La Paz, Arizona: Difference between revisions

La Paz, Arizona
La Paz, Arizona
Ghost town
	La Paz Location in the state of Arizona La Paz La Paz (the United States)
	Coordinates: 33°40′45″N 114°28′35″W / 33.67917°N 114.47639°W
Country	United States
State	Arizona
County	La Paz
Founded	1862, before Arizona was officially declared a territory by President Abraham Lincoln
Abandoned	1875
Elevation	300 ft (91 m)
Population (2009)
• Total	0
Time zone	UTC-7 (MST (no DST))
Post Office opened	January 17, 1865
Post Office closed	March 25, 1875

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La Paz (Yavapai: Wi:hela) was a short-lived early gold mining town along on the western border of current-day La Paz County, Arizona. The town grew quickly after gold was discovered nearby in 1862. La Paz, Spanish for peace, was chosen as the name in recognition of the feast day for Our Lady of Peace.^[2] Originally located in the New Mexico Territory, the town became part of the Arizona Territory when President Abraham Lincoln established the new territory in 1863.^[3] In 1983 the newly formed County of La Paz adopted the name, long after the town had become a ghost town.

La Paz was the location of the La Paz Incident in 1863, the westernmost confrontation of the American Civil War.

History

*La Paz, c. 1890, already a ghost town.*

Mountain man Pauline Weaver discovered gold in the Arroyo De La Teneja, on the eastern bank of the Colorado River, on January 12, 1862.^[4] His discovery triggered the Colorado River gold rush. La Paz grew in the spring of 1862 along the Colorado River to serve the miners washing placer gold in the La Paz Mining District. This district produced about 50,000 troy ounces of gold per year in 1863 and 1864.^[5] La Paz had a population of 1,500 and was a stage stop between Fort Whipple, Arizona and San Bernardino, California.^[6] The town was the county seat of Yuma County from 1864 to 1870, and as the largest town in the territory in 1863 was considered for the Arizona territorial capital.

The placers were largely exhausted by 1863, but the community hung on as a shipping port for steamboats of the Colorado River and supply base until the Colorado River shifted its course westward in 1866, leaving La Paz landlocked. The shipping business was taken over by a new river town, Ehrenberg, six miles south. In 1870 the population of La Paz had declined to 254.^[7]^: 43 In 1871 the county seat was moved to Arizona City, later renamed Yuma in 1873. The county records were shipped to Yuma by Captain Polyphemus in the Nina Tilden.^[8]^[9]^: 238 La Paz was deserted by 1875 and as peaceful as its name.^[10]^[11]

Nothing remains of La Paz except a couple of crumbling stone foundations and a historical marker.

Geography

La Paz is located at 33°40′45″N 114°28′35″W / 33.67917°N 114.47639°W / 33.67917; -114.47639, at an elevation of 300 feet (91 m) above sea level.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: La Paz (historical)
^ Granger, Byrd H (1979). Will C. Barnes' Arizona Place Names. Tucson, Arizona: Arizona Press. LCCN 59063657.
^ Wagoner, Jay J. (1970). Arizona 1863–1912: A Political History. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 0-8165-0176-9
^ Gunther, Jane Davies (1984). Riverside County, California, Place Names; Their Origins and Their Stories. Riverside, California: Rubidoux Printing Company. p. 431. LCCN 84072920.
^ Maureen G. Johnson, 1972, Placer Gold Deposits of Arizona, Geological Survey Bulletin 1355, p. 77.
^ Eldred D. Wilson, (1961) Gold Placers and Placering in Arizona Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Arizona Geological Survey, Bulletin 168, p. 25.
^ Richard Josiah Hinton, The Handbook to Arizona: Its Resources, History, Towns, Mines, Ruins, and Scenery, Payot, Upham & Company, San Francisco, 1878
^ Walker, Henry (1986). "Historical Atlas of Arizona", p. 32. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. ISBN 978-0806120249
^ Will Croft Barnes, Arizona Place Names, University of Arizona Press, 1988
^ Gerald Thompson (1985) "Is there a gold field east of the Colorado?" the La Paz gold rush of 1862, Historical Society of Southern California, v. 67, n. 4, pp. 345–63.
^ "Prospector, Cowhand, and Sodbuster (Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings)". National Park Service – Nps.gov. May 22, 2005. Retrieved July 31, 2010.

