Blogs from Yuma, Arizona, United States, North America - page 2

YUMA TERRITORIAL PRISON The first inmates were incarcerated here on July 1, 1876 in cells they built themselves. It was less than a week after Custer’s Last Stand and three days before the national centennial. In Yuma it was hotter than the hinges of hell and the annual monsoon season was just getting underway. Just because it is 120 degrees out does not mean it cannot be humid too. Those inmates did not care a fig about Custer, and did not join in the centennial festivities, but they were glad to have a place to rest their weary bones that was dry and out of the fierce glare of the relentless sun. The cells held the day’s heat like an oven. As the prison grew it eventually got electrification and ventilation ports were added that allowed ... read more

YUMA PROVING GROUND YPG, as it is commonly known among the denizens of the river country, is the largest employer in Yuma County. It is an Army facility but most of the employees who work there are civilians. Among a multitude of other duties what they do out there is test every weapon system in the ground combat arsenal and all of its munitions. The proving grounds are closed to the public and if you are caught snooping around out there you might well be shot. They do have a little armor museum that is open to the public and is an amusing place to spend a little time if your interests bend in that direction. The facility began in 1943 as Camp Laguna for ground combat training. The Army Corps of Engineers had a separate ... read more

COPPER STATE ARENA I am going to have to climb way up on my soapbox here. Rooster fighting has been a grand source of entertainment the world over since long before the first chickens ever arrived on our shores. Cockfighting and horse racing were the best forms of entertainment that our country had until Amos and Andy came on the radio. The cock fights were forced underground after a while because the government was not getting a cut of the gambling revenue. Eventually cockfighting was made illegal at the discretion of each state’s government although politicians and county sheriffs still got their bets down and enjoyed free fried chicken at the events they attended. During election years those same hypocrites made newspaper headlines as tough law and order candidates for cracking down on gambling; while continuing ... read more

HENRY A CRABB Henry was one of California’s first political hacks. He had served in the military during the War with Mexico and used that background to get elected to the California State Senate after statehood in 1850. He failed to get reelected in 1854 and then volunteered to join up with William Walker’s filibuster to Nicaragua in 1855. Walker was a childhood pal but declined to include Crabb in his plans. He then ran for a seat in the federal Senate and handily lost that election too. Probably he was much more of a self-serving pompous windbag than he ever was any sort of a hard charging servant of the people. The pompous windbag was not without ambition but in 1856 he was pretty much without prospects. Crabb had married into the Ainsa Family. They ... read more

OCEAN TO OCEAN May 22, 2015 will mark the 100th Anniversary of the dedication and grand opening of the Highway 80 Bridge at Yuma Crossing. It is a 336 foot long steel truss bridge that was actually completed in March of 1915 but could not be opened until highway construction reached it. Highway construction was held up by the plank road crossing through the Imperial Dunes. When the bridge opened it was the only bridge for highway traffic that crossed the Colorado River. When it was completed Highway 80 was the nation’s first transcontinental highway; connecting the Pacific Coast in San Diego and terminating at the Atlantic Coast in St Augustine, Florida. Citizens in Yuma had been clamoring for the bridge for several years just as citizens in San Diego had been clamoring for the highway ... read more