Gila River
Encyclopedia
The Gila River is a tributary
of the Colorado River, 650 miles (1,044 kilometers) long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico
and Arizona
.
, in Sierra County
on the western slopes of Continental Divide
in the Black Range
. It flows southwest through the Gila National Forest
and the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
, then westward into Arizona
, past the town of Safford, Arizona
, and along the southern slope of the Gila Mountains
in Graham County
. It emerges from the mountains into the valley southeast of Phoenix, Arizona
, where it crosses the Gila River Indian Reservation as an intermittent stream
due to large irrigation
diversions. Well west of Phoenix, the river bends sharply southward, temporarily, along the "Gila Bend Mountains", and then it sharply bends westward again near the town of Gila Bend, Arizona
. It flows southwestward through the Gila Mountains
in Yuma County
, and finally it flows into the Colorado at Yuma, Arizona
.
The Gila River and its main tributary, the Salt River
, would both be perennial streams carrying large volumes of water, but irrigation and municipal water diversions turn both into usually dry rivers. Below Phoenix to the Colorado River, the Gila is usually either a trickle or completely dry, as is also the lower Salt from Granite Reef Diversion Dam
downstream to the Gila, but both rivers can carry large volumes of water following rainfall. The Gila River a long time ago was navigable by boats from its mouth to near the Arizona - New Mexico border. The width varied from 150 to 1200 feet (365.8 m) with a depth of two to 40 feet (12.2 m).
. The Mormon Battalion
followed Kearny's troops, building a wagon trail roughly following the river in December 1846 - January 1847.
After the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848, the Gila River served as a part of the border between the United States and Mexico
until the Gadsden Purchase
(1853) soon extended American territory well south of the Gila. The confluence of the Gila with the Colorado river was also used as a reference point for the southern border of California.
The only major dam
on the Gila River is Coolidge Dam
31 miles (49.9 km) southeast of Globe, Arizona
, which forms the San Carlos Lake
. The Painted Rock Dam crosses the Gila near Gila Bend
, although the river is a transient one at that point. A number of minor diversion dam
s have been built on the river between the Painted Rock Dam and the Coolidge Dam, including the Gillespie Dam
which was breached during a flood in 1993.
The upper Gila River, including the entire length within New Mexico
, is a free-flowing one. Recent efforts to allow for damming or otherwise diverting this stretch have met with stiff political resistance, having been named as one of the nation's most endangered rivers due to the threat of damming. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson has promised to block any such attempt during his term, and he has even considered pushing for a statutory prohibition against any such projects on the state's portion of the river.
(autonym "Akimel O'odham", river people), the Keli Akimel O'odham (Gila River People), have lived on the banks of the Gila River since before the arrival of Spanish explorers. Popular theory says that the word Gila was derived from a Spanish contraction of Hah-quah-sa-eel, a Yuma word meaning "running water which is salty".
Their traditional way of life (himdagĭ, sometimes rendered in English as Him-dak) was and is centered at the river, which is considered holy. Traditionally, sand from the banks of the river is used as an exfoliant when bathing (often in rainstorms, especially during the monsoon).
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Colorado River, 650 miles (1,044 kilometers) long, in the southwestern states 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...
and 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...
.
Description
The Gila River has its source in western New MexicoNew 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...
, in Sierra County
Sierra County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*85.6% White*0.4% Black*1.7% Native American*0.4% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.3% Two or more races*8.6% Other races*28.0% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
on the western slopes of Continental Divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...
in the Black Range
Black Range
The Black Range is an igneous mountain range running north-south in Sierra and Grant counties in west-central New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. Its central ridge forms the western and eastern borders, respectively, of the two counties through much of their contact...
. It flows southwest through the Gila National Forest
Gila National Forest
The Gila National Forest is a protected national forest in New Mexico in the southwestern United States established in 1905. It covers approximately 3.3 million acres of public land, making it the sixth largest National Forest in the continental United States...
and the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is a U.S. National Monument in the Gila Wilderness of southwestern New Mexico. The national monument was established by executive proclamation on November 16, 1907, by President Theodore Roosevelt. It is located in the extreme southern part of Catron County...
, then westward into 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...
, past the town of Safford, Arizona
Safford, Arizona
- History :Safford was founded by Joshua Eaton Bailey, Hiram Kennedy and Edward Tuttle, who came from Gila Bend, in southwestern Arizona. They left Gila Bend in the winter of 1873-74; their work on canals and dams having been destroyed by high water the previous summer...
