Yuma War
Encyclopedia
The Yuma War was the name given to a series of United States
military operations conducted in southern California
and what is today southwestern Arizona
from 1850 to 1853. The Yumans
were the primary opponent of the United States Army
, though engagements were fought between the Americans and other native groups in the region. Conflict generally took the form of guerilla warfare and over the course of three years, the army engaged in pursuing unfriendly natives, protecting American settlers crossing the Colorado River
and preventing conflict between the native tribes. A peace treaty in summer of 1853 was signed, ending hostilities between the Yuma and the United States, but it sparked a short war between the Yuma and the Cocopah. During the conflict, the historic Fort Yuma
was constructed and became an important outpost on the frontier
.
and southern Colorado Rivers. Following the Mexican Cession
and the California Gold Rush
, American settlers headed west and many crossed the southern portion of the Colorado River
, through Yuman territory. To exploit this opportunity, the Yumas established a ferry near the confluence of the Gila and the Colorado Rivers to transport American settlers from Arizona
to California. In early 1850, California outlaw
John Joel Glanton
and his gang of twelve men attacked their Yuma ferry and occupied the area. They then robbed and murdered both Americans and natives as they traveled around and across the river. In response a Yuman war party attacked and massacred Glanton's gang, killing nine, only four escaped. Those killed were scalped and burned in a large bonfire. California responded with the Gila Expedition
, raising a militia
of 142 men, only raised when they were paid six dollars a day, to fight the Yuma instead of panning gold. Setting off on April 16, the Gila Expedition entered what is today Arizona only to be defeated in September after a series of skirmishes. The expedition was a failure and due to the inflated prices caused by the gold rush
, cost the State of California 113,000 dollars, a sum which nearly bankrupted the state.
In November 1850, United States Army Captain Samuel P. Heintzelman
met with Yuman leaders at the Salton Sea
to negotiate a peace. Apparently successful, the captain returned to Vallecitos where he began preparing for his new orders which were to establish a post at Yuma Crossing
to protect the area from outlaws and hostile natives. The column, thinned by desertions of soldiers to the goldfields, left San Diego on October 3, 1850 with about 100 men of the 2nd Infantry
while a fourth company marched to build a post at Vellecitos. The expedition reached Yuma Crossing on November 27, and began the construction of Camp Yuma, then just a camp of tents, a hospital and an orchard
. American forces included ninety-two enlisted men, two officers and a medical officer for the hospital. Heintzelman's command was supplied via steamship from California, through the California Gulf
and up the Colorado to the fort. This was difficult however due to the Colorado's strong current and by the time the steamships could make it all the way around Baja California
, they had to manage the Colorado which took time. Thus the Californians had to rely on supplies sent overland, it was difficult as well but proved to be successful.
After establishing a peace, Heintzelman reported that the Yumans along the Colorado were friendly. Supply difficulties began when supply wagons arrived late and did not carry enough to supply the troops for long. Supply by sea from San Diego had been requested but did nor arrive as planned. When it did arrive boats had difficulty bringing it up from the mouth of the Colorado against the river's strong tidal bore
at the river mouth, strong spring flood current and the confused maze channels in the delta. Bringing it overland by wagon was difficult also but more successful. Captain
Alfred H. Wilcox commanded the army transport schooner
Invincible and was directed to resupply Fort Yuma before the end of 1850. In December, after making it only thirty miles from the Gulf of California, the Invincible was unable to proceed up the river any further. Suspecting a problem and nearly out of food, Captain Heintzelman constructed a raft with sails to travel down the river, some sixty miles to the Invincible. With eight men and two civilians, the captain first sailed down the Colorado for three days before finding the Invincible, missing an anchor and ran hard aground. After some work trying to free the schooner, it was finally released and Captain Wilcox decided to offload his supplies onto the Sonora
side of the river. The raft was too small to carry the provisions so Heintzelman directed First Lieutenant
Edward Murray to cross into Mexico
with a train of wagons to retrieve the supplies. Fortunately for the Americans, their little invasion of Mexico in January 1851 went unnoticed and the much needed supplies were brought to the fort.
Later Heintzelman received instructions allowing him to send armed parties into Mexican territory for supplies but he was not permitted to pursue hostile natives across the river. Just after First Lieutenant Murray's return, nine wagons from across the desert arrived. The food would not last long though, in 1851 the crops of the Yuma failed so many found themselves traveling to the fort in order to beg Captain Heintzelman for food. In February 1851, Heintzelman again met with some Yuman leaders along the Colorado. Presenting them with tobacco
, food and other gifts, the Yumans were very pleased and expressed their fear of the Maricopa who lived along the Gila River and were raiding Yuman villages. Heintzelman attempted to secure a peace between the Yumans and Maricopa but he apparently did not succeed as the conflict between the two tribes escalated until 1857. Also in February, a colonel
named Smith arrived at the camp with orders to survey an area on the Colorado's western bank for a permanent military base. They decided on a location just south of the camp at a place called Mission Hill
, the site of the former Fray Francisco Tomas Garces mission
.
In April, natives suspected of being Mohaves raided the livestock pen of Fort Yuma, taking off several animals without resistance, also at this time, the Americans established communications with the Pima
and the Mohave.
Doctor John De Conte arrived at the post from the east on February 21, in his possession was a letter from Royce Oatman, the father and leader of an immigrant party traveling through Arizona along the Gila. In the letter, Royce described how much of his livestock had been stolen by hostile natives and he was nearly out of food and stranded with his family west of the Pima Villages
. Heintzelman sent two soldiers with two mules packed with supplies to rescue the Oatman Party. But when they arrived after a 120 mile journey, all they found was two graves and an abandoned wagon. Captain Heintzelman later discovered that six people of the Oatman Party had been massacred, and two young females named Olive Oatman
and Mary Ann Oatman
were abducted. Their fourteen year old brother Lorenzo Oatman was thrown over a cliff but survived long enough to help rescue his remaining sister years later. At the time, the Americans believed Maricopas were responsible for the murders but later accounts suggest that it was either the Mohave or Yavapai
to blame. The two young girls were taken as slave
s and later sold to the Mohave tribe, Mary Ann died of starvation in captivity and Olive was ransomed five years later. Heintzelman blamed Doctor De Conte for not coming to the aid of the Oatman party and De Conte blamed Heintzelman for not sending an expedition, which would be a violation of the captain's specific orders.
and then to San Diego. He left ten men and Lieutenant
Thomas William Sweeny
to guard the ferry. Their orders were to continue protecting the area from hostiles and to prevent immigrants from settling on Yuman soil. A day before departing, Heintzelman gathered some Yuman chiefs together where he informed them of the situation.
