Drift Desert, Arizona

Drift Desert is a former ranch and steamboat landing on the Colorado River, now a ghost town, in La Paz County, Arizona.

History

Drift Desert was a ranch with a woodyard landing for the George Alonzo Johnson's steamboats on the Colorado River. It was located 102 miles up river from Yuma, Arizona, 30 miles above California Camp and 29 miles below La Paz, in what was then Yuma County, Arizona.[1]^:65,168 Drift Desert appears on the 1861 Geological Map No. 1. Prepared by J.S. Newberry, M.D. Geologist to the Expedition. Explorations and Surveys. War Department. Map No. 1. Rio Colorado of the West, explored by 1st Lieut. Joseph C. Ives, which shows the course of the Colorado River from its mouth on the Gulf of California to Las Vegas Wash and the location of its features and expedition camps along the way.[2]

Today

Today the old landing of Drift Desert on the riverbank has disappeared.

References

1. Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852–1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978 Archived January 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
2. Geological Map No. 1. Prepared by J.S. Newberry, M.D. Geologist to the Expedition. Explorations and Surveys. War Department. Map No. 1. Rio Colorado of the West, explored by 1st Lieut. Joseph C. Ives, Topl. Engrs. under the direction of the Office of Explorations and Surveys. A.A. Humphreys, Capt. Topl. Engrs. in Charge, by order of the Hon. John B. Floyd, Secretary of War. 1858. Drawn by Frhr. F.W.v. Egloffstein. Topographer to the Expedition. Topography by Frhr. F.W.v. Egloffstein. Ruling by Samuel Sartain. Lettering by F. Courtenay. from davidrumsey.com, accessed June 12, 2015.