, and along the southern slope of the Gila Mountains
Gila Mountains (Graham County)
The Gila Mountains is a mountain range in central-east Arizona. It borders the Gila River and Gila Valley on the valley's northeast in north-central Graham County; also the San Carlos Indian Reservation...
in Graham County
Graham County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*72.1% White*1.8% Black*14.4% Native American*0.5% Asian*0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*2.8% Two or more races*8.3% Other races*30.4% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
. It emerges from the mountains into the valley southeast of Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, where it crosses the Gila River Indian Reservation as an intermittent stream
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
due to large irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
diversions. Well west of Phoenix, the river bends sharply southward, temporarily, along the "Gila Bend Mountains", and then it sharply bends westward again near the town of Gila Bend, Arizona
Gila Bend, Arizona
Gila Bend , founded in 1872, is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The town is named for an approximately 90-degree bend in the Gila River, which is close to but not precisely at the community's current location...
. It flows southwestward through the Gila Mountains
Gila Mountains (Yuma County)
The Gila Mountains is a mountain range in southwestern Arizona in the northwestern Sonoran Desert.The Gila Mountains of Yuma County are a northwest-southeast trending mountain system, about 26 miles long; the fault-blocked mountain range is attached on the south to the Tinajas Altas Mountains...
in Yuma County
Yuma County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*70.4% White*2.0% Black*1.6% Native American*1.2% Asian*0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.8% Two or more races*20.8% Other races*59.7% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
, and finally it flows into the Colorado at Yuma, Arizona
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....
.
The Gila River and its main tributary, the Salt River
Salt River (Arizona)
The Salt River is a stream in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about long. Its drainage basin is about large. The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the Verde River...
, would both be perennial streams carrying large volumes of water, but irrigation and municipal water diversions turn both into usually dry rivers. Below Phoenix to the Colorado River, the Gila is usually either a trickle or completely dry, as is also the lower Salt from Granite Reef Diversion Dam
Granite Reef Diversion Dam
The Granite Reef Diversion Dam is a concrete diversion dam located Northeast of Phoenix, Arizona, on the Salt River. The dam is long, high and was built between 1906-09 for the Salt River Project, who currently operates the dam....
downstream to the Gila, but both rivers can carry large volumes of water following rainfall. The Gila River a long time ago was navigable by boats from its mouth to near the Arizona - New Mexico border. The width varied from 150 to 1200 feet (365.8 m) with a depth of two to 40 feet (12.2 m).
History
During the Mexican-American War, General Stephen Watts Kearny marched 100 cavalrymen from the 1st U.S. Dragoons along the Gila River in November, 1846. This detachment was guided by Kit CarsonKit Carson
Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
. The Mormon Battalion
Mormon Battalion
The Mormon Battalion was the only religiously based unit in United States military history, and it served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saints men led by Mormon company officers, commanded by regular...
followed Kearny's troops, building a wagon trail roughly following the river in December 1846 - January 1847.
After the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848, the Gila River served as a part of the border between the United States and 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...
until the Gadsden Purchase
Gadsden 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...
(1853) soon extended American territory well south of the Gila. The confluence of the Gila with the Colorado river was also used as a reference point for the southern border of California.
The only major dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
on the Gila River is Coolidge Dam
Coolidge Dam
The Coolidge Dam is a reinforced concrete multiple dome and buttress dam southeast of Globe, Arizona on the Gila River. Built between 1924 and 1928, the Coolidge Dam was part of the San Carlos Irrigation Project. Coolidge Dam was named after the 30th US President, Calvin Coolidge and was dedicated...
31 miles (49.9 km) southeast of Globe, Arizona
Globe, Arizona
Globe has an arid climate, characterized by hot summers and moderate to warm winters. Globe's arid climate is somewhat tempered by its elevation, however, leading to slightly cooler temperatures and slightly more precipitation than Phoenix or Yuma....
, which forms the San Carlos Lake
San Carlos Lake
San Carlos Lake was formed by the construction of the Coolidge Dam and is rimmed by of shoreline. The lake is located within the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, and is thus subject to tribal regulations....
. The Painted Rock Dam crosses the Gila near Gila Bend
Gila Bend, Arizona
Gila Bend , founded in 1872, is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The town is named for an approximately 90-degree bend in the Gila River, which is close to but not precisely at the community's current location...
