Gila Bend, Arizona History: How It Got Its Name and the Painted Rock Petroglyphs

Gila Bend is named for a sharp bend in the Gila River, about a 90-degree turn near where the town sits today. Out west of town, Painted Rock Petroglyph Site holds about 800 images pecked into dark boulders by people who lived here long before stagecoaches and trains. Between those two ideas, the river and the rock, you get most of this desert town's story.

I spend most of my time in the busy parts of the Valley, but I always find myself curious about the places you pass on the way to somewhere else. Drive I-8 toward Yuma and Gila Bend is the little town with the gas stations and the long horizon. Here is what I found when I looked into where it came from.

Why It Is Called Gila Bend

The name is as plain as it sounds. According to the town's Wikipedia entry, it comes from an approximately 90-degree bend in the Gila River near the community's current location. For anyone traveling across this stretch of desert, a river that turns is a landmark, and a river with water in it was the reason to stop at all.

That is why this spot shows up in so many travel accounts. Father Kino is listed as the first European to visit, in 1699, and Father Garces came through in 1774. The Anza Trail pages for Maricopa County put Juan Bautista de Anza's expedition at the Gila Bend area in November 1775, where the party camped and rested until November 11. A bend in a river, a place to water animals, and then a road: that is the order it usually goes in the desert.

Stagecoaches, Then the Railroad

In the 1850s the route through here carried the mail. Wikipedia says a stop called Gila Ranch Station served the San Antonio to San Diego line and the Butterfield route (it lists 1858 for the Butterfield stop). The Bureau of Land Management says the Butterfield trail was in use until the railroad was built in 1879.

Sources do not agree on every early date for the settlement itself, so I will not pin the town to one year. What the sources do agree on is the pattern: a station grew into a small settlement, the railroad arrived, and wells drilled by the railroad pulled the community to a new townsite a few miles away. If you like the story of how Maricopa moved to follow the railroad, Gila Bend has a similar chapter.

Painted Rock Petroglyph Site

The best reason to take the exit is the rock art. The Bureau of Land Management manages Painted Rock Petroglyph Site, and its pages say the petroglyphs were made centuries ago by indigenous peoples. Wikipedia describes the main site as the largest known one in the area, with about 800 images, and says more than forty petroglyph sites have been recorded nearby. The images are pecked into weathered basalt boulders that sit on a granite outcrop.

Who made them is not a one-line answer. Wikipedia calls it a Hohokam rock art site but notes it sits on the extreme western edge of the Hohokam area, with Patayan-style petroglyphs found farther west. I would rather tell you that archaeologists are careful about this than hand you a tidy date, because none of the sources I read gives a firm age for the carvings.

To find it, the BLM says to leave I-8 at Painted Rock Dam Road (Exit 102), about 12.5 miles west of Gila Bend, then go north 10.7 miles and west 0.6 miles on Rocky Point Road. The BLM asks visitors not to climb on the rocks and to keep dogs out. It also warns that the area can flash flood during monsoon season. The campground there has vault toilets and no water or electric hookups, so bring what you need. Check the BLM page for current hours and rules before you drive out, since I could not confirm them this run.

A Little Roadside Fun: The Space Age Lodge

One more local landmark. The Space Age Lodge motel and restaurant, which opened in 1963, is named for its space-age themed architecture and decor. It is the kind of mid-century roadside sign you notice from the freeway and remember later.

Questions People Ask

How did Gila Bend get its name? It was named for a roughly 90-degree bend in the Gila River near where the town sits. The bend was a landmark and a water source for travelers crossing the desert.

What are the Painted Rock petroglyphs? They are rock carvings pecked into basalt boulders west of Gila Bend, with about 800 images at the main site. The BLM manages the site, and the carvings were made centuries ago by indigenous peoples.

How far is Painted Rock from Gila Bend? The BLM puts the turn-off at Exit 102 on I-8, about 12.5 miles west of town, followed by a drive north and a short drive west. Check the BLM page for current conditions before you go.

Is Gila Bend near the Phoenix area? It is on I-8 southwest of the Valley, and it has listings of its own. If you are curious about homes in the area, see Gila Bend listings, and for the West Valley towns closer in, read my guides to Buckeye and Maricopa. If you like desert stories, I also wrote about how the White Tank Mountains got their name.