Lieutenant Sweeny was an Irish
immigrant who became a hero known as "Fighting Tom" during the Mexican War, he was also very disliked by Heintzelman and later led Irish rebels in the Fenian War
. While at San Diego, some Yumans and Cocopahs arrived and requested that Heintzelman help them remove Chief Cavallo y Pelo and Santiago
from power as they were not friendly with the army and wanted the peace to end. For months before, Heintzelman had heard rumors that Santiago was trying to unite the Yuma for a war against the United States but he was in denial, believing the Yuma only wanted peace. The captain informed the natives that he did not have legal authority to remove their chiefs so he advised them to return to their village and elect new chiefs as they saw fit.
Unbeknown to Heintzelman, the Yuma were preparing for a siege of Fort Yuma. In October 1851, a letter arrived at San Diego from Lieutenant Sweeny which asked that Heintzelman immediately send aid to the fort. Provisions were low, scurvy
had broken out and dozens of Yuman warriors had surrounded the post. Sweeny expected an attack but Hentzelman's only response was a letter of his own stating that there was no reason to believe the Yuma were hostile. But when news arrived that four of Sweeny's command had been killed by around 800 Yumans, Heintzelman sent sixteen men under Captain Delozier Davidson with a train of mules and wagons. The squad arrived at the fort on December 6 but abandoned it soon after for a new camp six miles to the south near Pilot Knob
.
While Captain Davidson marched east, Heintzelman learned of a December 1851 Cahuilla
and Cupeno
raid on Warner's Ranch
and Agua Caliente
in the San Felipe Mountains. The Cupeno
warrior Antonio Garra led what became known as the Garra Revolt. California's population was very panicked about the warfare being waged so close to their settlements on the coast, in San Diego concerned citizens began preparing to defend the town in case the Cahuilla and Cupeno attacked there. In response to the raids, Heintzelman started the Agua Caliente Expedition, a march to the San Felipe Mountains.
Just northeast of Agua Caliente, Heintzelman's column of five infantry companies and one artillery company encountered 100 Cahuilla's, under Chief Chipule, at Coyote Canyon, located within Borrego Valley
. A battle was fought on the morning of December 21, 1851, ending with the loss of six warriors, including Chipule and Chief Cecili. The natives were armed mostly with bows and they were routed from the field. From Coyote Canyon, Heintzelman continued northeast, further into the mountains, where they found a rancheria
containing items from Warner's Ranch. The rancheria and nearby village were abandoned but Heintzelman had them burned before continuing back to Agua Caliente. After losing their villages, the Cahuilla's chose to surrender to the Americans. Jonathan Warner was used as an interpreter in a court case to decide the fate of four Cahuilla chiefs who were found guilty of raiding Warner's Ranch, killing civilians there, burning the place and robbing it. Subsequently the four, named Juan Baustista, Francisco Mecate, Quisil and Luis, were executed by firing squad and buried on December 25, 1851. Garra was captured at Razon's rancheria in the Coachella Valley, by the Mountain Cahuilla leader Juan Antonio
and turned over to the volunteer company from Los Angeles. He was later tried and executed in San Diego, January 10, 1852.
, to reinforce Fort Yuma. With 160 infantry and cavalry, Heintzelman arrived at the fort in March, only to find it nearly destroyed. All of the captain's personal belongings left at the post were missing or destroyed, the fruit orchards were withered and his raft sunk. Heintzelman was very upset and proclaimed in his book that Captain Davidson was a coward for abandoning the fort. Captain George Stoneman
, who served with distinction in the American Civil War
, commanded the American cavalry during this march. In the spring and summer of 1852, United States Army operations against the Yuma were halted. Terrible sand and rain storms, combined with the heat, prevented Heintzelman's garrison from doing anything other than trying to cope with the weather. Relations between the Cahuilla and the Cupeno broke down in 1852 and the two tribes went to war.
In February 1852, the steamer Sierra Nevada made her way sixty miles up the Colorado, there they constructed two fifty-foot flatboat
s to be used for transporting supplies. When the boats were finished they were loaded with provisions and sent north to the fort. One of the boats was swamped in the river and lost its entire cargo but it was refilled and eventually reached Yuma Crossing. The other boat was not as successful and had to offload its goods at Ogden's Landing far south of the fort. After this event, Heintzelman accepted that he would have to rely on supplies from overland. Captain Edward H. Fitzgerald was ordered to escort a supply convoy to the fort with forty dragoon
s at his disposal. At camp in the desert, eighteen miles from Fort Yuma, Fitzgerald's herd of mules and horses was attacked. Defending the animals were eight soldiers and one civilian who fought the Yumas for eighteen hours. In the end all but one of the soldiers were killed while the Yumans suffered four dead. Captain Fitzgerald retreated to the fort, leaving his casualties behind, where he informed the garrison of his defeat. Captain Heintzelman organized a burial detail of sixty men and when they arrived at the San Luis battlefield, the bodies of the slain were found stripped and bady mutilated by buzzard
s. Fitzgerald's defeat angered Heintzelman much, he requested from his superiors permission to attack the Yumas on the Arizona side of the river but it was denied. According to Heintzelman, the Yumas grew confident after the Battle of San Luis. In August, the schooner Capacity arrived off the Colorado's mouth and by September the ship was anchored where the Sierra Nevada once was. There they began construction of a sixty-five by sixteen foot paddle steamer
named Uncle Sam
. Uncle Sam was launched by November and on December 3, it arrived at Fort Yuma and delivered thirty-two tons of goods. The American garrison celebrated the steamer's arrival, its skipper, Captain James Turnbull took Heintzelman on a cruise of the Gila and Colorado before he had to sail back down to the California Gulf.
Late in March, the soldiers of Fort Yuma organized a second expedition of eighty infantry and cavalry under Captain Fitzgerald and Captain Davidson. It was not very successful, the Yumans were warned of the advancing Americans and they retreated from their villages without a fight. Only twenty Yumans were spotted by the soldiers and one old man was captured. Lieutenant Frederick Steele
launched an operation just after, with forty men Steele proceeded up the western bank of the Colorado River and engaged in one skirmish. A small band of Yumans were found along the river and attacked as they fled across. Several Yumans were reportedly killed though most escaped harm. Lieutenant Steele continued on where he destroyed a few Yuman fields before returning to the fort. American civilians passing by the fort informed the captain that a large party of Yumans were together about forty miles north. Thirty men were sent to investigate but they returned to Fort Yuma after traveling seventy miles north without encountering the enemy. In mid May, the garrison conducted several scouting operations in the vicinity around the fort. In one of these missions, Lieutenant Sweeny with twenty-five men attacked a village south of Fort Yuma. There they killed one warrior, accidentally wounded a woman and burned the village. Large amounts of clothing and food were also destroyed. Lieutenant Henry B. Hendershott led a third party into Yuman territory around the fort, two villages were destroyed along with several wheat fields and two warriors were killed. During a forth operation of the same type, First Lieutenant George Pearce
and his men killed three warriors and wounded Chief Pasqual. One woman was also wounded and a child drowned in the Colorado.
