MOHAVE VALLEY (PART 4)

WHY WOULD ANYONE NAME A CITY AFTER AN UGLY FISH?
BULLHEAD CITY, AZ STARTED OUT AS A MINING TOWN CALLED HARDYVILLE, NAMED AFTER WILLIAM HARRISON HARDY, A COLORFUL CHARACTER WHO STARTED A FERRY CROSSING, TRADING POST, AND INN ON THE BANKS OF THE COLORADO RIVER IN 1846 DURING THE GOLD RUSH DAYS. WHEN THE RAILROAD CROSSED THE COLORADO RIVER AT NEEDLES, CA HARDYVILLE BECAME A GHOST TOWN AND WITHERED AND DIED. STEAMBOATS WERE USED AT THIS TIME TO MOVE FREIGHT AND PEOPLE ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER. THE MODERN BEGINNINGS OF THE CITY ARE TIED TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF DAVIS DAM, WHICH BEGAN IN 1942, BUT HAD TO BE HALTED BECAUSE WORLD WAR II CONSUMED NECESSARY CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS. CONSTRUCTION RESUMED IN 1946, A YEAR AFTER THE WAR ENDED, AND THE DAM WAS COMPLETED IN 1950. DAVIS DAM IS NAMED AFTER THE LATE ARTHUR POWELL DAVIS, DIRECTOR OF THE U.S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION FROM 1914 TO 1923. IT PROVIDES HYDROELECTRIC POWER AS WELL AS CONTROLLING THE COLORADO RIVER FLOWS TO PREVENT FLOODING AND MANAGE THE WATER RESOURCES IN THE REGION. DAVIS DAM CONSTRUCTION WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES LIVED IN A COMMUNITY AT THE FOOT OF DAM CALLED DAVIS CAMP, BUT THE TOWN THAT SPRANG UP TO SUPPORT THE GROWING POPULATION WAS NAMED BULLHEAD CITY AFTER A ROCK ISLAND IN THE COLORADO RIVER THAT RESEMBLED THE SHOULDERS AND HEAD OF A BULL WITH LARGE, CURVED HORNS. THE ROCK WAS SUBMERGED UNDER THE RISING WATERS OF LAKE MOHAVE AS THEY BACKED UP BEHIND DAVIS DAM IN THE EARLY 1950’S. THE NAME STUCK.
TODAY BULLHEAD CITY, ARIZONA IS A FAST GROWING COMMUNITY OF MOSTLY CALIFORNIA ESCAPEES, AND RETIREES FROM ACROSS THE SNOWBELT REGION.