• Colorado River Historical Society Museum •

"Preserving the history of the Tri-state area"

Historical Accounts of the Tri-state Area

River Stories

William Hardy

WILLIAM HARDY

In March 1864, the current site of Bullhead City was the location of a settlement called Hardyville. It was named for early resident and politician William Harrison Hardy. A New York native and an entrepreneur, Hardy established, with the support of George Alonzo Johnson's Colorado Steam Navigation Co., a ferry service and a steamboat landing. He also built and owned the Hardyville - Prescott Road, a toll road from Hardyville to the new Arizona territorial capital of Prescott and raised Angora goats(see more)



DAVIS DAM

 Looking north during construction of Davis Dam. Arizona is on the right side and Nevada to the left.  In the foreground are the temporary construction bridges.  Demolished after the completion of the dam, there would not be another bridge built until 1987 when Don Laughlin built a public bridge downstream near his Riverside Casino(see more)



STEAMBOATS

Steamboats on the Colorado River operated from the river mouth at the Colorado River Delta on the Gulf of California in Mexico, up to the Virgin River on the Lower Colorado River Valley in the Southwestern United States from 1852 until 1916(see more)

CRWaterShed

COLORADO RIVER WATERSHED

The Upper Colorado River Basin is home to 14 native fish species, including the endangered Humpback Chub, Bonytail Chub, Colorado Pikeminnow, and Razorback Sucker. These endangered fish are found only in the Colorado River system.(see more)



TOPOCK BRIDGES

In 1883 the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, later absorbed by the Santa Fe Railroad, built the first bridge to cross the Colorado River. This bridge was located in the area north of Sacramento Wash and up through the present day Havasu National Wild Life Refuge.(see more)



A PLACE CALLED TOPOCK

It was so isolated, so unreachable, you literally were forced to find it the first time so you could follow your own ruts the next time. The U.S. Geological Survey Gauging Station on the Colorado below Topock was a spirit-breaking exile for most engineers. (see more)