Hysterical Journey to Historic Places

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ALGODONES



Algodones is a little Mexican border town a few miles west of Yuma. It is the furthest north that a Mexican town can be found. Remarkably if you go due north, south, east or west from there you will soon find yourself back in the United States. Algodones is the Mexican term for “cottons” it is probably in reference to the cotton pickers who live there. Sometimes it is called Molar City because of the profusion of Mexican dentists who have opened up shop there offering cheaper dental services than can be obtained in Yuma. It is also a popular destination for snowbirds looking to score cheap medications. Any clerk in an Algodones pharmacy is allowed to write a prescription for any drug. They also have the usual assortment of street venders selling the usual assortment of tawdry junk. There are some handy places to get drunk in or have a tasty meal. Have fun, but if you go there be prepared to show a passport in crossing the border. There is another sleepy little Mexican border town called San Luis Rio Colorado that is located a few miles south of Yuma. Algodones is few miles closer to Yuma though so most of the damn gringo commerce goes there instead of to San Luis. Algodones is a much livelier place. A great many workers come up from San Luis to provide labor needs to Yuma area farmers. It is all contract labor so those workers are paid fairly. They come up by bus and even bring their own porta potties mounted on trailers pulled by the bus. Morrelos Dam is a Mexican dam that was built to provide a reservoir to feed the Alamo Canal. The Colorado River now is effectively stopped at Morrelos. Except for a small amount of gate leakage not a drop of water can be found in the river channel below Morrelos. Since the dam was built the quality of the river water has fallen below treaty standards so the Alamo Canal is now fed from diversions on the All American Canal. Algodones and Morrelos Dam are both built right on top of the Algodones Fault. It is a major fault system that has offset the aquifers on each side by something like 50 feet. The water table is 50 feet lower on one side of the fault than it is on the other. The earthquake book written for the Yuma area is a thick one. It is a seismically active place and those fault systems are not finished shifting yet. The Mormon Battalion crossed the river into California in 1846 at Algodones but there was no town there then.

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Photos

ALARCON
Alarcon was the first Spaniard to see Alta California. He was bringing supplies to support Coronado's quest for the Seven Cities of Cibola in 1540. The monument stands at the headgate for the Alamo Canal.

ALGODONES
Photo was taken from near the entrance to the Cocopah parking lot at Andrade on the California side of the border. It is probably not a wise decision to drive into Mexico for a visit to Algodones. Park in the Indian lot and walk across the border.

MORELOS DAM
The Mexicans must have finally fixed those leaky gates. Nary a drop is getting past the dam anymore.

MORMON BATTALION
Photo was taken just above Morrelos Dam from the river levee road. The levee road along the salt drain is a better road and it is wider but it bypasses points of interest. The monument marks the point at which some boy scouts thought the crossing took place. Nobody disputes it, but nobody much cares either. The Mormon Battalion had been marching through Mexico since they crossed the Arkansas River back in Kansas.