External links

Ghosttowns.com: La Paz

[usgs-1] U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: La Paz (historical)

[2] Granger, Byrd H (1979). Will C. Barnes' Arizona Place Names. Tucson, Arizona: Arizona Press. LCCN 59063657.

[3] Wagoner, Jay J. (1970). Arizona 1863–1912: A Political History. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 0-8165-0176-9

[4] Gunther, Jane Davies (1984). Riverside County, California, Place Names; Their Origins and Their Stories. Riverside, California: Rubidoux Printing Company. p. 431. LCCN 84072920.

[5] Maureen G. Johnson, 1972, Placer Gold Deposits of Arizona, Geological Survey Bulletin 1355, p. 77.

[6] Eldred D. Wilson, (1961) Gold Placers and Placering in Arizona Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Arizona Geological Survey, Bulletin 168, p. 25.

[7] Richard Josiah Hinton, The Handbook to Arizona: Its Resources, History, Towns, Mines, Ruins, and Scenery, Payot, Upham & Company, San Francisco, 1878

[8] Walker, Henry (1986). "Historical Atlas of Arizona", p. 32. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. ISBN 978-0806120249

[9] Will Croft Barnes, Arizona Place Names, University of Arizona Press, 1988

[10] Gerald Thompson (1985) "Is there a gold field east of the Colorado?" the La Paz gold rush of 1862, Historical Society of Southern California, v. 67, n. 4, pp. 345–63.

