The first significant contact of the Quechan with Europeans was with the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and his party in the winter of 1774. The historic Yuman-speaking people in this region were skilled warriors and active traders, maintaining exchange networks with the Pima in southern Arizona, New Mexico, and with peoples of the Pacific coast.
Its operations and the majority of its reservation land are located in California, United States. The federally recognized Quechan tribe's main office is located in Winterhaven, California. Members are enrolled into the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation. Despite their name, they are not related to the Quechua people of the Andes. The Quechan ( Quechan: Kwatsáan 'those who descended'), or Yuma, are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Yumas in 'United States and Mexican Boundary Survey.
