was pardoned after only three years. 

Maria Moreno, "Shotgun Sister," at age 16 was out dancing with her boyfriend. Her brother stopped by the dance and did not like the way his sister was dancing, so he told her to stop and go home. Maria did not like the way her brother was talking to her and threatened to kill him. Her brother said, "Kill me then!" So she did - with a shotgun! 

Elena Estrada, "Heart Breaker," was sentenced to prison for manslaughter when she stabbed her unfaithful lover, cut open his chest, pulled out his heart, and threw it in his face. 

The West Wetlands Park is located within the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area adjacent to the north side of the prison. This area was originally used as a landfill. After closing the landfill in the late 1980s, the the area was covered with clean fill and converted into a special events park and an area for family activities.

Adjacent to the south side of the Territorial Prison is the "Ocean-to-Ocean" bridge that was the final link in the highway stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast; thus, eliminating long ferry lines to cross the Colorado River. 

At the end of the bridge, on the California side of the river, is the beautiful Mission La Purisima Concepcion that was established in October of 1780. In front of the mission there is a statue of Fray Hermengildo Francisco Garces, who founded the Yuma Indian Mission.