Located in the southwestern part of the state of Arizona, and the seat of Yuma County, Yuma lies on the Colorado River and at Gila River’s mouth, which is just north of the Mexican frontier. It was founded as Colorado City, it was then renamed to Arizona City, and Yuma. It was said that it was named after the Spanish word “humo” which means smoke because of the local Quechan’s practice of using and creating smoke clouds to induce rain. Yuma is home to large irrigation districts and was able to transform some parts of the desert into farmland. Agriculture, tourism, and some light manufacturing became the city’s economic activities and was then augmented by the nearby Yuma Proving Ground, the Marine Corps Station, and several others.