Travel back in time with me to 1864… the area is bustling with military life as the U.S. Army prepares to travel all over the west. The Quartermaster Depot (QMD), a significant place in the history of the Arizona territory, was used to store and distribute supplies for all the military posts in Arizona, some in Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas.
While only 5 of the original buildings still remain on the premises, you can still get a good feel for the history through the exhibits and informational signs. Later, the depot became home to the Bureau of Reclamation’s construction of the irrigation works for the area.
The depot was established by Major William B. Hooper on the Colorado River. This allowed easier transport of supplies to the depot.
Supplies were brought from California via ocean-going vessels to meet up with river steamboats at the mouth of the Colorado River. The supplies were then brought to the QMD for storage and distribution to various military posts.
The supplies were shipped north on river steamers and overland by mule drawn freight wagons. The depot quartered up to 900 mules and a crew of teamsters to handle them.
When the Southern Pacific Railroad reached Yuma in 1877, the functions of the Quartermaster Depot and Fort Yuma started to come to an end. Once the railroad reached Tucson in 1880, the QMD functions were moved to Fort Lowell in Tuscon. The QMD was officially closed down by the Army in 1883.
In 1875, the Signal Corps established a telegraph and weather station. They would remain at the QMD until 1891. The U.S. Weather Service was established as a separate agency and operated at the depot until 1949.
We enjoyed traveling back in time. I hope you enjoyed the journey with us.
