Editing Blythe, California (section)

==History==
{{See also|Blythe Intaglios}}
Native Americans lived in the area.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona/2021/08/17/blythe-intaglios-tribes-protect-sleeping-giants/7903902002/ | title=Blythe Intaglios: Tribes work to protect the 'sleeping giants' of the desert | date=August 17, 2021 }}</ref>

===Etymology===
{{See also|List of Riverside County, California, placename etymologies#Blythe|label 1=List of Riverside County, California, placename etymologies: Blythe}}
Blythe was named after [[Thomas Henry Blythe]], a [[San Francisco]] businessman and entrepreneur. Mr. Blythe established primary water rights to the [[Colorado River]] in the southwestern California region in 1877.  The town was originally named '''Blythe City''', by Thomas Blythe, but the name was shortened to simply ''Blythe'' around the time the first post office was opened in 1908.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gunther |first1=Jane Davies |title=Riverside County, California, Place Names; Their Origins and Their Stories |date=1984 |location=Riverside, California |pages=60}}</ref>

===Early years===
[[File:AT & Sta Fe California Southern Railroad - Ripley Branch.jpg|thumb|Route in 1930]]
In the early or mid-1870s, William Calloway (known as Oliver Calloway in some sources), an engineer and a former captain of the [[1st California Infantry Regiment]], explored an area across the Colorado River from [[Ehrenberg, Arizona]], and found its potential for development. Calloway made preliminary surveys and filed land claims under the [[Swamp Land Act of 1850]]. He interested the wealthy [[San Francisco]] capitalist Thomas Henry Blythe (originally born Thomas Williams in Mold, Wales) to undertake development and settlement of an "empire" located next to the Colorado.  Together they purchased a total of 140,000 acres under the Swamp Land Act, and another 35,000 acres under the [[Desert Land Act|Desert Land Act of 1877]].<ref name="San Diego History">{{cite web|title=Blythe resided in San Francisco and focused in real estate investments. Among his investments was a patch of undeveloped land within what is now downtown San Francisco. Development in the purchased site within Market Street, Geary Street, and Grant Street, called the "Blythe Block", and being in the center of downtown, made Blythe wealthy. The Blythe Block was sold off in portions in 1901 and 1902|url=https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/1971/july/desert/.htm|website=Sandiegohistory.org|access-date=March 26, 2020}}</ref>

On July 17, 1877, Blythe filed his first claim for Colorado River water on what was to become the "Blythe Intake".<ref>An historical marker for the intake was placed by the Palo Verde Valley Historical Society and Riverside County Parks and Recreation in 1986. {{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Marael |title=Why Stop? A Guide to California Roadside Historical Markers |year=1995 |publisher=Gulf Publishing Company |location=Houston, TX |isbn=978-0884159230 |oclc= 32168093 |pages=213}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Blythe Block Changes Hands |work=[[San Francisco Call]] |date=August 2, 1901 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Blythe Block Sold|work=Los Angeles Herald|date=January 7, 1902|pages=1}}</ref> Blythe appointed another man named George Irish as manager to assist Calloway in building an irrigation system. Calloway died in a [[Chemehuevi]] attack on March 28, 1880, and was replaced by C.C. Miller, the father of [[Frank Augustus Miller]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Roth|first1=George|title=The Calloway Affair of 1880: Chemehuevi Adaptation and Chemehuevi-Mohave Relations|journal=Journal of California Anthropology|date=1977|volume=4|issue=2|url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3vn6f5rg}}</ref><ref name="Desert Magazine">{{cite journal |title=Empire on the Colorado |journal=[[Desert Magazine]] |year=1939 |last=Woodward |first=Arthur |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=22–24, 39–40 }}</ref> Thomas Blythe died on April 4, 1883; his only revisit to the valley was in November 1882.<ref name="Desert Magazine" /><ref name="PVID">{{cite web|title=Palo Verde Irrigation District History|url=http://www.pvid.org/history.html|website=Palo Verde Irrigation District|date=February 2005|access-date=February 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217004032/http://pvid.org/history.html|archive-date=February 17, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> After his death, the work in the valley halted and Blythe's estate subsequently went into litigation between his illegitimate daughter Florence and other claimants, the trial beginning in 1889. In the 1900s, Florence was awarded the estate, after several years of preceding rulings in favor of her and appeals against her.<ref name="San Diego History" /><ref name="Desert Magazine" /><ref name="Boessenecker1998">{{cite book|author=John Boessenecker|title=Lawman: The Life and Times of Harry Morse, 1835–1912|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nC2HHRJcQJAC&pg=PA265|year=1998|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-3011-8|pages=265–266}}</ref>

