The Colorado Crossing

The Colorado River presented the expedition's first true geographic barrier. At Chief Palma's village on the southern shore (camp 41), the Quechan laid on a remarkable feast — beans, calabashes, and an astonishing 3,000 or more watermelons grown in the rich floodplain soils. The generosity bought time to plan the crossing of a river 240 yards wide, divided by two islands, running three to four feet deep in cold, swift current. On approximately November 30, women and children rode the tallest horses while Father Garces was carried on the shoulders of three Quechan men. One man carrying a child fell twice in the current but was rescued both times. The colonists had crossed into California without a single loss.

Fathers Garces and Eixarch remained behind at Palma's request, to establish a mission among the Quechan — a decision with tragic consequences six years later, when both would be killed in the Yuma Revolt of 1781. Anza now turned his full attention to the most dangerous segment ahead: crossing the Imperial Valley desert with 240 civilians. At Santa Olaya (camp 46), he made the fateful decision to split the expedition into three staggered divisions, since the sparse desert water holes could not sustain the full caravan at once. It was a calculated gamble on the lives of every family under his command.

The desert crossing nearly broke the expedition. At brackish camps like Pozo Salobre del Carrizal and Arroyo Hondo, the only water was too foul to drink freely. Animals perished; families rationed water for days. A snowstorm struck the camp at San Sebastian (camp 51), killing 15 more livestock, and an earthquake shook the desert floor in the night. Yet Father Font marveled that no colonist died. With the third division arriving half-dead from thirst, the warm spring at San Sebastian was nothing short of a rescue. From the ruins of that ordeal the exhausted settlers began climbing into the Peninsular Ranges at Los Puertecitos, trading flat desert for rocky mountain passes and the promise of coastal California beyond.