[nps-11] "Prospector, Cowhand, and Sodbuster (Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings)". National Park Service – Nps.gov. May 22, 2005. Retrieved July 31, 2010.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
 {{Infobox settlement
 |name                     = La Paz, Arizona
-|settlement_type          = [[Ghost town]]
+|settlement_type          = [[List of ghost towns in Arizona|Ghost town]]
 |official_name            =
 |image_skyline            =
 |imagesize                =
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 |pushpin_map              = Arizona#USA
+|pushpin_label            = La Paz
 |pushpin_label_position   = right
 |pushpin_mapsize          = 250
 |map_caption              = Location in the state of [[Arizona]]
 |image_map1               =
 |mapsize1                 =
 |map_caption1             =
-|subdivision_type         = [[Countries of the World|Country]]
+|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
-|subdivision_type1        = [[Political divisions of the United States|State]]
+|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
 |subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Arizona|County]]
-|subdivision_name         = [[United States]]
+|subdivision_name         = United States
 |subdivision_name1        = [[Arizona]]
 |subdivision_name2        = [[La Paz County, Arizona|La Paz]]
@@ Line 25: / Line 27: @@
 |extinct_title            = Abandoned
 |extinct_date             = 1875
 |founder                  =
 |named_for                =
 |government_type          =
 |leader_title             =
 |leader_name              =
 |area_magnitude           =
 |area_total_km2           =
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 |area_land_km2            =
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 |area_water_km2           =
 |area_water_sq_mi         =
 |elevation_footnotes      = <ref name="usgs"/>
-|elevation_ft             = 584
+|elevation_ft             = 300
-|elevation_m              = 178
+|elevation_m              = 91
 |population_as_of         = 2009
 |population_footnotes     =
 |population_total         = 0
 |population_metro         =
 |population_density_km2   =
 |population_density_sq_mi =
 |timezone                 = [[Mountain Standard Time Zone|MST]] (no [[Daylight saving time|DST]])
 |utc_offset               = -7
-|coordinates              = {{coord|33|40|45|N|114|25|35|W|region:US-AZ|display=inline,title}}
+|coordinates              = {{coord|33|40|45|N|114|28|35|W|region:US-AZ|display=inline,title}}
 |website                  =
 |timezone_DST             =
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 |postal_code_type         =
 |postal_code              =
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 |GNIS_id                  =
 |blank_name               = Post Office opened
 |blank_info               = January 17, 1865
 |blank1_name              = Post Office closed
 |blank1_info              = March 25, 1875
 |footnotes                =
 }}
-'''La Paz''' was a short-lived, early gold mining town along the [[Colorado River]] in [[La Paz County, Arizona|La Paz County]] on the western border of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Arizona]]. It was the location of the [[La Paz Incident]] in 1863, the westernmost confrontation of the [[American Civil War]]. The town was settled in 1862 in [[New Mexico Territory]], before the [[Arizona Territory]] was officially declared a United States territory by President Abraham Lincoln.<ref>Wagoner, Jay J. (1970). Arizona 1863-1912: A Political History. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press. {{ISBN|0-8165-0176-9}}</ref> Today it is a deserted [[ghost town]]. In 1983, long after the town was deserted, the name was adopted by the newly formed Arizona county of La Paz. ''La Paz'' is Spanish for "peace"; the town was presumably named after another earlier town named La Paz, such as [[La Paz, Bolivia]], or [[La Paz, Baja California Sur]].
+'''La Paz''' ([[Yavapai language|Yavapai]]: '''Wi:hela''') was a short-lived early gold mining town along on the western border of current-day [[La Paz County]], [[Arizona]]. The town grew quickly after gold was discovered nearby in 1862. ''La Paz'', Spanish for ''peace'', was chosen as the name in recognition of the [[Calendar of saints|feast day]] for [[Our Lady of Peace]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Granger |first1=Byrd H |title=Will C. Barnes' Arizona Place Names |date=1979 |publisher=Arizona Press |location=Tucson, Arizona|lccn=59063657 }}</ref>  Originally located in the [[New Mexico Territory]], the town became part of the [[Arizona Territory]] when President [[Abraham Lincoln]] established the new territory in 1863.<ref>Wagoner, Jay J. (1970). ''Arizona 1863–1912: A Political History''. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. {{ISBN|0-8165-0176-9}}</ref> In 1983 the newly formed County of La Paz adopted the name, long after the town had become a [[ghost town]].
+La Paz was the location of the [[La Paz Incident]] in 1863, the westernmost confrontation of the [[American Civil War]].
 ==History==
-[[File:La Paz, Arizona.jpg|312px|left|thumb|''La Paz, circa 1890, already a ghost town.'']]
+[[File:La Paz, Arizona.jpg|312px|left|thumb|''La Paz, c. 1890, already a ghost town.'']]
-Mountain man [[Pauline Weaver]] discovered gold in the vicinity in January 1862, starting the Colorado River gold rush.  La Paz grew up in the spring of 1862 along the Colorado River to serve the miners washing placer gold in the La Paz Mining District.  This district produced about 50,000 troy ounces of gold per year in 1863 and 1864.<ref>Maureen G. Johnson, 1972, ''Placer Gold Deposits of Arizona'', Geological Survey Bulletin 1355, p.77.</ref>  La Paz had a population of 1,500 and was a stage stop between [[Fort Whipple, Arizona]] and [[San Bernardino, California]].<ref>Eldred D. Wilson, (1961) [http://www.azgs.az.gov/Mineral%20Scans/gold_bull168_ocr.pdf ''Gold Placers and Placering in Arizona''], Arizona Geological Survey, Bulletin 168, PDF File, p.25.</ref>  The town was the county seat of [[Yuma County, Arizona|Yuma County]] from 1864 to 1870, and as the largest town in the territory in 1863 was considered for the Arizona territorial capital.
