Jaeger's Ferry was a major river

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

at the Yuma Crossing of the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

in the 1850s until 1862, 1 mile below Fort Yuma.

Early history of the site

Long a crossing point on the river, from the time of Juan Bautista de Anza it was used by Spaniards and later Mexicans, traveling from

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

and still later by American fur traders. During the California Gold Rush it was a major crossing on the Southern Emigrant Trail, with a ferry being established by A. L. Lincoln who later partnered with the Glanton Gang. After the Glanton Gang started hostilities with the local Quechan by destroying their rival ferry and killing some of them, they were in turn killed. Upon hearing the news of the Glanton Massacre, George Alonzo Johnson with some of his fellow sailors came from San Francisco to rebuild the ferry, building a stockade to protect their camp from the Quechan. The hapless California Militia of the Gila Expedition took shelter from the Quechan in the stockade for a time before straggling back to the west coast.

Jaeger's Ferry

After the Army arrived and built Fort Yuma, the ferry was purchased by L. J. F. Jaeger and his partner from Johnson and his partners. Jaeger developed the ferry that could carry a wagon and team of horses between the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

shores. Jaeger later built a store and hotel on the north bank, in California, calling it Jaeger City. Across the river he purchased a lot in Colorado City for the price of ferrying its surveying party across the river. In 1858 the ferry became the crossing point of the

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service in ...

and Jaeger City became the location of its stage station and its local district office. In the Great Flood of 1862, the ferry, Jaeger City and Colorado City were destroyed by the flooding of the Colorado River. Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978
, p.15 Edwin Corle, Gila, River of the Southwest, U. of Nebraska Press, 1951, pp.187-188, 193, 197

References

{{Imperial County, California Ferries of California Ferries of Arizona