Jaeger City , then in San Diego County , California was the first and largest settlement near the fort until 1862 . It began as a stockade for defense of the ferry and its operators against the Quechan , and a collection of tents . It was a station of the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line from 1857 to 1860 . At its height it consisted of the Fort Yuma Station of the Butterfield Overland Mail and its local office , a hotel , two blacksmiths , two stores and other dwellings . Colorado City begun in 1853 lay across the river and Arizona City lay a mile above it across from Fort Yuma . Jaeger City was destroyed , along with Colorado City across the river , in the Great Flood of 1862 . Jaeger City was never rebuilt . Jaeger 's Ferry was rebuilt and Colorado City also , on higher ground as part of Arizona City , later renamed Yuma , Arizona in 1873 , and the ferry relocated there across from the fort
Great Flood of 1862
Great Flood of 1862
Jaeger City, California