+Mountain man [[Pauline Weaver]] discovered gold in the Arroyo De La Teneja, on the eastern bank of the Colorado River, on January 12, 1862.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gunther |first1=Jane Davies |title=Riverside County, California, Place Names; Their Origins and Their Stories |date=1984 |publisher=Rubidoux Printing Company |location=Riverside, California |page=431|lccn=84072920 }}</ref> His discovery triggered the [[Steamboats of the Colorado River#Colorado River Gold Rush|Colorado River gold rush]].  La Paz grew in the spring of 1862 along the Colorado River to serve the miners washing placer gold in the La Paz Mining District.  This district produced about 50,000 troy ounces of gold per year in 1863 and 1864.<ref>Maureen G. Johnson, 1972, ''Placer Gold Deposits of Arizona'', Geological Survey Bulletin 1355, p. 77.</ref>  La Paz had a population of 1,500 and was a stage stop between [[Fort Whipple, Arizona]] and [[San Bernardino, California]].<ref>Eldred D. Wilson, (1961) [http://www.azgs.az.gov/Mineral%20Scans/gold_bull168_ocr.pdf ''Gold Placers and Placering in Arizona''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721032946/http://www.azgs.az.gov/Mineral%20Scans/gold_bull168_ocr.pdf |date=July 21, 2011 }}, Arizona Geological Survey, Bulletin 168, p. 25.</ref>  The town was the county seat of [[Yuma County, Arizona|Yuma County]] from 1864 to 1870, and as the largest town in the territory in 1863 was considered for the Arizona territorial capital.
-The placers were largely exhausted by 1863, but the community hung on as a shipping port for [[steamboats of the Colorado River]] and supply base until the [[Colorado River]] shifted its course westward in 1866, leaving La Paz landlocked.  The shipping business was taken over by a new river town, [[Ehrenberg, Arizona|Ehrenberg]], six miles south.  In 1870 the population of La Paz had declined to 254.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ewINAAAAIAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s Richard Josiah Hinton, The Handbook to Arizona: Its Resources, History, Towns, Mines, Ruins, and Scenery, Payot, Upham & Company, San Francisco, 1878]</ref>{{rp|43}}  In 1871 the county seat was moved to [[Arizona City (Yuma, Arizona)|Arizona City]], later renamed Yuma in 1873.   The county records were shipped to Yuma by Captain Polhamus in the [[Nina Tilden (sternwheeler)|''Nina Tilden'']].<ref>Walker, Henry (1986). "Historical Atlas of Arizona", p.32. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. {{ISBN|978-0806120249}}</ref><ref>Will Croft Barnes, Arizona Place Names, University of Arizona Press, 1988</ref>{{rp|238}}  Soon La Paz became deserted and as peaceful as its name.<ref>Gerald Thompson (1985) ''"Is there a gold field east of the Colorado?" the La Paz gold rush of 1862'', Historical Society of Southern California, v.67, n.4, p.345-363.</ref><ref name="nps">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/prospector/sited1.htm |title=National Park Service - Prospector, Cowhand, and Sodbuster (Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings) |publisher=Nps.gov |date=2005-05-22 |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref>
+The placers were largely exhausted by 1863, but the community hung on as a shipping port for [[steamboats of the Colorado River]] and supply base until the [[Colorado River]] shifted its course westward in 1866, leaving La Paz landlocked.  The shipping business was taken over by a new river town, [[Ehrenberg, Arizona|Ehrenberg]], six miles south.  In 1870 the population of La Paz had declined to 254.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ewINAAAAIAAJ Richard Josiah Hinton, The Handbook to Arizona: Its Resources, History, Towns, Mines, Ruins, and Scenery, Payot, Upham & Company, San Francisco, 1878]</ref>{{rp|43}}  In 1871 the county seat was moved to [[Arizona City (Yuma, Arizona)|Arizona City]], later renamed Yuma in 1873.   The county records were shipped to Yuma by Captain Polyphemus in the [[Nina Tilden (sternwheeler)|''Nina Tilden'']].<ref>Walker, Henry (1986). "Historical Atlas of Arizona", p. 32. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. {{ISBN|978-0806120249}}</ref><ref>Will Croft Barnes, Arizona Place Names, University of Arizona Press, 1988</ref>{{rp|238}}  La Paz was deserted by 1875 and as peaceful as its name.<ref>Gerald Thompson (1985) ''"Is there a gold field east of the Colorado?" the La Paz gold rush of 1862'', Historical Society of Southern California, v. 67, n. 4, pp. 345–63.</ref><ref name="nps">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/prospector/sited1.htm |title= Prospector, Cowhand, and Sodbuster (Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings) |publisher=National Park Service – Nps.gov |date=2005-05-22 |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref>
-Today nothing remains of La Paz except a couple of crumbling stone foundations and a historical marker.<ref name="nps"/>
+Nothing remains of La Paz except a couple of crumbling stone foundations and a historical marker.
-==See also==
-*{{C|Steamboat transport on the Colorado River}}
 ==Geography==
-La Paz is located at {{coord|33|40|45|N|114|25|35|W|type:city}}, at an elevation of {{convert|584|ft}} above sea level.<ref name="usgs">{{GNIS|1940036|La Paz (historical)}}</ref>
+La Paz is located at {{coord|33|40|45|N|114|28|35|W|region:US-AZ|display=inline}}, at an elevation of {{convert|300|ft}} above sea level.<ref name="usgs">{{GNIS|1940036|La Paz (historical)}}</ref>
+==See also==
+* {{C|Steamboat transport on the Colorado River}}
 ==References==
@@ Line 90: / Line 93: @@
 [[Category:Mining in Arizona]]
 [[Category:Former populated places in La Paz County, Arizona]]
-[[Category:Inland port cities and towns of the United States]]
+[[Category:Port cities and towns in Arizona]]
 [[Category:Steamboat transport on the Colorado River]]
 [[Category:1862 establishments in New Mexico Territory]]
 [[Category:Bradshaw Trail]]
+[[Category:La Paz–Wikenburg Road]]