, although the river is a transient one at that point. A number of minor diversion dam
Diversion dam
A diversion dam is the term for a dam that diverts all or a portion of the flow of a river from its natural course. Diversion dams do not generally impound water in a reservoir...
s have been built on the river between the Painted Rock Dam and the Coolidge Dam, including the Gillespie Dam
Gillespie Dam
The Gillespie Dam is a concrete gravity dam located on the Gila River between the towns of Buckeye and Gila Bend, Arizona. The dam was constructed during the 1920s for primarily irrigation purposes. A portion of the dam failed unexpectedly in 1993 during unusually heavy rains.-History:The...
which was breached during a flood in 1993.
The upper Gila River, including the entire length within 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...
, is a free-flowing one. Recent efforts to allow for damming or otherwise diverting this stretch have met with stiff political resistance, having been named as one of the nation's most endangered rivers due to the threat of damming. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson has promised to block any such attempt during his term, and he has even considered pushing for a statutory prohibition against any such projects on the state's portion of the river.
Gila Akimel O'odham
A band of PimaPima
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...
(autonym "Akimel O'odham", river people), the Keli Akimel O'odham (Gila River People), have lived on the banks of the Gila River since before the arrival of Spanish explorers. Popular theory says that the word Gila was derived from a Spanish contraction of Hah-quah-sa-eel, a Yuma word meaning "running water which is salty".
Their traditional way of life (himdagĭ, sometimes rendered in English as Him-dak) was and is centered at the river, which is considered holy. Traditionally, sand from the banks of the river is used as an exfoliant when bathing (often in rainstorms, especially during the monsoon).
Boating facility
- Paved access
- Gravel access
- Dirt access
- Swimming
- Primitive parking area
- Camping
Fish species
- Largemouth BassLargemouth bassThe largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...
- SunfishCentrarchidaeThe sunfishes are a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes. The type genus is Centrarchus . The family's 27 species includes many fishes familiar to North Americans, including the rock bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, and crappies...
- Catfish (Channel)Channel catfishChannel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States they are the most fished catfish species with approximately 8...
- Catfish (Flathead)Flathead catfishThe flathead catfish , also called the yellow cat, opelousas, and shovelhead cat, are large North American freshwater catfish. This is the only species of the genus Pylodictis...
- Gila Trout (Oncorhynchus gilae gilae)Gila troutThe gila trout is one of two subspecies of trout in O. gilae, the other being the Apache trout . Both are native to the Southwest United States. The gila trout is a species of salmonid, related to the rainbow and cutthroat trouts. The Gila trout has been considered endangered with extinction....
Variant names
The Gila River has also been known as:- Akee-mull
- Apache de Gila
- Brazo de Miraflores
- Cina`ahuwipi (Chemehuevi language)
- Hah-quah-sa eel (Yuma language)
- Hela River
- Jila River
- Rio Azul
- Rio Gila
- Rio de las Balsas
- Rio del Nombre Jesus
- Rio del los Apostoles
- Zila River
- Xila River
- Keli Akimel
See also
- San Francisco RiverSan Francisco RiverThe San Francisco River is a river in the southwest United States, the largest tributary of the Upper Gila River. The river originates in Arizona and flows into New Mexico before it curves around and enters the Gila down stream from Clifton, Arizona....
- San Pedro RiverSan Pedro River (Arizona)San Pedro River is a northward-flowing stream originating about ten miles south of Sierra Vista, Arizona near Cananea, Sonora, Mexico. It is one of only two rivers which flow north from Mexico into the United States. The river flows north through Cochise County, Pima County, Graham County, and...
- Santa Cruz River
- Agua Fria River (Arizona)Agua Fria River (Arizona)The Agua Fria River is a 120 mi/193 km long intermittent stream that flows generally south from 20 miles east northeast of Prescott, Arizona, USA. Prescott draws much of its municipal water supply from the upper Agua Fria drainage. The Agua Fria runs through the Agua Fria National Monument...
- List of Arizona rivers
- List of New Mexico rivers
- List of tributaries of the Gila River
- List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem)
- Gila River War Relocation CenterGila River War Relocation CenterThe Gila River War Relocation Center was an internment camp built by the War Relocation Authority for internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. It was located about southeast of Phoenix, Arizona....
- Needle's Eye WildernessNeedle's Eye WildernessNeedle's Eye Wilderness is a wilderness area located approximately southeast of the town of Globe in Gila County in the U.S. state of Arizona.-Topography:...
- Gila and Salt River MeridianGila and Salt River MeridianThe Gila and Salt River Meridian intersects the base line on the south side of Gila River, opposite the mouth of Salt River, in latitude 33° 22' 40" north, longitude 112° 17' 25" west from Greenwich, and governs the surveys in the territory of Arizona...