Jaeger's Ferry was a major river

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

at the Yuma Crossing of the Colorado River 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 ( en, Free and Sovereign State of 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 d ...

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New 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 ...

and still later by American fur traders. During the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

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 The California National Guard is part of the National Guard of the United States, a dual federal-state military reserve force. The CA National Guard has three components: the CA Army National Guard, CA Air National Guard, and CA State Guard. ...

of the

Gila Expedition The Gila Expedition or Morehead War was an 1850 California militia attack on the Quechan, in retaliation for the Glanton Massacre, which had taken place near the confluence of the Gila River and Colorado River in Arizona. It was the beginning o ...

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 and Arizona 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 and Jaeger City became the location of its stage station and its local district office. In the

Great Flood of 1862 The Great Flood of 1862 was the largest flood in the recorded history of Oregon, Nevada, and California, occurring from December 1861 to January 1862. It was preceded by weeks of continuous rains and snows in the very high elevations that began in ...

, 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