Beale's Crossing was a river crossing on the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

, near the head of the Mohave Valley, between New Mexico Territory (now Arizona) and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

along the 35th Parallel route of

Beale's Wagon Road In 1857, an expedition led by Edward Fitzgerald Beale was tasked with establishing a trade route along the 35th parallel from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Los Angeles, California. The wagon trail began at Fort Smith and continued through the New M ...

. It was at what became the site of

Fort Mohave Fort Mohave was originally named Camp Colorado when it was established on April 19, 1859 by Lieutenant Colonel William Hoffman during the Mohave War. It was located on the east bank of the Colorado River, at Beale's Crossing, near the head of ...

in what is now

Fort Mohave, Arizona Fort Mohave is an unincorporated community and CDP in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named for a nearby fort that was used during the Mohave War. As of the 2020 census, the population of Fort Mohave was 16,190, up from 14,364 in 2 ...

, west of Beaver Lake,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. It was named for

Edward Fitzgerald Beale Edward Fitzgerald "Ned" Beale (February 4, 1822 – April 22, 1893) was a national figure in the 19th-century United States. He was a naval officer, military general, explorer, frontiersman, Indian affairs superintendent, California rancher, ...

, who lead the expedition that built what came to be called

from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Beale's Crossing in California, then by way of the

Mohave Trail The Mohave Trail was a Native American trade route between Mohave Indian villages on the Colorado River and settlements in coastal Southern California. History Starting from Mohave villages along the Colorado River in the upper Mohave Valley, t ...

/ Old Spanish Trail, and another old route west from the

Mojave River The Mojave River is an intermittent river in the eastern San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Most of its flow is underground, while its surface channels remain dry most of the time, ...

Fort Tejon Fort Tejon in California is a former United States Army outpost which was intermittently active from June 24, 1854, until September 11, 1864. It is located in the Grapevine Canyon (''La Cañada de las Uvas'') between the San Emigdio Mountains and ...

, California.

History

Beale's Crossing was originally where Beale's expedition swam his camels, horses, and mules west across the Colorado River and ferried their goods over on rafts. The first pioneer wagon trains that soon followed Beale's road to the crossing cut down trees along the river to make rafts. the Mohave people used these trees for clothing; and when the settlers cut them down without permission, it provoked a retaliation that triggered the

Mohave War The Mohave War was an armed conflict between the Mohave people and the United States from 1858 to 1859. With the California Gold Rush of 1849, thousands of American settlers headed west through Mohave country and into California. The influx of m ...

. During the Mohave War, Camp Colorado, later renamed

, was established on the Colorado's east bank at the crossing. A ferry subsequently operated there, serving traffic on the

Mojave Road The Mojave Road, also known as Old Government Road (formerly the Mohave Trail), is a historic route and present day dirt road across what is now the Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert in the United States. This rough road stretched f ...

, the government supply route from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

that terminated at Fort Mohave. From there Beale's Wagon Road passed east through Union Pass to Beale Spring, and the interior of northern New Mexico Territory to Fort Defiance,

Zuni Pueblo Zuni Pueblo (also Zuñi Pueblo, Zuni: ''Halona Idiwan’a'' meaning ‘Middle Place’) is a census-designated place (CDP) in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 6,302 as of the 2010 Census. It is inhabited largely b ...

and Albuquerque. The ferry at Fort Mohave appears still in use on a September 1911 reprint of a U. S. Geological Survey, Reconnaissance Map, Arizona, Nevada, California, Camp Mohave Sheet, Edition of March 1892, reprinted. U. S. Geological Survey, Reconnaissance Map, Arizona, California, Nevada, Camp Mohave Sheet, Edition of Mar. 1892, reprinted Sept. 1911
from lib.utexas.edu accessed June 14, 2015.

References

* {{coord, 35, 02, 40, N, 114, 37, 21, W, display=title, source:GNIS History of Arizona History of Nevada Ferries of Arizona Ferries of Nevada Historic sites in Arizona Historic sites in Nevada Geography of Mohave County, Arizona Geography of Clark County, Nevada