Gila River

Gila River
The Gila River, a tributary of the Colorado, is shown highlighted on a map of the southwestern United States
Origin	Sierra County, New Mexico
Mouth	Colorado River near Yuma, Arizona
Basin countries	United States, Mexico
Length	649 mi (1,044 km) [1]
Mouth elevation	118 ft (36 m) [1]

The Gila /'hilə/ River (O'odham [Pima]: Hila Akimel) is a tributary of the Colorado River, 649 mile (1,044 km) long, in the southwestern United States.

It rises in western New Mexico, in Sierra County on the western slope of continental divide in the Black Range. It flows southwest to the Gila National Forest and Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, then westward into Arizona, past the city of Safford, and along the southern slope of the Gila Mountains. It emerges from the mountains into the valley southeast of Phoenix, where it crosses the Gila River Indian Reservation as an intermittent stream, due to its use as a water source. West of Phoenix, it turns abruptly southward along the Gila Bend Mountains, then abruptly westward again near the town of Gila Bend, Arizona. It flows southwestward and joins the Colorado near Yuma, Arizona.

The Gila is one of the largest desert rivers in the world. It and its chief tributary, the Salt River, would both be perennial streams carrying large volumes of water, but irrigation and municipal water diversions turn both into largely dry rivers. Below Phoenix to the Colorado River, the Gila is largely a trickle or dry, as is the lower Salt from Granite Reef Diversion Dam downstream to the Gila. The natural mean flow of the Gila is 6130 ft³/s (174 m³/s) at its mouth with the Colorado. The Gila used to be navigable by small craft from its mouth to near the Arizona - New Mexico border. The width varied from 150 - 1200 feet with a depth from 2 - 40 feet.

After the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848, the river served as a portion of the border between the United States and Mexico until the 1853 Gadsden Purchase extended U.S. territory south of the Gila. The confluence of the Gila with the Colorado river was also used as a reference point for the southern border of California.

The Gila River is dammed by the Coolidge Dam 31 miles east of Globe, AZ.

Hila Akimel O'odham

Middle Fork of the Gila River

A band of Pima (autonym "Akimel O'odham", river people), the Hila Akimel O'odham (Gila River People), have lived on the banks of the Gila River since before the arrival of Spanish explorers. Popular theory says that the word Gila was derived from a Spanish contraction of Hah-quah-sa-eel, a Yuma Indian word meaning "running water which is salty".^[2]

Their traditional way of life (himdagĭ, sometimes rendered in English as Him-dak) was and is centered at the river, which is considered holy. Traditionally, sand from the banks of the river is used as an exfoliant when bathing (often in rainstorms, especially during the monsoon).

In the Gila River Indian Community, the traditional way of life has generally been better preserved than in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. Some speculate this may be due to the fact that the Gila River, a central aspect of the traditional way of life, still flows through the reservation year-round (although at times as an intermittent stream), while the Salt River does not.^{[citation needed]}

Variant names

Gila River downstream from Coolidge Dam

According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Gila River has also been known as:^[1]

• Akee-mull
• Apache de Gila
• Brazo de Miraflores
• Cina`ahuwipi
• Hah-quah-sa eel
• Hela River
• Jila River
• Rio Azul
• Rio Gila
• Rio de las Balsas
• Rio del Nombre Jesus
• Rio del los Apostoles
• Zila River
• Xila River

See also

Gila River at U.S. 95

• List of Arizona rivers
• List of New Mexico rivers
• Gila monster

References

Colorado River system
Dams and aqueducts (see US Bureau of Reclamation)	Shadow Mountain Dam • Granby Dam • Glen Canyon Dam • Hoover Dam • Davis Dam • Parker Dam • Palo Verde Diversion Dam • Imperial Dam • Laguna Dam • Morelos Dam • Colorado River Aqueduct • San Diego Aqueduct • Central Arizona Project Aqueduct • All-American Canal • Coachella Canal • Redwall Dam
Natural features	Colorado River • Rocky Mountains • Colorado River Basin • Grand Lake • Sonoran desert • Mojave desert • Imperial Valley • Colorado Plateau • Grand Canyon • Black Canyon • Glen Canyon • Marble Canyon • New River • Paria Canyon • Gulf of California/Sea of Cortez • Salton Sea
Tributaries	Dirty Devil River • Dolores River • Escalante River • Gila River • Green River • Gunnison River • Kanab Creek • Little Colorado River • Paria River • San Juan River • Virgin River
Major reservoirs	Fontenelle Reservoir • Flaming Gorge Reservoir • Taylor Park Reservoir • Navajo Reservoir • Lake Powell • Lake Mead • Lake Mohave • Lake Havasu
Dependent states	Arizona • California • Colorado • Nevada • New Mexico • Utah (See: Colorado River Compact)
Designated areas	Glen Canyon National Recreation Area • Lake Mead National Recreation Area

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