Editing Colorado River (section)

===U.S. westward expansion and military campaigns===
{{see also|Steamboats of the Colorado River}}
[[Image:Fort_Yuma_California_1875.jpg|thumb|right|[[Lithograph]] of Fort Yuma, c. 1875]]
In 1858, gold was discovered on the Gila River east of Yuma, then along the Colorado River at [[El Dorado Canyon (Nevada)|El Dorado Canyon, Nevada]] and [[La Paz, Arizona]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/400|title=Nelson, Nevada Ghost Town and El Dorado Canyon|publisher=Intermountain Histories|author=Keeler, Preston|date=|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/arizona/road-trips/2018/09/10/arizona-mining-history-wild-west/953080002/|title=Arizona's mining history: Danger for many, riches for a few|author=Johnson, Weldon B.|work=The Arizona Republic|date=September 10, 2018}}</ref> As prospectors and settlers entered the region, they became involved in skirmishes with the Mohave, spurring U.S. Army expeditions that culminated in the 1859 Battle of the Colorado River which concluded the [[Mohave War]].{{sfn|Kessel|Wooster|p=217|2005}} In the 1870s the Mohave were moved to the [[Fort Mojave Indian Reservation|Fort Mohave]] and [[Colorado River Indian Reservation|Colorado River]] reservations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://public.csusm.edu/loc/rezinfo/ftmojave/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514234037/http://public.csusm.edu/loc/rezinfo/ftmojave/index.htm |archive-date=May 14, 2013 |title=Fort Mojave Reservation |publisher=California State University San Marcos |work=Tribal Library Census and Needs Assessment |date=June 12, 2001}}</ref><ref name="CRIT">{{cite web |url=http://www.crit-nsn.gov/crit_contents/about/ |title=About the Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi and Navajo Tribes |publisher=Colorado River Indian Tribes |year=2009 |access-date=April 10, 2012 |archive-date=August 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812031022/https://crit-nsn.gov/crit_contents/about/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Chemehuevi and later some Hopi and Navajo peoples were also moved to the Colorado River reservation, where they today form the [[Colorado River Indian Tribes]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiancountryextension.org/sites/indiancountryextension.org/files/publications/files/u6/CRIT%20and%20Extension%20Programs.pdf |title=The Colorado River Indian Tribes (C.R.I.T.) Reservation and Extension Programs |publisher=Indian Country Extension |work=University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences |date=October 2008 |access-date=April 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120034152/http://www.indiancountryextension.org/sites/indiancountryextension.org/files/publications/files/u6/CRIT%20and%20Extension%20Programs.pdf |archive-date=January 20, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

As the American frontier expanded into the Colorado Plateau, an effort to expel the Navajo from the Four Corners region was begun by General [[James Henry Carleton]], who in 1864 enlisted mountain man [[Kit Carson]] to lead a campaign against the Navajo. Carson, with the help of the Navajo's Ute enemies, captured more than 8,000 Navajo and forcibly marched them to [[Fort Sumner]], New Mexico. Hundreds died during what is now known as the [[Long Walk of the Navajo|Long Walk]] and while enduring appalling conditions at Fort Sumner. After the failure of the Army to maintain the reservation there, the [[Treaty of Bosque Redondo]] established the [[Navajo Nation]] in the Four Corners, where the Navajo were allowed to return in 1868.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ihs.gov/navajo/index.cfm?module=nao_navajo_nation |title=Navajo Nation |publisher=Indian Health Service |access-date=April 10, 2012 |archive-date=June 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623162828/http://www.ihs.gov/Navajo/index.cfm?module=nao_navajo_nation |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://reta.nmsu.edu/modules/longwalk/lesson/document/treaty.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020311010532/http://reta.nmsu.edu/modules/longwalk/lesson/document/treaty.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 11, 2002 |title=Treaty Between the United States of America and the Navajo Tribe of Indians |publisher=New Mexico State University |work=Historic Documents |year=1868 |access-date=April 10, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navajobusiness.com/fastFacts/Overview.htm |title=Navajo Nation – Facts at a Glance |publisher=The Navajo Nation |year=2004 |access-date=April 10, 2012 |archive-date=March 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308193308/http://www.navajobusiness.com/fastFacts/Overview.