Desert plants star at Yuma Conservation Garden

Duck pond at Yuma Conservation Garden

Vegetation from the Lower Sonora Desert fills 28 acres along one of Yuma, Arizona’s, major streets. The Yuma Conservation Garden also has a nice collection of antique farm machinery and a large pond filled with swimming ducks and geese.

The garden got its start in the 1950s, and was taken over by the Yuma, Laguna and Wellton-Mohawk Valley Natural Resource Conservation Districts in 1987. The garden’s mission is to encourage environmental education that involves protection of the area’s natural resources.

Dirt and gravel trails take visitors around the garden, which includes a variety of cactus from the U.S. and Mexican sides of the Sonora Desert. The list of cacti includes the saguaro, cholla, prickly pear and pine cone.

Though the garden is in an urban setting, visitors may see long-tailed lizards, rabbits, coyotes, roadrunners and night hawks. The garden also has a resident desert tortoise, the 75-pound Baloo.

Yuma Conservation Garden

The centerpiece of the garden, however, is the pond where visitors can sit on benches and watch a variety of geese and ducks swim by; waterfowl are a mixture of wild and domestic. Tall palm trees surround the pond, creating a relaxing view.

The garden has been designated an urban wildlife area by both the state Land, and Fish and Game departments.

As an educational center, the garden hosts upwards of 5,000 students every year. It is certified by the Arizona Department of Education for students in kindergarten through the 12^th grade.

The garden is located next to the Pima County Fairgrounds at 2520 E. 32^nd Street. It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays November through April. Admission is free.

More photos of Yuma Conservation Garden can be seen on my Youtube channel, http://youtu.be/Pa8QqQDuXb4

Yuma Art Center in Historic Downtown

\Mural on the back of Yuma Art Center

The Yuma Art Center is located in a graceful old building in Historic Downtown Yuma. Walk inside, though, and the interior is anything but old. The ceilings are super high, obviously the result of a few floors combined. The interior lighting is wonderful.

The center, owned by the City of Yuma and operated y the Yuma Fine Arts Association, has four galleries on the bottom floor. There's a children’s gallery, showcasing art projects they’ve completed in classes here, on the second floor.

What we found disappointing, however, is there’s all this wonderful wall space, and only little pieces of work, some as small as 8-1/2x11 (just guessing here) on the walls, though some of the paintings were somewhat larger. (Perhaps I am too used to the wall=sized paintings you find in European art museums?)

We weren’t very impressed by the displays on the day we went, but this may be a matter of taste more than anything else. The largest gallery was a temporary exhibit of paintings of tattoos, done in depressing colors. I did enjoy a photo exhibit in a smaller gallery, where some of the photos were printed directly on wood, while others were highly detailed portraits of people from various walks of life. We both agreed, however, that our favorite gallery was the children’s art. Some of the artists were as young as three years old, yet showed impressive talent at that age.

The best art in the galley was in the gift shop, in my opinion. Besides paintings, there was a colorful collection of pottery and sculptures, all done my local artists or non-locals who had exhibited there in the past.

The art center is located at 254 S. Main Street. It is closed Sunday and Monday, and opens at 10 a.m. the rest of the year. Admission is free.

Yuma's Lutes Casino boasts eclectic interior

Interior of Lutes Casino

Lutes Casino in Old Town Yuma is an interesting place to wile away a few hours if you’re interested in old posters and other memorabilia. The interior is crammed floor to ceiling with pictures and posters; some items hang from the ceiling. It is, as their website, describes the place, “interesting junk.”

Items on the wall include an autographed photograph of actor Walter Brennan, pool players and nude bikers; well, they weren't really nude --they were wearing shoes and socks.



The casino isn’t a casino in the normal use of the word, in that it doesn’t have poker tables or slot machines, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t at some time in its long history. It does have a couple of pool tables and lays claim to being the oldest pool hall in Arizona. Lutes also lays claim to being the oldest domino hall in the state, with tables at the front where patrons can play this board game.



The building it occupies was constructed in 1901 when it was used as a general store on the ground floor and a hotel on the second floor. Around 1920 the building was turned into the Casino Billiard Parlor. Ownership changed a few times over the next fdew decades, with it being acquired by the Lute family in the 1940s with the previous owner using it to settle a gambling debt.

Lutes has a bar and restaurant that serves hamburgers, hot dogs, a few other sandwiches and salads, and some quesadillas and tacos. Their “especial,” as the menu calls it, is a cheeseburger and wiener combo drenched in hot sauce.

Jazz lovers take note: Lutes sponsors a series of Friday night jazz concerts two Friday a month during the summer. Performances by local musicians are popular; seating  is limited.