. But one man was lost to heatstroke on the way out so the column turned around and went back. A little later, in August, Ambrosio Armijo of New Mexico
, with 9,000 heads of sheep, was approaching the fort. He sent a message to Heintzelman stating that the natives had been harassing his train since he passed the Pima Villages and many heads of his livestock had been taken by the Pima
s and Maricopas. The Yumans, were now threatening the train so immediately upon receiving the message, Heintzelman dispatched fourteen men under Lieutenant Sweeny for protection. Almost as soon as Sweeny crossed the Colorado, he sent a message back stating that he expected to be attacked by some 800 warriors and that one of Armijo's sheep herders had been killed. Heintzelman quickly moved his entire command across the river, fully expecting a major battle. According to reports, Apaches, Mohaves and Maricopas made up part of the 800 man force. It was almost dark when the garrison left the fort. Heintzelman marched along the southern bank of the Gila all through the night and into the following morning without realizing he had passed Armijo's camp. When the captain concluded that he was going the wrong way, he sent a squad back down the Gila but before they had gone a mile, they encountered 100 to 150 mounted Yuman and Cocopah warriors. The squad returned to Heintzelmen's column which was solely infantry so the captain attempted to outmaneuver the natives. He divided his force into two and sent one to flank the group of warriors. However, as soon as the flanking party started to move, the Yumans and Cocopahs opened fire with a volley of rifle fire and a hail of arrows. Flanking the natives failed so Heintzelman ordered a charge with all of his men but before the Americans could get to close range, the natives scattered into the surrounding hills. Two Americans were wounded along with at least two natives.
, lower in rank than that of Cavallo y Pelo and Santiago. Jose Maria was happy to meet with the captain and he wanted to propose a truce so they could gather their harvest. After, the Yuman chiefs would travel to the fort and sign a peace treaty. The two agreed that Jose Maria should return to his territory and discuss the matter with the other chiefs. Unsuccessful, Maria went to Fort Yuma the following day and told the Americans that he was not responsible for the war and that it was Chief Vicente
who was leading the Yumans and Cocopahs during the battle along the Gila. Heintzelman issued an ultimatum to Maria, if all of the Yuman and Cocopah chiefs did not come to the fort to conclude peace within ten days, the American army would be forced to retake the offensive. Ten days passed without the appearance of any natives, and in response the garrison prepared for another expedition. Twenty men under Captain George Andrews
were sent up the Colorado in one of the flatboats while Heintzelman prepared eighty men with Chief Tomas Chiuj of San Ysabel and a native guide for his journey. But just as the garrison was leaving the fort, a few Yuman warriors approached and told the captain that the chiefs would arrive within a few days. Despite this, Heintzelman did not disband the expedition, instead he advanced north along the Colorado for sixty miles when he learned on September 29 that a Yuman rancheria was eight miles distant. As usual the Yumans were warned beforehand so when the Americans captured the settlement, its inhabitants had already fled.
A larger Yuman village was said to be further up the river so the column pressed on and captured it too without resistance. Captain Heintzelman later wrote that he could have destroyed much of the Yuman's civil infrastructure during the expedition but he did not due to the nature of his mission which was to establish a peace. He also noted that had he destroyed the villages, it would have been an attack on Yumans who were the "least guilt" as opposed to the followers of Pelo and Santiango who were on the war path. The Americans sighted many natives but they always fled, Heintzelman chased after the fleeing Yumans several times with the intention of speaking with them but they always eluded him. One night Chief Tomas Chiuj and the guide came into Heintzelman's camp where they told him that they had discovered the location of some prominent Yuman chiefs several days journey up the river. With only twelve days of rations from the beginning, Heintzelman could not pursue any further without supplies from Captain Andrews, the Yumans were also retreating faster than the column could advance. The same night, a few arrows were released into the camp and the Yumans set fire to some grass, this was the closest the expedition came to fighting a battle. After meeting with Andrews the column was resupplied and continued their march north along the eastern bank of the river in what was then Utah Territory
. Before breaking camp, a lone Yuman warrior came in. It was Chief Huttami, the supreme leader of the Yuman people and he wanted peace with the United States. On October 2, four more Yuman chiefs came into Heintzelman's camp and surrendered. Heintzelman then demanded that Cavallo y Pelo and Santiago surrender but they were among their followers, retreating to stay away from the army. The captain knew well that he had no chance of catching up with the hostile Yumans so he ordered a march back to the fort.
, four other warriors and ten women and children. Twelve prisoners were taken and a herd of Yuman horses captured. Cocopahs then massacred Chief Jose Maria's camp, killing three men and twenty-three women and children. Heintzelman noted that this massacre was an "unprovoked aggression on part of the Cocopah". A burial detail was formed and sent to the scene of the attack, within Mexican territory and present day Arizona. The bodies were burned according to native American tradition and then the detail returned to the fort. Days later, Chief Maria arrived at Fort Yuma and informed Heintzelman that the high Cocopah chief had released some Yuman women and children but the majority were still in captivity. Maria also told the captain that the Cocopah were retreating into the mountains and that the Yuma were preparing their own raid in retaliation.
The Cocopah also formed an alliance with the Paipai
and Halyikwamai and together they outnumbered the Yuman warriors who gathered at Fort Yuma, which was now a center of trade with the Americans. So many warriors at the post alarmed the garrison but the Yumans were not hostile. When about 250 men were assembled, they raided south into Cocopah territory and killed seven warriors and four woman. Simulataneously, the Mohave under Chief Arateve raided Cocopah territory after the Yuma asked them to join in the war. The Mohave, by all accounts, did not want to fight, but because their Yuman friends feared for their safety, the Mohave came to their aid. In the raid, three Cocopah men were killed and two women were taken captive. According to the Mohave, years later, the Cocopah women were captured to be married to Mohave men and by producing a half Cocopah and half Mohave offspring, they would help ensure peace between the two tribes.
