government, and the United States Army established Camp Independence in 1850 to protect the entry route through the tribe's territories. The strategic importance of the river crossing was recognized by the U.S. Westward expansion in the 1840s and the discovery of gold in California in 1849 brought many migrants through the area near the mouth of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon region. Fellow travelers, such as Father Kino, Father Garces, fur trapper James O'Patte, military men and ethnographers, kept colorful records from 1540-1917. When Don Juan de Onate and Father Escobar sailed up the river, there were estimated to be about 6,000-7,000 Cocopah people living along the delta and the lower Colorado River. The explorer and his crew were offered gifts of shells, beads, well-tanned leathers and food. The men wore loincloths and the women wore willow bark skirts.

Spanish explorer Hernando de Alarcon, a member of Coronado's marine expedition, traveled the river in 1540 and described members of the Cocopah Indian Tribe as tall, well-built people who carried wooden maces and bows and arrows. The Cocopah people had no written language, however, historical records were passed on orally or interpreted in documents written by outside visitors.ĭiaries and journals kept by travelers along the Colorado River and migrants into the West documented the Cocopah people. Cocopah Tribal ancestors also lived along the Lower Colorado River region near the river delta and the Gulf of California. The Cocopah Indian Tribe is one of seven descendant Tribes from the greater Yuman language-speaking people who occupied lands along the Colorado River. For centuries, the Cocopah people, described as generous and non-materialistic, have maintained their traditional and cultural beliefs through the various political environments and ever-changing landscapes.

The Cocopah (Kwapa), also known as the River People, have long lived along the lower Colorado River and delta.

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