From 1540 until 1854, Yuma was ruled by Spain and Mexico. In 1854, it became a territorial possession of the United States through the Gadsden Purchase. And in the 1850s it became a major river crossing of the California gold seekers. From the 1850s through the 1870s, Yuma was a very busy port town, as steamboats traveled up the Colorado River from the Gulf of California, carrying passengers, and goods for mines, ranches, and military forts in the area. And when the railroad came west toward California in the 1870s, it passed through Yuma, bringing more commerce and visitors.

Yuma's name has a history of its own. From 1854 until 1858, Yuma was known as Colorado City. From 1858 until 1873 it was called Arizona City. And it was finally given its current name in 1873 by the Territorial Legislature. That name came from the area’s original inhabitants, the Yumas, who were a combination of Indian tribes of the lower Colorado Region, including the Quechans, the Cocopahs, and the Mohaves.