I watch a Time Life video, years ago, which said that in the 1800’s there was a port at the mouth of the Colorado River, called Thomson’s (or Thompson’s) Landing. Apparently there was a regular traffic of steamboats and other watercraft on the lower reaches of the river, even though groundings in the shallow water were commonplace. This activity pretty much came to an end with the advent of various dams and other water diversion projects which dried up the flow at the river’s mouth.
Until not so long ago there were archaeological remains of Thomson’s Landing that could still be seen, although I suspect that floods over the past 10 years or so may have obliterated them by now.
Does anyone know of a good site on the web that gives some history and pictures of Thomson’s Landing? I’ve googled quite extensively, but find nothing beyong dry USGS survey data.
Where is the “mouth” of the Colorado, in terms of present-day geography? Are we talking California, Nevada . . . ? I do know that because of the recent drought in the western states, the water levels at Lake Mead have dropped so much that a formerly submerged town named St Thomas is now visible above the water. I also know that there are several other submerged settlements under Lake Mead, as well as the other lakes formed by the various Colorado River dam projects.
The mouth of the Colorado is in the Sea of Cortez between mainland Mexco and the Baja Peninsula. The north of the US border the river forms the border between Arizona and California.
I thought I read once that the Colorado has virtually no “mouth” anymore, that so much of the water is used up along the way, hardly any makes it to the ocean.
But, sorry, even IIRC, that doesn’t answer the question posed in the OP.