Quechan, << kweh CHAHN, >> also called the Yuma, are a Native American people who live along the Colorado River in southeastern California and southwestern Arizona. Traditionally, the Quechan lived in villages, in airy houses made from branches or reeds plastered with mud. They cultivated corn, beans, squash, and melons in the fertile soils created by the flooding each spring of the Colorado River. They also fished; gathered wild beans, seeds, and nuts; and made pottery and baskets. Dreams played an important role in their religion.
About 1540, Spanish explorers probably became the first white people to encounter the Quechan. In 1780, the Spanish built two settlements in Quechan territory, near what is now Winterhaven, California. To protect their homeland, the Quechan attacked and destroyed the settlements in 1781. For years, the Quechan remained independent of government control. But in 1852, the United States Army established Fort Yuma, also near what is now Winterhaven. In 1884, the U.S. government set up the Fort Yuma Reservation, and the Quechan agreed to live there. The reservation lies in California and Arizona and includes the sites of the destroyed settlements and of the fort. Today, Quechan living on the reservation grow large amounts of vegetables for sale.