When conflict with the Cocopah ceased the Americans at Fort Yuma received a new objective which was to prevent further bloodshed between the native tribes. Chief Arateve went to Fort Yuma where he asked the Americans to deliver a sort of contract to the four other Mohave war chiefs. The four braves were Kapetame, Asikahota, Tapaikuneche and Hatsurama, and with Arateve they were known as the "Five Brave Men". All ranked equally and all received five letters from the American army, which, if accepted, they would no longer attack other native tibes or American settlers and they would not prevent the army from building forts and roads on their land. If the stipulations were not met the United States would go to war against the Mohave. With some convincing from Aratave, the four other chiefs eventually agreed to be peaceful and the Yuma War came to an end.
in June 1853, the eastern side of the Colorado became part of the United States and though the war was over between the Yuma and the Americans, the United States Army could now launch major military campaigns across the river without having to concern themselves with the Mexican military. War
between the United States and the Mohave became a reality in 1858 when warriors attacked American settlers at Beale's Crossing in Arizona. The attack resulted in the establishment of Fort Mohave and the war ended in 1859 after the Mohave were defeated twice in two significant engagements.
Later the Yumans came into conflict with the Maricopas, and in 1857 the last major battle
involving the Yuma was fought. In an engagement at Pima Butte
in the Sierra Estrella
Mountains, the Maricopas and Pimas defeated and killed well over 100 Yumans and their allies. After which the Yuma were no longer a military power.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military operations conducted in southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and what is today southwestern Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
from 1850 to 1853. The Yumans
Quechan
The Quechan are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the border with Mexico...
were the primary opponent of the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, though engagements were fought between the Americans and other native groups in the region. Conflict generally took the form of guerilla warfare and over the course of three years, the army engaged in pursuing unfriendly natives, protecting American settlers crossing the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
and preventing conflict between the native tribes. A peace treaty in summer of 1853 was signed, ending hostilities between the Yuma and the United States, but it sparked a short war between the Yuma and the Cocopah. During the conflict, the historic Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma is a fort in California that is located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861 and was abandoned May 16, 1883, and transferred to the Department of the Interior. The Fort Yuma Indian School and a...
was constructed and became an important outpost on the frontier
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
.
Glanton Massacre and the Gila Expedition
The Yuman tribe was small compared to many other North American groups. On average a Yuman village consisted of around eighty to 250 men and women spread out along the far western GilaGila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
and southern Colorado Rivers. Following the Mexican Cession
Mexican Cession
The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...
and the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, American settlers headed west and many crossed the southern portion of the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
, through Yuman territory. To exploit this opportunity, the Yumas established a ferry near the confluence of the Gila and the Colorado Rivers to transport American settlers from Arizona
Traditional Arizona
Prior to the adoption of its name for a U.S. state, Arizona was traditionally defined as the region south of the Gila River to the present day Mexican border, and east of the Colorado River on the California border to the Rio Grande river, east of the present day Mesilla, New Mexico...
to California. In early 1850, California outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
John Joel Glanton
John Joel Glanton
John Joel Glanton was an American member of the U.S. Army during the mid-19th century, a soldier of fortune and mercenary, and later led the Glanton Gang of scalp hunters in the Southwest.-Early life and education:...
and his gang of twelve men attacked their Yuma ferry and occupied the area. They then robbed and murdered both Americans and natives as they traveled around and across the river. In response a Yuman war party attacked and massacred Glanton's gang, killing nine, only four escaped. Those killed were scalped and burned in a large bonfire. California responded with the Gila Expedition
Gila Expedition
The Gila Expedition or Morehead War was an 1850 California militia attack on the Quechan Indians in retaliation for the Glanton Massacre near the confluence of the Gila River and Colorado River in Arizona. It was the beginning of the 1850 to 1853 Yuma War.Downriver from a ferry by A.L...
, raising a militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
of 142 men, only raised when they were paid six dollars a day, to fight the Yuma instead of panning gold. Setting off on April 16, the Gila Expedition entered what is today Arizona only to be defeated in September after a series of skirmishes. The expedition was a failure and due to the inflated prices caused by the gold rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, cost the State of California 113,000 dollars, a sum which nearly bankrupted the state.
Establishing Fort Yuma
Samuel P. Heintzelman
Samuel Peter Heintzelman was a United States Army General. He served in the Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, the Yuma War, the Cortina Troubles, and the American Civil War, rising to the command of a corps....
met with Yuman leaders at the Salton Sea
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death...
to negotiate a peace. Apparently successful, the captain returned to Vallecitos where he began preparing for his new orders which were to establish a post at Yuma Crossing
Yuma Crossing
Yuma Crossing is a site in Arizona and California that is significant for its association with transportation and communication across the Colorado River. It connected New Spain and Las Californias in the Spanish Colonial period in and also during the Western expansion of the United States. ...
to protect the area from outlaws and hostile natives. The column, thinned by desertions of soldiers to the goldfields, left San Diego on October 3, 1850 with about 100 men of the 2nd Infantry
2nd Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 2nd Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. It has served the United States for more than two hundred years. It is the third oldest regiment in the US Army with a Lineage date of 1808 and a history extending back to 1791...
while a fourth company marched to build a post at Vellecitos. The expedition reached Yuma Crossing on November 27, and began the construction of Camp Yuma, then just a camp of tents, a hospital and an orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
. American forces included ninety-two enlisted men, two officers and a medical officer for the hospital. Heintzelman's command was supplied via steamship from California, through the California Gulf
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
and up the Colorado to the fort. This was difficult however due to the Colorado's strong current and by the time the steamships could make it all the way around Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, they had to manage the Colorado which took time. Thus the Californians had to rely on supplies sent overland, it was difficult as well but proved to be successful.
After establishing a peace, Heintzelman reported that the Yumans along the Colorado were friendly. Supply difficulties began when supply wagons arrived late and did not carry enough to supply the troops for long. Supply by sea from San Diego had been requested but did nor arrive as planned. When it did arrive boats had difficulty bringing it up from the mouth of the Colorado against the river's strong tidal bore
Tidal bore
A tidal bore is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave of water that travel up a river or narrow bay against the direction of the river or bay's current...
at the river mouth, strong spring flood current and the confused maze channels in the delta. Bringing it overland by wagon was difficult also but more successful. Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
Alfred H. Wilcox commanded the army transport schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Invincible and was directed to resupply Fort Yuma before the end of 1850. In December, after making it only thirty miles from the Gulf of California, the Invincible was unable to proceed up the river any further. Suspecting a problem and nearly out of food, Captain Heintzelman constructed a raft with sails to travel down the river, some sixty miles to the Invincible. With eight men and two civilians, the captain first sailed down the Colorado for three days before finding the Invincible, missing an anchor and ran hard aground. After some work trying to free the schooner, it was finally released and Captain Wilcox decided to offload his supplies onto the Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
side of the river. The raft was too small to carry the provisions so Heintzelman directed First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
Edward Murray to cross into Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
with a train of wagons to retrieve the supplies. Fortunately for the Americans, their little invasion of Mexico in January 1851 went unnoticed and the much needed supplies were brought to the fort.