Lutes is located at 224 Main Street.



Old locomotive marks Yuma Crossing

Interpretive sign at Pivot Point

Pivot Point is a nice place to relax while learning a bit about the history of Yuma. Located near Old Town Yuma along the Colorado River, the spot commemorates the spot where the first train crossed into Arizona in 1877.

A huge old Southern Pacific locomotive, a 1907 Baldwin, stands on the spot today. A public address system recreates sounds that train engineers and passengers might have heard after crossing. These sounds include the train’s arrival, a passing steamboat and the bridge over the river being cranked open.

Old locomotive at Pivot Point

Part of the original rail line is still on-site. That’s the concrete pivot that was turned to allow boats to pass. Pivot Point Plaza is part of the Yuma Crossing National Historic Landmark.  Nearby is the Yuma Territorial Prison (think “3:10 to Yuma”) and the Ocean to Ocean Highway Bridge, the last link connecting the southwestern transportation system between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Pivot Point Interpretive Plaza, which sits above Gateway Park, is a colorful place to be at night between October 1 and May 31. That’s when the city park puts on a laser light show.  The show goes on hiatus during the summer months because of Yuma’s heat: the lasers need to be chilled to work properly.

Sanguinetti House: a cool piece of Yuma's history

Sanguinetti House Museum

The Sanguinetti House Museum is a good place to chill out on a hot day in Yuma, Arizona. Located in Old Town, this adobe house, built in the 1870s, has at least one modern convenience: an air conditioner. It also has a lush garden with plenty of shade in back.

E.F. Sanguinetti

The museum is named for its former owner, E.F. Sanguinetti, an early pioneer in Yuma who was a businessman, merchant, farmer and banker. He was considered one of Yuma’s most influential citizens of that era.

This Arizona Historical Society Museum traces the history of Yuma and the Lower Colorado River from the mid-16^th century one. Reproductions of old photographs, such as President Taft signing the Arizona statehood bill, line the walls of this compact house. Antique buffs will love the two small rooms crammed with dark, ornate period furniture and other furnishings. One of the museum’s most interesting features, however, just very well may be the 37-minute video that traces the history of Yuma. It is a fast-paced presentation crammed with loads of interesting facts about this important military and agricultural community in the very southwest corner of the state. I particularly enjoyed learning more about Yuma’s military history: that General George Patton trained his troops for warfare in North Africa near here, and that B26 bomber gunners learned how to shoot at the military base, now a Marine air station, by riding a Jeep that had a gun mounted to it around a track.

Sanguinetti House garden

The garden is at the rear of the house. It is filled with lush greenery not usually found in Yuma. Benches are tucked in among the greenery, giving visitors a place to sit and enjoy the peacefulness and privacy of the garden. The garden could have used a good weeding the day we were there, but it did not detract that much from the serenity of the place. At one time, the garden had an aviary, but now there are only empty cages.

The Sanguinetti House Museum is located at 240 Madison Street. It is closed Sundays and Mondays. There is a small admission fee.

 

 

Army honors trail-blazing Mormons at Yuma, Arizona

Yuma statue honors Mormon Battalion

A war between the United States and Mexico resulted in a southern wagon train route to the Pacific Ocean. This trail was blazed by more than 500 Mormons who enlisted in the Army in 1846. A statue commemorating this journey can be found at Yuma, Arizona’s West Wetlands Park on the Colorado River.

The Army solicited Mormons specifically for this trip members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints already were seeking new territory in the West to settle. The group became known as the Mormon Battalion. Besides establishing a southern route across the southwest, their mission was to secure California and New Mexico for the United States.

The Mormon Battalion began service on July 16, 1846, in Iowa. Some soldiers brought their wives and children on the trip, but not all ended their journey in California. Among the scouts for the trip was Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacajawea who served as guide and translator for the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean in 1804-6. Charbonneau was only a few months old when he made the trip west with these explorers.

The battalion arrived in Yuma on January 9, 1847, where they camped along the Colorado River. The next day they crossed the Colorado at Los Algodones, Mexico, less than 10 miles from present-day Yuma. Their journey ended in San Diego, California, on January 29, 1847.

The wagon trail they established would be well used within just a couple of years, as 60,000 miners bound for the California gold fields traveled this route. Today’s Interstate 8 freeway parallels this route through Yuma.

Yuma's West Wetlands Park

Finding the monument can be tricky. The park is reached by heading west on Yuma’s First Street, then taking a right on 12^th Avenue.  It’s a ways from the most well-used sections of the park. Continue on the road through the park, past the solar energy project. There are no signs marking the statue honoring the Mormon Battalion, so be on the lookout for a pedestrian bridge on the right side of the road. The statue is visible through the underpass. Limited parking is available on the other side of the road.

