Fort Mohave

Fort Mohave
Colorado River, Arizona
A sketch of Fort Mohave in the late 1800s
Coordinates	35°02′35″N 114°37′21″W / 35.04306°N 114.62250°W / 35.04306; -114.62250Coordinates: 35°02′35″N 114°37′21″W / 35.04306°N 114.62250°W / 35.04306; -114.62250
Type	Army fortification
Site information
Controlled by	Arizona
Condition	tourist attraction
Site history
Built	1859
Built by	United States
In use	1859 - 1890
Battles/wars	Mohave War
Garrison information
Occupants	United States Army
Airfield information
Elevation	540 ft (160 m) AMSL

Fort Mohave was originally named Camp Colorado when it was established on April 19, 1859 by Lieutenant Colonel William Hoffman during the Mohave War. It was located on the east bank of the Colorado River, at Beale's Crossing, near the head of the Mohave Valley in Mohave County, Arizona by the recommendation of Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale. After the end of the Indian Wars, the fort was transferred to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1890. In 1935 it was transferred to the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation; the fort is administered by the state of Arizona.

The first known European to visit the area was Spanish explorer Melchor Díaz. He documented his travels in present-day northwestern Mohave County in 1540. He recounts meeting a large population of natives who referred to themselves as the Pipa Aha Macav, meaning "People by the River". From "Aha Macav" came the shortened name "Mojave" (also spelled "Mohave"). The tribe retains the traditional Spanish spelling "Mojave," but most English speakers use the modern English spelling "Mohave." Both are correct, and both are pronounced "Moh-hah-vee".

Named Camp Colorado, the fort was established by the US to provide protection for emigrants to California through Northern Arizona on the Beale's Wagon Road and across the Mojave Desert on the Mojave Road. It was also used as a base of military operations against the Mohave people.

The post was renamed Fort Mohave on April 28, 1859 by its first garrison commander Captain Lewis A. Armistead. With 50 soldiers he defeated 200 Mohave in a battle in the summer of 1859, and ended hostilities with them. Two years later after the start of the American Civil War, Brigadier General Edwin V. Sumner ordered the post abandoned and the buildings burned down on May 28, 1861 in order to withdraw the regular troops to garrison Los Angeles against an anticipated secessionist uprising. Later that year the regulars were sent east to serve with the Union in the Civil War.