Later Heintzelman received instructions allowing him to send armed parties into Mexican territory for supplies but he was not permitted to pursue hostile natives across the river. Just after First Lieutenant Murray's return, nine wagons from across the desert arrived. The food would not last long though, in 1851 the crops of the Yuma failed so many found themselves traveling to the fort in order to beg Captain Heintzelman for food. In February 1851, Heintzelman again met with some Yuman leaders along the Colorado. Presenting them with tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, food and other gifts, the Yumans were very pleased and expressed their fear of the Maricopa who lived along the Gila River and were raiding Yuman villages. Heintzelman attempted to secure a peace between the Yumans and Maricopa but he apparently did not succeed as the conflict between the two tribes escalated until 1857. Also in February, a colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
named Smith arrived at the camp with orders to survey an area on the Colorado's western bank for a permanent military base. They decided on a location just south of the camp at a place called Mission Hill
Mission Hill
Mission Hill is an American animated television series that first aired on The WB in 1999. Although 18 episodes were planned, only 13 episodes were produced. The show was put on hiatus by the WB Network after two episodes due to poor ratings. It returned to the WB in the summer of 2000 but was...
, the site of the former Fray Francisco Tomas Garces mission
Mission (station)
A religious mission or mission station is a location for missionary work.While primarily a Christian term, the concept of the religious "mission" is also used prominently by the Church of Scientology and their Scientology Missions International....
.
In April, natives suspected of being Mohaves raided the livestock pen of Fort Yuma, taking off several animals without resistance, also at this time, the Americans established communications with the Pima
Pima
The Pima are a group of American Indians living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona. The long name, "Akimel O'odham", means "river people". They are closely related to the Tohono O'odham and the Hia C-ed O'odham...
and the Mohave.
Oatman Massacre
Fort Barrett
Fort Barrett was a temporary earthwork built by the United States Army's California Column in 1862 during the American Civil War. It was located at the Pima Villages two miles from the Gila river nearby Casa Blanca and Bapchule, Arizona and was built around the flour mill of settler Ammi White to...
. Heintzelman sent two soldiers with two mules packed with supplies to rescue the Oatman Party. But when they arrived after a 120 mile journey, all they found was two graves and an abandoned wagon. Captain Heintzelman later discovered that six people of the Oatman Party had been massacred, and two young females named Olive Oatman
Olive Oatman
Olive Oatman was a woman from Illinois who was famously abducted by a Native American tribe , then sold to another . She ultimately regained her freedom five years later. The story resonated in the media, partly owing to the prominent blue tattooing of Oatman's face by her captors...
and Mary Ann Oatman
Mary Ann Oatman
Mary Ann Oatman , was the sister of Olive Oatman, and a survivor of abuse by the Yavapai people...
were abducted. Their fourteen year old brother Lorenzo Oatman was thrown over a cliff but survived long enough to help rescue his remaining sister years later. At the time, the Americans believed Maricopas were responsible for the murders but later accounts suggest that it was either the Mohave or Yavapai
Yavapai people
Yavapai are an indigenous people in Arizona. Historically, the Yavapai were divided into four geographical bands that considered themselves separate peoples: the Tolkapaya, or Western Yavapai, the Yavapé, or Northwestern Yavapai, the Kwevkapaya, or Southeastern Yavapai, and Wipukpa, or Northeastern...
to blame. The two young girls were taken as slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
s and later sold to the Mohave tribe, Mary Ann died of starvation in captivity and Olive was ransomed five years later. Heintzelman blamed Doctor De Conte for not coming to the aid of the Oatman party and De Conte blamed Heintzelman for not sending an expedition, which would be a violation of the captain's specific orders.
Siege of Fort Yuma
During the construction of the camp, there was no fighting between the Yuma and the American army due to the peace Heintzelman had concluded, but peace would not last long. Heintzelman occupied his time with mapping the area, noting the depths of the Colorado, and recording temperatures. The hottest it got according to Heintzelman was 121 degrees fahrenheit. Ultimately the problem of maintaining a post, surrounded by two vast deserts became untolerable so the Captain Heintzelman was ordered to withdraw his company in July 1851 for Santa YsabelSanta Ysabel, California
Santa Ysabel is an unincorporated community in California, in the east half of San Diego County. It is home to Santa Ysabel Asistencia, a Spanish mission...
and then to San Diego. He left ten men and Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Thomas William Sweeny
Thomas William Sweeny
Thomas William Sweeny was an Irish soldier who served in the Mexican-American War and then was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Birth and early years:...
to guard the ferry. Their orders were to continue protecting the area from hostiles and to prevent immigrants from settling on Yuman soil. A day before departing, Heintzelman gathered some Yuman chiefs together where he informed them of the situation.
Lieutenant Sweeny was an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
immigrant who became a hero known as "Fighting Tom" during the Mexican War, he was also very disliked by Heintzelman and later led Irish rebels in the Fenian War
Fenian raids
Between 1866 and 1871, the Fenian raids of the Fenian Brotherhood who were based in the United States; on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada, were fought to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland. They divided many Catholic Irish-Canadians, many of whom were...
. While at San Diego, some Yumans and Cocopahs arrived and requested that Heintzelman help them remove Chief Cavallo y Pelo and Santiago
Santiago
Santiago is the capital city of Chile. Santiago may also refer to:*Santiago *Santiago , a Spanish given name*Santiago!, a shortened form of the Reconquista battle cry "Santiago y cierra, España"...
from power as they were not friendly with the army and wanted the peace to end. For months before, Heintzelman had heard rumors that Santiago was trying to unite the Yuma for a war against the United States but he was in denial, believing the Yuma only wanted peace. The captain informed the natives that he did not have legal authority to remove their chiefs so he advised them to return to their village and elect new chiefs as they saw fit.
Unbeknown to Heintzelman, the Yuma were preparing for a siege of Fort Yuma. In October 1851, a letter arrived at San Diego from Lieutenant Sweeny which asked that Heintzelman immediately send aid to the fort. Provisions were low, scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
had broken out and dozens of Yuman warriors had surrounded the post. Sweeny expected an attack but Hentzelman's only response was a letter of his own stating that there was no reason to believe the Yuma were hostile. But when news arrived that four of Sweeny's command had been killed by around 800 Yumans, Heintzelman sent sixteen men under Captain Delozier Davidson with a train of mules and wagons. The squad arrived at the fort on December 6 but abandoned it soon after for a new camp six miles to the south near Pilot Knob
Araz, California
Araz is a former settlement in Imperial County, California. It was located on the Southern Pacific Railroad west-southwest of Bard. Pilot Knob Station served as a stop on the Butterfield Overland Stage line and its successors until the railroad arrived in 1877...
