• 1853 - the army, which was probably either drunk or delirious from the heat at the time, decide to establish fort yuma.
• 1854 - the u.s. gadsden purchase takes place.
• 1857 - yuma deemed to be a crappy name; area becomes known as colorado city, instead.
• 1858 - name changed to arizona city; stagecoach travel starts coming through ("snowbirds").
• 1862 - flood washes away practically the whole community.
• 1864 - another flood washes out town of arizona city.
• 1866 - obviously unable to take a hint and leave, the community decides to rebuild the city and rename it yuma.
• 1867-1999 - nothing.

well, now that we're up to speed, let me tell you about all the wonderful things that we have here in yuma. first, we have many wonderful parks for which you and your children can play. sure, they're not as good as any of the other parks in the u.s., but we've got 'em anyway. we also have a whole crisscrossing circuit of canals, perfect for swimming when you want to beat the heat, or for when you need a place to duck into and hide out when being chased by the law.

but the thing that will immediately catch your eye here in yuma is our majestic water tower. it's blue and it has "YUMA" printed in big black letters on the side! and surrounding it is a wide-open area of dirt and gravel, perfect for playing ring-around-the-rosy around the tower! all in all, fun for the whole family!

so as you can see, yuma is truly a great place to live. just be careful when drinking the water, okay?