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Gold and silver were also discovered in the Upper Basin, beginning with the 1859 Blue River strike that led to the founding of [[Breckenridge, Colorado]].{{sfn|Brown|pp=52–53|1972}} Up until the 1860s, southwestern Colorado had remained relatively untouched by U.S. westward expansion, as the Americans had recognized Ute sovereignty by treaty. Following the 1861 carving out of [[Colorado Territory]] and further mineral strikes including [[Ouray, Colorado|Ouray]] and [[Telluride, Colorado|Telluride]],{{sfn|Casey|p=251|2007}}{{sfn|Lindberg|pp=134–135|2009}} Ute leaders were coerced into signing the 1873 [[Brunot Agreement]], in which they lost rights to most of their land. A flood of mineral prospecting and settlement ensued in western Colorado.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/blm/co/10/chap5.htm|title=Chapter 5: The Utes in Southwestern Colorado: A Confrontation of Cultures|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|work=Frontier in Transition: A History of Southwestern Colorado|access-date=2017-05-15}}</ref> By 1881, the Army had driven out the remaining pockets of Ute resistance on the Western Slope, officially opening the Grand River country to settlement, and the town of Grand Junction was incorporated a year later.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.postindependent.com/news/local/gj-history-grand-junction-town-founder-george-a-crawford-a-witness-to-early-american-history/|title=GJ HISTORY: Grand Junction town founder George A. Crawford — A witness to early American history|work=The Post-Independent|date=September 26, 2013|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}</ref> The [[Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad]] (D&RGW) quickly expanded into this area to serve mining boomtowns, crossing the Rockies to the south via the [[Black Canyon of the Gunnison River]]. By 1883 the railroad had reached Grand Junction, and a spur up the Colorado to Glenwood Springs was completed in 1887.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.postindependent.com/news/glenwood-canyon-time-travel-a-journey-back-through-the-history-of-travel-through-the-grand-river-canon-passage/ | title=Glenwood Canyon time travel: A journey back through the history of travel through the 'Grand River Cañon' passage | date=August 15, 2021 }}</ref>

In [[Arizona Territory|Arizona]] and [[Utah Territory|Utah Territories]], many early settlers were Mormons fleeing religious persecution in the Midwest. Mormons founded agricultural colonies at Fort Santa Clara in 1855 and [[St. Thomas, Nevada|St. Thomas]], now flooded under Lake Mead, in 1865.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/lake/learn/nature/st-thomas-nevada.htm#:~:text=St.%20Thomas%20was%20founded%20in%201865%20by%20Mormon,flowed%20to%20the%20Colorado%20River%2C%2022%20miles%20south.|title=St. Thomas, Nevada|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|date=December 15, 2022|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}</ref> [[Stone's Ferry, Nevada|Stone's Ferry]], crossing the Colorado at the mouth of the Virgin River, enabled shipping of their produce by wagon to gold mining districts further south. Although the Mormons abandoned St. Thomas in 1871, a salt-[[mining industry]] persisted here, and steamboats operated up to nearby [[Rioville, Nevada|Rioville]] into the 1880s.{{sfn|Glass|Glass|pp=162–163|1983}}<ref name=Lingenfelter>{{Cite book |author=Richard E. Lingenfelter |url=http://www.ansac.az.gov/UserFiles/PDF/08182014/X028_FMIBurtellLingenfelterSteamboats/FMI%20Lingenfelter%20Steamboats/Steamboats%20on%20the%20Colorado%20River%201852-1916.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118031332/http://www.ansac.az.gov/UserFiles/PDF/08182014/X028_FMIBurtellLingenfelterSteamboats/FMI%20Lingenfelter%20Steamboats/Steamboats%20on%20the%20Colorado%20River%201852-1916.pdf |archive-date=January 18, 2016 |url-status=dead |title=Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852–1916 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |location=Tucson |year=1978}}</ref>{{rp|78}} In 1879 [[San Juan Expedition|a group of Mormon settlers]] made their way to southeastern Utah, blasting the precarious [[Hole in the Rock Trail]] to cross the Colorado River at Glen Canyon, subsequently establishing the community of [[Bluff, Utah|Bluff]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/glca/learn/historyculture/holeintherock.htm|title=Hole-in-the-Rock|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|date=July 28, 2023|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}</ref> Due to the dry climate, these settlements depended heavily on irrigation. In central Arizona, settlers uncovered and re-established canals previously used by the Hohokam.