.
Garra Revolt
Cahuilla
The Cahuilla, Iviatim in their own language, are Indians with a common culture whose ancestors inhabited inland areas of southern California 2,000 years ago. Their original territory included an area of about . The traditional Cahuilla territory was near the geographic center of Southern California...
and Cupeno
Cupeño
The Cupeño are a Native American tribe from Southern California. Their name in their own language is Kuupangaxwichem.They traditionally lived about inland and north of the modern day U.S.-Mexico border in the Peninsular Range of Southern California...
raid on Warner's Ranch
Warner's Ranch
Warner's Ranch near Warner Springs, California, was notable as a way station for large numbers of emigrants on the Southern Trail from 1849 to 1861, as it was a stop on both the Gila River Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line...
and Agua Caliente
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla Indians, located in Riverside County, California.-Reservation:...
in the San Felipe Mountains. The Cupeno
Cupeño
The Cupeño are a Native American tribe from Southern California. Their name in their own language is Kuupangaxwichem.They traditionally lived about inland and north of the modern day U.S.-Mexico border in the Peninsular Range of Southern California...
warrior Antonio Garra led what became known as the Garra Revolt. California's population was very panicked about the warfare being waged so close to their settlements on the coast, in San Diego concerned citizens began preparing to defend the town in case the Cahuilla and Cupeno attacked there. In response to the raids, Heintzelman started the Agua Caliente Expedition, a march to the San Felipe Mountains.
Just northeast of Agua Caliente, Heintzelman's column of five infantry companies and one artillery company encountered 100 Cahuilla's, under Chief Chipule, at Coyote Canyon, located within Borrego Valley
Borrego Springs, California
Borrego Springs is a census-designated place in San Diego County, California. The population was 3,429 at the 2010 census, up from 2,535 at the 2000 census. Many residents are seasonal while others remain year round...
. A battle was fought on the morning of December 21, 1851, ending with the loss of six warriors, including Chipule and Chief Cecili. The natives were armed mostly with bows and they were routed from the field. From Coyote Canyon, Heintzelman continued northeast, further into the mountains, where they found a rancheria
Ranchería
The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to native villages and to the workers' quarters of a ranch. English adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the residential area of a rancho in the American...
containing items from Warner's Ranch. The rancheria and nearby village were abandoned but Heintzelman had them burned before continuing back to Agua Caliente. After losing their villages, the Cahuilla's chose to surrender to the Americans. Jonathan Warner was used as an interpreter in a court case to decide the fate of four Cahuilla chiefs who were found guilty of raiding Warner's Ranch, killing civilians there, burning the place and robbing it. Subsequently the four, named Juan Baustista, Francisco Mecate, Quisil and Luis, were executed by firing squad and buried on December 25, 1851. Garra was captured at Razon's rancheria in the Coachella Valley, by the Mountain Cahuilla leader Juan Antonio
Juan Antonio (Cahuilla)
Juan Antonio , Cahuilla name: Cooswootna, Yampoochee, , was a major chief of the Mountain Band of the Cahuilla people from the 1840s to 1863.-Biography:...
and turned over to the volunteer company from Los Angeles. He was later tried and executed in San Diego, January 10, 1852.
Campaigns along the Colorado River
Heintzelman then returned to San Diego where on February 8, 1852, he set out on the Yuma ExpeditionYuma Expedition
The Yuma Expedition was a U.S. Army military operation from 8 February 1852, to October, 1852 in the Yuma War.- First Establishment of Camp Yuma :...
, to reinforce Fort Yuma. With 160 infantry and cavalry, Heintzelman arrived at the fort in March, only to find it nearly destroyed. All of the captain's personal belongings left at the post were missing or destroyed, the fruit orchards were withered and his raft sunk. Heintzelman was very upset and proclaimed in his book that Captain Davidson was a coward for abandoning the fort. Captain George Stoneman
George Stoneman
George Stoneman, Jr. was a career United States Army officer, a Union cavalry general in the American Civil War, and the 15th Governor of California between 1883 and 1887.-Early life:...
, who served with distinction in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, commanded the American cavalry during this march. In the spring and summer of 1852, United States Army operations against the Yuma were halted. Terrible sand and rain storms, combined with the heat, prevented Heintzelman's garrison from doing anything other than trying to cope with the weather. Relations between the Cahuilla and the Cupeno broke down in 1852 and the two tribes went to war.
In February 1852, the steamer Sierra Nevada made her way sixty miles up the Colorado, there they constructed two fifty-foot flatboat
Flatboat
Fil1800flatboat.jpgA flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with Fil1800flatboat.jpgA flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with Fil1800flatboat.jpgA flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with (mostlyNOTE: "(parenthesized)" wordings in the quote below are notes added to...
s to be used for transporting supplies. When the boats were finished they were loaded with provisions and sent north to the fort. One of the boats was swamped in the river and lost its entire cargo but it was refilled and eventually reached Yuma Crossing. The other boat was not as successful and had to offload its goods at Ogden's Landing far south of the fort. After this event, Heintzelman accepted that he would have to rely on supplies from overland. Captain Edward H. Fitzgerald was ordered to escort a supply convoy to the fort with forty dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s at his disposal. At camp in the desert, eighteen miles from Fort Yuma, Fitzgerald's herd of mules and horses was attacked. Defending the animals were eight soldiers and one civilian who fought the Yumas for eighteen hours. In the end all but one of the soldiers were killed while the Yumans suffered four dead. Captain Fitzgerald retreated to the fort, leaving his casualties behind, where he informed the garrison of his defeat. Captain Heintzelman organized a burial detail of sixty men and when they arrived at the San Luis battlefield, the bodies of the slain were found stripped and bady mutilated by buzzard
Buzzard
A buzzard is one of several large birds, but there are a number of meanings as detailed below.-Old World:In the Old World Buzzard can mean:* One of several medium-sized, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings....
s. Fitzgerald's defeat angered Heintzelman much, he requested from his superiors permission to attack the Yumas on the Arizona side of the river but it was denied. According to Heintzelman, the Yumas grew confident after the Battle of San Luis. In August, the schooner Capacity arrived off the Colorado's mouth and by September the ship was anchored where the Sierra Nevada once was. There they began construction of a sixty-five by sixteen foot paddle steamer
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
named Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is a common national personification of the American government originally used during the War of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard...