v t e Municipalities and communities of La Paz County, Arizona, United States
County seat: Parker
Towns	Parker Quartzsite
CDPs	Alamo Lake Bluewater Bouse Brenda Cibola Cienega Springs Ehrenberg La Paz Valley Parker Strip Salome Sunwest Utting Vicksburg Wenden
Populated places	Desert Wells Hope
Indian reservations	Colorado River Indian Reservation
Ghost towns	Clip Drift Desert Empire Flat Eureka La Paz Mineral City Nortons Landing Olive City Planet Plomosa Poston Swansea Williamsport
Arizona portal United States portal

v t e Steamboats of the Colorado River
Particular vessels	Cochan Cocopah I Cocopah II Colorado I Colorado II Esmerelda Explorer General Jesup General Rosales Gila Mohave I Mohave II Nina Tilden Retta Searchlight St. Vallier San Jorge Uncle Sam
Steamboat Lines	California Development Company Colorado Steam Navigation Company George A. Johnson & Company Gulf of California Steamship Company Green, Grand & Colorado River Navigation Company Mexican-Colorado Navigation Company Pacific & Colorado Steam Navigation Company Philadelphia Silver and Copper Mining Company Stacy Brothers Union Line U.S. Reclamation Service
Water routes	Colorado River
Steamboat owners and captains	James Turnbull George Alonzo Johnson David C. Robinson Isaac Polhamus Thomas E. Trueworthy John Alexander Mellon
Builders	Austin Hills Domingo Marcucci John G. North Henry Owens Patrick Henry Tiernan
Shipyards	Port Isabel, Sonora Yuma, Arizona Territory
List of vessels	List of Steamboats on the Colorado River
Steamboats in other areas	Steamboats of California