<ref name="hohokam">{{cite web |url=http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/hohokam2/ |title=Hohokam Legacy: Desert Canals |website=WaterHistory.org |author=Howard, Jerry B. |access-date=April 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124025948/http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/hohokam2/ |archive-date=January 24, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Gilavalley">{{cite web |author=Williams, O.A. |url=http://uair.arizona.edu/system/files/usain/download/azu_e9791_1937_67_w.pdf |title=Settlement and Growth of the Gila Valley as a Mormon Colony, 1879–1900 |publisher=University of Arizona |year=1937 |access-date=February 20, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120034142/http://uair.arizona.edu/system/files/usain/download/azu_e9791_1937_67_w.pdf |archive-date=January 20, 2013}}</ref>
[[Image:File-Historic_photograph_of_ferryboat_at_Lees_Ferry._John-D._Lee_established_the_first_ferry_at_the_confluence_of_the-Colorado_and_(698b6643-1dc1-4738-866e-a38aa7046253).jpg|thumb|right|Historic photograph of the cable ferry at Lee's Ferry, prior to construction of the Navajo Bridge.]]
Following tensions between Mormon settlers and the U.S. government in the [[Utah War]], a [[Nauvoo Legion|local militia]] including [[John D. Lee]] perpetrated the 1857 [[Mountain Meadows Massacre]], in which 120 non-Mormon settlers were killed. Fearing retribution, Lee moved in 1870 to the remote Pahreah Crossing in Arizona, where he took over a ferry first established in 1864 by [[Jacob Hamblin]].<ref name="GCNleesferry">{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/glca/historyculture/leesferryhistory.htm |title=Lees Ferry History |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |work=Glen Canyon National Recreational Area |date=August 11, 2006 |access-date=February 20, 2012 |archive-date=April 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414171025/http://www.nps.gov/glca/historyculture/leesferryhistory.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> This, the only river crossing for hundreds of miles not hemmed in by vertical canyon walls, became known as [[Lee's Ferry]]. While Lee was tried and subsequently executed in 1877, the ferry remained a major transportation link until the [[Navajo Bridge]] was completed nearby in 1928, rendering the ferry obsolete.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://grandcanyonhistory.clas.asu.edu/sites_coloradorivercorridor_leesferry.html |title=Lees Ferry |publisher=Arizona State University |date=July 8, 2010 |access-date=February 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603033950/http://grandcanyonhistory.clas.asu.edu/sites_coloradorivercorridor_leesferry.html |archive-date=June 3, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Denver and Salt Lake Railway]] (D&SL), incorporated in 1902, sought to provide a more direct connection between Denver and [[Salt Lake City, Utah|Salt Lake City]] than either the [[First Transcontinental Railroad|transcontinental railroad]] through Wyoming or the D&RGW's route via Black Canyon and Durango. The D&SL completed a rail line into the upper headwaters of the Colorado River and blasted the [[Moffat Tunnel]] under the Continental Divide, but ran out of money before even reaching Utah.<ref name=MoffatRoad/> In 1931 the D&RGW completed the "Dotsero Cutoff" linking Glenwood Springs to the D&SL route at [[Bond, Colorado]], finally completing the direct Denver–Salt Lake link with its acquisition of the bankrupt D&SL. The Gunnison River route was eventually abandoned in favor of the shorter Colorado River route, which today is owned by [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]].<ref name=MoffatRoad>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/blm/cultresser/co/2/chap9.htm#:~:text=In%201931%20the%20Denver%20and,Denver%20to%20Salt%20Lake%20City.|title=The "Moffat Road" and Northwestern Colorado, 1903-1948|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|work=BLM Cultural Resource Series: An Isolated Empire: A History of Northwest Colorado|date=|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/blca/learn/historyculture/railroad.htm|title=Black Canyon of the Gunnison: Narrow Gauge Railroad|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|date=December 2, 2022|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}</ref>