. Uncle Sam was launched by November and on December 3, it arrived at Fort Yuma and delivered thirty-two tons of goods. The American garrison celebrated the steamer's arrival, its skipper, Captain James Turnbull took Heintzelman on a cruise of the Gila and Colorado before he had to sail back down to the California Gulf.
Late in March, the soldiers of Fort Yuma organized a second expedition of eighty infantry and cavalry under Captain Fitzgerald and Captain Davidson. It was not very successful, the Yumans were warned of the advancing Americans and they retreated from their villages without a fight. Only twenty Yumans were spotted by the soldiers and one old man was captured. Lieutenant Frederick Steele
Frederick Steele
Frederick Steele was a career military officer in the United States Army, serving as a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was most noted for his successful campaign to retake much of secessionist Arkansas for the Union cause.-Early life:Steele was born in Delhi, New...
launched an operation just after, with forty men Steele proceeded up the western bank of the Colorado River and engaged in one skirmish. A small band of Yumans were found along the river and attacked as they fled across. Several Yumans were reportedly killed though most escaped harm. Lieutenant Steele continued on where he destroyed a few Yuman fields before returning to the fort. American civilians passing by the fort informed the captain that a large party of Yumans were together about forty miles north. Thirty men were sent to investigate but they returned to Fort Yuma after traveling seventy miles north without encountering the enemy. In mid May, the garrison conducted several scouting operations in the vicinity around the fort. In one of these missions, Lieutenant Sweeny with twenty-five men attacked a village south of Fort Yuma. There they killed one warrior, accidentally wounded a woman and burned the village. Large amounts of clothing and food were also destroyed. Lieutenant Henry B. Hendershott led a third party into Yuman territory around the fort, two villages were destroyed along with several wheat fields and two warriors were killed. During a forth operation of the same type, First Lieutenant George Pearce
George Pearce
Sir George Foster Pearce KCVO was an Australian politician who was instrumental in founding the Australian Labor Party in Western Australia....
and his men killed three warriors and wounded Chief Pasqual. One woman was also wounded and a child drowned in the Colorado.
Battle of the Gila River
Because of the bad weather in the July of 1852, only one scout was made by Lieutenant James CurtisJames Curtis
James Curtis was a British author who was best known for his novels, They Drive By Night and There Ain't No Justice, both of which were made in to feature films.-Life:...
. But one man was lost to heatstroke on the way out so the column turned around and went back. A little later, in August, Ambrosio Armijo of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, with 9,000 heads of sheep, was approaching the fort. He sent a message to Heintzelman stating that the natives had been harassing his train since he passed the Pima Villages and many heads of his livestock had been taken by the Pima
Pima
The Pima are a group of American Indians living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona. The long name, "Akimel O'odham", means "river people". They are closely related to the Tohono O'odham and the Hia C-ed O'odham...
s and Maricopas. The Yumans, were now threatening the train so immediately upon receiving the message, Heintzelman dispatched fourteen men under Lieutenant Sweeny for protection. Almost as soon as Sweeny crossed the Colorado, he sent a message back stating that he expected to be attacked by some 800 warriors and that one of Armijo's sheep herders had been killed. Heintzelman quickly moved his entire command across the river, fully expecting a major battle. According to reports, Apaches, Mohaves and Maricopas made up part of the 800 man force. It was almost dark when the garrison left the fort. Heintzelman marched along the southern bank of the Gila all through the night and into the following morning without realizing he had passed Armijo's camp. When the captain concluded that he was going the wrong way, he sent a squad back down the Gila but before they had gone a mile, they encountered 100 to 150 mounted Yuman and Cocopah warriors. The squad returned to Heintzelmen's column which was solely infantry so the captain attempted to outmaneuver the natives. He divided his force into two and sent one to flank the group of warriors. However, as soon as the flanking party started to move, the Yumans and Cocopahs opened fire with a volley of rifle fire and a hail of arrows. Flanking the natives failed so Heintzelman ordered a charge with all of his men but before the Americans could get to close range, the natives scattered into the surrounding hills. Two Americans were wounded along with at least two natives.
Colorado Expedition
With the Yumans and the Cocopah in retreat, the garrison returned to the fort. While on the way, one of the Mexicans and a Yuman rode in and told Heintzelman that the Yuma wanted to negotiate a truce. The Yuman in the party was Chief Jose MariaJosé Maria
Miguel Boaventura Lucena , known as José Maria or José Maria de Santo Agostinho, was a Brazilian mystic from the state of Santa Catarina, probably the western part of the state. Little is known about his early life. In 1911, he began preaching against the Brazilian state...
, lower in rank than that of Cavallo y Pelo and Santiago. Jose Maria was happy to meet with the captain and he wanted to propose a truce so they could gather their harvest. After, the Yuman chiefs would travel to the fort and sign a peace treaty. The two agreed that Jose Maria should return to his territory and discuss the matter with the other chiefs. Unsuccessful, Maria went to Fort Yuma the following day and told the Americans that he was not responsible for the war and that it was Chief Vicente
Vicente
Vicente is a Spanish and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name Vincentius meaning "conquering"...
who was leading the Yumans and Cocopahs during the battle along the Gila. Heintzelman issued an ultimatum to Maria, if all of the Yuman and Cocopah chiefs did not come to the fort to conclude peace within ten days, the American army would be forced to retake the offensive. Ten days passed without the appearance of any natives, and in response the garrison prepared for another expedition. Twenty men under Captain George Andrews
George Andrews
George Eyre Andrews is an American mathematician working in analysis and combinatorics. He is currently an Evan Pugh Professor of Mathematics at Pennsylvania State University....
were sent up the Colorado in one of the flatboats while Heintzelman prepared eighty men with Chief Tomas Chiuj of San Ysabel and a native guide for his journey. But just as the garrison was leaving the fort, a few Yuman warriors approached and told the captain that the chiefs would arrive within a few days. Despite this, Heintzelman did not disband the expedition, instead he advanced north along the Colorado for sixty miles when he learned on September 29 that a Yuman rancheria was eight miles distant. As usual the Yumans were warned beforehand so when the Americans captured the settlement, its inhabitants had already fled.