Bard museum boasts impressive antique car collection

Old cars on display

If your interests lie in antiques – anything from vehicles to kitchen equipment, the Cloud Museum is the place to go. It’s a private museum just off Interstate 8 near Yuma, Arizona. The museum is located in Bard, California, a hamlet to small you’ll miss it if you blink. The drive from the freeway, which takes you over roads that could be smoother, is filled with views of lettuce and cabbage fields, and date palms.

Owner Johnny Cloud has filled two acres with a wide assortment of antiques, beginning with 130 cars that he said drove in under their own power and could be driven out if they contained batteries and gasoline. The vehicles include cars from the early 1900s, most of which are rusted down to the metal. These sit out in the open. A few cars have been restored and are kept in a building toward the rear.

Besides old cars, the Cloud collection includes vintage farm implements, a few old fire trucks and an early motor home.

Display of old kitchen utensils

Cloud says he began his collection 24 years ago when he sold his farm and found himself with nothing to do. He is still collecting today, and says he really has no idea of how extensive his collection is.

But it includes more than just vehicles. There’s an old post office complete with wanted posters for John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Bonnie and Clyde. He has plenty of old kitchen utensils, include corn bread pans, and an extensive collection of cast iron skillets hang on one wall.

Cloud roams the grounds in a golf cart, stopping frequently to talk with visitors and answer questions.
 

Yuma Quartermaster Depot

Officer's quarters

The Quartermaster Depot in Yuma is another facility that offers a glimpse at this Arizona city's historic past.


Now a state historic park, at one time it houses all the supplies for U.S. Army posts in Arizona Territory as well as for some posts in other Western states, including Utah, Nevada, Texas and New Mexico. Goods were brought in by boat and mule train (at one time the depot was home to 900 mules) and then dispersed to the various Army posts.

 

When rail lines reached Yuma in 1877, there was no longer any need for hauling goods this way, and the depot closed in 1883, though it still housed an Amy signal corps until 1891. It continued use after that as a weather bureau station, and later was used by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

 

Old vehicles on display

Some of the original buildings still exist., including officers' quarters with fireplaces AND dirt floors. The Bureau of Reclamation devotes one building to the “Days of the Colorado” that has banners featuring each dam on the river as well as some antique vehicles.

The Quartermaster Depot is home to what is billed as Yuma's top farmers' market on Sundays. This is the main reason we went there, and it was extremely disappointing. There were more craftsmen and processed foods vendors than farmers selling fresh produce. Only about four of the dozen vendors had produce to sell, and only one of these offered vegetables that looked fresh enough to eat.

Preserving Yma's past: Yuma Territorial Prison

View from Yuma Territorial Prison grounds

The site of Yuma Territorial Prison would be considered prime real estate today. Remains of the famed prison sit atop a cliff at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila rivers, allowing visitors to what is now an Arizona state historic park to see for miles and miles. The deal buster, however, would probably be a railroad track that took part of the prison grounds and is busily in use today.

Not too much of the original prison, built by its tenants in the mid 1870s, remains today. The guard tower sits on one rock pile, but it only appears to be a few years old. The entrance or sally port has been restored, but the cell blocks behind the museum are eerily original. Voices of prisoners tell their story as visitors peer into some of the cells.

Yuma Territorial Prison cell block

When it opened in 1876, it quickly became known as the Country Club of the Colorado because prisoners had amenities Yuma townspeople didn’t have: a hospital with dental facilities, the largest library in the territory with 2,000 books, a primitive air conditioning system in the east cell blocks, and a school where classes included German and music (the prisoners had their own band.)

Prisoners, however, called their home a “hell hole.” Six men were crammed into a small space with only a bucket for a toilet. A good many prisoners died of consumption, now known as tuberculosis. Lice and roaches were common because of unsanitary conditions.

A prisoner made this collar

When they weren’t doing work for the prison, inmates could make extra money through crafts work. Examples of wooden boxes and jewelry were on display, but my favorite was seeing the exquisite lace knitted by some prisoners.

 

One famous time

The museum gets a lot of visitors today, many probably coming to see it  because of the movie, 3:10 to Yuma, originally made in 1957 and remade in 2007. A clock on the museum wall is permanently set at 3:10.

 

This is the second old prison we've visited in recent years. The first was the Montana Territorial Prison at Deer Lodge. Compared to Yuma, this prison is positively upscale, though that might be because it was updated several times in the more than 100 years it served as a prison.