===20th century===
Frank Murphy and Ed Williams, who were involved with the cattle industry in southeastern Arizona, came to the area in 1904 and were convinced it was well-suited for cattle and farming. With the Hobson brothers from [[Ventura County, California|Ventura County]], they bought Blythe's estate and formed the Palo Verde Land and Water Company.<ref name="PVID" /><ref name="Kleinsorge1941">{{cite book|author=Paul Lincoln Kleinsorge|title=The Boulder Canyon Project, Historical and Economic Aspects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xT2sAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA35|year=1941|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-1031-2|page=35}}</ref> During 1911–1912, W.F. Holt, who helped develop nearby [[Imperial Valley]], was the company's general manager.<ref>{{cite news|title=Developing Palo Verde|url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=IVP19110311.2.3#|access-date=February 11, 2015|work=Imperial Valley Press|date=March 11, 1911}}</ref><ref name="Myrick2001">{{cite book|author=David F. Myrick|title=Santa Fe to Phoenix: Railroads of Arizona|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=afhBPQAACAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Signature Press|isbn=978-1-930013-05-6}}</ref>

On August 8, 1916, the California Southern Railroad reached Blythe from the desert station of [[Rice, California|Rice]], then known as Blythe Junction. It was later renamed to honor G.W. Rice, an engineer and superintendent of the railroad. The dramatic growth in the valley following this event attracted national attention. Production totals increased annually from virtually nothing to near $8,000,000 in few years, primarily from cotton and cotton seed shipped to the ports.<ref>{{cite news|title=California Southern Extended to Open New District|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0-LNAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA60|work=The Santa Fe Magazine|date=April 1920|page=60}}</ref> The lower cotton prices in 1920 ended this prosperous time. The [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] began leasing the line in 1921 and acquired it at the end of 1942.<ref name="Myrick2001" /><ref name="Robertson1986">{{cite book|author=Donald B. Robertson|title=Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History: California|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-aWhRfr3rdkC&pg=PA95|year=1986|publisher=Caxton Press|isbn=978-0-87004-385-7|page=95}}</ref>

The first automobile bridge over the Colorado River between Blythe and Ehrenberg was constructed in 1928 to replace a [[cable ferry]] service.<ref>{{cite book|title=California Highways and Public Works|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e9VKAQAAMAAJ|year=1933|publisher=Department of Public Works, State of California|page=22}}</ref> The bridge's successor was built in the early 1960s and was expanded to four lanes and a pedestrian walkway in early 1974.<ref>{{cite book|title=California Highways and Public Works|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfo5AQAAMAAJ|year=1960|publisher=Department of Public Works, State of California|page=34}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Bridge project finished|work=Palo Verde Valley Times|date=March 7, 1974}}</ref>

In 1935, the completion of [[Boulder Dam]] extinguished the annual destructive floods in the valley. As noted during the city's fiftieth anniversary, some forty crops were grown on the farms, and large cattle feeds were another aspect of the agriculture industry.<ref>{{cite news|title=Blythe's Golden 50|work=Palo Verde Valley Times|date=October 13, 1966}}</ref> As of 1947, the Fisher ranch had the biggest herd of registered [[Brahman cattle]] in California, the breeding stock having been sold to western states and other countries.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fisher Brahmans Largely Known|work=Palo Verde Valley Times|date=October 30, 1947}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], Blythe was the site of [[United States Army Air Forces]] facilities at the [[Blythe Airport]] and the [[Gary Field]].

In 1972, [[Interstate 10 in California|Interstate 10]] was built through the city, replacing [[U.S. Route 60#California|US 60]] and the previously decommissioned [[U.S. Route 70#History|US 70]] on Hobsonway as the main thoroughfare.<ref>Front page picture in the ''Palo Verde Valley Times'', October 26, 1972.</ref>

===21st century===
In 2016, the voter-approved recreational use of cannabis in California has made the cannabis industry drawn to the economically declined city due to lower land prices, water, and potentially lower taxes compared to other parts of the state.<ref>{{cite news|last1=DiPierro|first1=Amy|title=Can marijuana save this 'dying' town on the California-Arizona border?|url=https://www.desertsun.com/story/money/business/tourism/2018/01/31/can-marijuana-save-dying-town-california-arizona-border/1050153001/|access-date=February 26, 2018|work=[[The Desert Sun]]|date=January 31, 2018}}</ref>