A larger Yuman village was said to be further up the river so the column pressed on and captured it too without resistance. Captain Heintzelman later wrote that he could have destroyed much of the Yuman's civil infrastructure during the expedition but he did not due to the nature of his mission which was to establish a peace. He also noted that had he destroyed the villages, it would have been an attack on Yumans who were the "least guilt" as opposed to the followers of Pelo and Santiango who were on the war path. The Americans sighted many natives but they always fled, Heintzelman chased after the fleeing Yumans several times with the intention of speaking with them but they always eluded him. One night Chief Tomas Chiuj and the guide came into Heintzelman's camp where they told him that they had discovered the location of some prominent Yuman chiefs several days journey up the river. With only twelve days of rations from the beginning, Heintzelman could not pursue any further without supplies from Captain Andrews, the Yumans were also retreating faster than the column could advance. The same night, a few arrows were released into the camp and the Yumans set fire to some grass, this was the closest the expedition came to fighting a battle. After meeting with Andrews the column was resupplied and continued their march north along the eastern bank of the river in what was then Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
. Before breaking camp, a lone Yuman warrior came in. It was Chief Huttami, the supreme leader of the Yuman people and he wanted peace with the United States. On October 2, four more Yuman chiefs came into Heintzelman's camp and surrendered. Heintzelman then demanded that Cavallo y Pelo and Santiago surrender but they were among their followers, retreating to stay away from the army. The captain knew well that he had no chance of catching up with the hostile Yumans so he ordered a march back to the fort.
Fort Yuma fire and the Yuma Treaty
That month a fire started at the fort because of the cook who left the door to his oven open. Wind blew some embers into the walls which turned to flames and engulfed the structure in fire, quickly it spread throughout the post's makeshift buildings. Fearing an explosion due to the large amount of munitions, the garrison fled to the far side of the parade ground. Captain Davidson, who was described as a coward by Heintzelman on many occasions, went after his personal belongings instead of the ammunition and food which was being salvaged by the some of the others. Davidson then fled to the other side of a nearby hill, to prevent being hit by shrapnel from a potential explosion. In November a major earthquake shook up the area, even altering the course of the Colorado. After the fire, the garrison began constructing rock and adobe walls but all were destroyed by the quake and it was not until the following year that measures were again taken to create a permanent base. For the next several months after the surrender of the Yuma, till the spring of 1853, Heintzelman and various war chiefs negotiated until finally signing a treaty. The war between the Yumans and the United States ended but the final campaign of the conflict was about to be fought.Conflict with the Cocopah
As result of the peace, the Cocopah cut their alliance with the Yuma and conflict broke out in May 1853. First the Cocopahs besieged three Yuman villages, killing Chief MacedonMacedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
, four other warriors and ten women and children. Twelve prisoners were taken and a herd of Yuman horses captured. Cocopahs then massacred Chief Jose Maria's camp, killing three men and twenty-three women and children. Heintzelman noted that this massacre was an "unprovoked aggression on part of the Cocopah". A burial detail was formed and sent to the scene of the attack, within Mexican territory and present day Arizona. The bodies were burned according to native American tradition and then the detail returned to the fort. Days later, Chief Maria arrived at Fort Yuma and informed Heintzelman that the high Cocopah chief had released some Yuman women and children but the majority were still in captivity. Maria also told the captain that the Cocopah were retreating into the mountains and that the Yuma were preparing their own raid in retaliation.
The Cocopah also formed an alliance with the Paipai
Paipai
The Paipai are an aboriginal people of northern Baja California, Mexico. They occupied a territory lying between the Kiliwa on the south and the Kumeyaay and Cocopa on the north, and extending from San Vicente near the Pacific coast nearly to the Colorado River's delta in the east...
and Halyikwamai and together they outnumbered the Yuman warriors who gathered at Fort Yuma, which was now a center of trade with the Americans. So many warriors at the post alarmed the garrison but the Yumans were not hostile. When about 250 men were assembled, they raided south into Cocopah territory and killed seven warriors and four woman. Simulataneously, the Mohave under Chief Arateve raided Cocopah territory after the Yuma asked them to join in the war. The Mohave, by all accounts, did not want to fight, but because their Yuman friends feared for their safety, the Mohave came to their aid. In the raid, three Cocopah men were killed and two women were taken captive. According to the Mohave, years later, the Cocopah women were captured to be married to Mohave men and by producing a half Cocopah and half Mohave offspring, they would help ensure peace between the two tribes.
When conflict with the Cocopah ceased the Americans at Fort Yuma received a new objective which was to prevent further bloodshed between the native tribes. Chief Arateve went to Fort Yuma where he asked the Americans to deliver a sort of contract to the four other Mohave war chiefs. The four braves were Kapetame, Asikahota, Tapaikuneche and Hatsurama, and with Arateve they were known as the "Five Brave Men". All ranked equally and all received five letters from the American army, which, if accepted, they would no longer attack other native tibes or American settlers and they would not prevent the army from building forts and roads on their land. If the stipulations were not met the United States would go to war against the Mohave. With some convincing from Aratave, the four other chiefs eventually agreed to be peaceful and the Yuma War came to an end.
Aftermath
Following the Gadsden PurchaseGadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by James Gadsden, the American ambassador to Mexico at the time, on December 30, 1853. It was then ratified, with changes, by the U.S...
in June 1853, the eastern side of the Colorado became part of the United States and though the war was over between the Yuma and the Americans, the United States Army could now launch major military campaigns across the river without having to concern themselves with the Mexican military. War
Mohave War
The Mohave War was an armed conflict between the Mohave people against 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 migrants passing through, combined with simple...
between the United States and the Mohave became a reality in 1858 when warriors attacked American settlers at Beale's Crossing in Arizona. The attack resulted in the establishment of Fort Mohave and the war ended in 1859 after the Mohave were defeated twice in two significant engagements.
Later the Yumans came into conflict with the Maricopas, and in 1857 the last major battle
Battle of Pima Butte
The Battle of Pima Butte, or the Battle of Maricopa Wells, was fought on September 1, 1857 at Pima Butte, Arizona near Maricopa Wells in the Sierra Estrella. Yuma, Mohave, Apache and Yavapai warriors attacked a Maricopa village named Secate in one of the largest battles in Arizona's history...
involving the Yuma was fought. In an engagement at Pima Butte
Pima Butte
Pima Butte is a mountain summit in Pinal County, Arizona eight miles north of present day Maricopa, Arizona. Pima Butte is 1,660 feet above sea level. In 1857, it was the site of the Battle of Pima Butte.-External links:*...
in the Sierra Estrella
Sierra Estrella
The Sierra Estrella is a mountain range located southwest of Phoenix, Arizona. Much of the range falls within the Gila River Indian Reservation, but of BLM land is protected as the Sierra Estrella Wilderness.-Description:...
Mountains, the Maricopas and Pimas defeated and killed well over 100 Yumans and their allies. After which the Yuma were no longer a military power.