In the year 1849, Dr. Abel Lincoln travelled through Yuma, Arizona, while serving in the Army as a surgeon. He later left the military, and returned to Yuma where he practiced medicine among the Indians for a short time. Soon afterwards he opened a ferry on the Colorado River for the forty-niners traveling in search of gold. Unfortunately a few years later, he was killed in the Glanton massacre at the Yuma Crossing (Love, Alspach, Snowbarger 5). This account opens the history of medicine in historic Yuma. Early medicine is significant to Yuma because it reflects what medicine once was, now is, and how it has influenced the present, while shedding light onto the future of medicine. Learning about the history of medicine in Yuma, one realizes that medicine is a leading force in health care. The history of medicine is a vital part of the culture in any community.
Dr. Candido Arnabar arrived in Yuma in 1861, eleven years after the unfortunate demise of Dr. Lincoln. He practiced medicine for all the people in Yuma. He was born in Spain and earned his medical degree from the University of Madrid. After leaving Spain, Dr. Arnabar worked in Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. Shortly before the Civil War, he moved from Europe to the American west. He worked his way down the California Coast beginning from San Francisco, to San Diego, and eventually worked his way back east, across the California border, to Yuma, Arizona. He opened up his practice in 1861. A few years later, he traveled south to Mexico to claim a land grant from the King of Spain. However, instead of gaining his land, he was thrown in a jail. A few days later, Dr. Arnabar noticed an Indian outside his window. He managed to give the Indian a message for Mr. Redondo, a local Yuma leader and a good friend. When Mr. Redondo received the message, he immediately went to the authorities of Fort Yuma to request help for an American citizen. Although they refused, it did not faze Mr. Redondo a bit. He gathered up some friends and a few of his cowhands and hurried down south to free Dr. Arnabar. Upon reaching the prison, they found one lone Mexican cowboy guarding the jail. They successfully freed Dr. Arnabar, and soon he was practicing medicine back in Yuma. However, it is recorded by William Pakinkis that Dr. Arnabar never traveled to Mexico again. In the later part of his career he was appointed Yuma County Physician (Pakinkis; Love, Alspach, and Snowbarger 6-7).
In 1868, seven years after Dr. Arnabar arrived, it was documented by Dr. R. R. Knotts, who was a Yuma physician and historian from the early 1900s, that smallpox virus had rapidly spread throughout the town.It seemed that it would never end, unless a miracle happened. And it did, in the form of a deserter, a gold mine, and Dr. DeCorse. Dr. DeCorse had been a medical doctor in the Civil War; afterwards he traveled around Cape Horn, wound his way up to San Francisco and later moved down to San Bernardino. There he treated an army deserter from Fort Yuma, who paid him with a bag of ore. Dr. DeCorse’s love of mining inspired him to travel down to southern Arizona, in search of this great mine. Shortly after beginning their trip, the deserter died so Dr. DeCorse traveled alone into Yuma during the severe smallpox epidemic. He quickly began to practice and soon the smallpox epidemic was beaten. He settled down, married in Yuma, and became the first doctor for the railroad, prison, county, and school. For a few years, Dr. Arnabar and Dr. DeCorse both practiced in Yuma, however Dr. Arnabar died in 1877, leaving Dr. DeCorse as the only medical doctor. Although Dr. DeCorse spent most of his time practicing medicine and caring for his patients, he never gave up his love for mining. To provide him more time to go exploring the hills of southern Arizona, he requested that his friend and colleague Dr. Taggart come to practice in Yuma, too (Morton 7; Knotts, Gershaw).
In response to Dr. DeCorse’s request, Dr. Taggart moved to Yuma, in 1874. Dr. Taggart, like Dr. DeCorse, had his hobbies. He was very interested in agriculture and often experimented on cotton, grapes, and figs. He, also, served as the Yuma County Treasurer and Fish commissioner. Since Dr. DeCorse and Dr. Taggart practiced together for seventeen years, they were the first medical group in Yuma. For the first two years, they practiced as the only doctors in Yuma (Morton 7).
From 1876 until 1910 nineteen documented physicians practiced in Yuma. Many came to practice in the Yuma Territorial Prison or Fort Yuma; others came because the railroad passed through the town. However, all of the doctors provided medicine to the citizens as well. In 1884 Dr. Cotter arrived in Yuma. In addition to practicing medicine he is known for founding the first high-rise. This building was located in downtown Yuma near the Southern Pacific Railroad station, and had his drug store, Wells Fargo, and post office. Dr. Clymer was the first reclamation service surgeon in Yuma, Arizona. In this position, he came to Yuma to provide care to those working on the dams and irrigation canals in the Yuma and Imperial Valley areas for the United States Reclamation Service. He also was the first doctor to own an automobile. In 1908, Dr. Raymond Roy Knotts arrived as the assistant reclamation service surgeon to Dr. Clymer (Morton).
According to a journal article written by Dr. Orville Brown, Dr. R. R. Knotts had a “cheery disposition, smile, and good word for everyone, he made many friends and attracted a large and continually growing practice”(qtd. in Brown). Before World War I Knotts served in the National Guard, as a lieutenant and later as a captain. During World War I, he served in the medical corps and he was sent to France, where he was praised for his excellent work and efficiency. After the war, he stayed in France working in the hospitals and caring for the wounded and A.E.F (American Expeditionary Forces). Upon his return he said, “Yuma looks mighty good to me after my service in the rain and mud of France, I expect to permanently abide where the sun shines all the time” (qtd. in Brown). During his time in Yuma he had a prominent place in medical, social, and political offices. He served as the County Physician and Superintendent of the Indian School, the director of the Rotary Club, the president of the Yuma County Medical Association, and the historian of the doctors and hospitals in Yuma (Brown).
While many of these doctors opened up private hospitals, others worked together in a medical center called the Molina Block. The Molina Block was built in 1875. T.M. Schultz wrote in a newspaper article, “It [was] a medical mall of sorts, and many of the doctors and dentists in Yuma practiced there” (“Molina Block…”). It is located in the Brinley Avenue Historic District, just south of the Sanguinetti House. The first hospital was started in the St. Joseph convent on Main Street, across the street from the Catholic Church. In the hospital, “there was an operation table and some pots and pans” (Knotts, Gershaw). It was founded in 1891 and was abandoned before 1908 due to lack of funding. The next recorded hospital was the Wilson House, founded in 1892, it accommodated twenty patients and overlooked the Yuma Territorial Prison. Mrs. George (Mercedes) Wilson Downey ran the hospital with a contract from the county to treat indigent patients. She was highly beloved by the community as a midwife, foster mother, and embalmer. The other hospitals in early Yuma included the Yuma County Hospital, Yuma General Hospital, and Cochran Sanatarium (Morton; Knotts and Gershaw). Many of these hospitals were closed during the Great Depression. In the year 1958 Parkview Hospital was founded, and it eventually became Yuma Regional Medical Center.
Beginning in 1849 and continuing to the present, there has been a well-documented path of medicine in Yuma. Medicine has changed in many new and exciting ways, but some things will always be the same; the doctors attend, the nurses care, and the community supports. Medicine is important to Yuma History, the significance never wanes nor waxes. The only thing that changes is how the community looks at medicine. Therefore, the community should participate in the continuing history of medicine in Yuma.