Cameron bridge renamed for Navajo Code Talker Jimmie Preston

A major crossing in Cameron now carries the name of a Navajo Code Talker whose service reached Iwo Jima and whose community leadership ended in 1966. The bridge over the Little Colorado River on U.S. Highway 89 is now being identified as the Jimmie Preston Memorial Bridge, a visible change in Apache County’s public landscape.

Family members, veterans, tribal officials and state lawmakers gathered April 20 to unveil new signs at the span, marking the latest step in a naming effort that gave Preston a place on one of the region’s most traveled routes. Traffic was already crossing the new Cameron bridge on Wednesday, May 14, even as the formal naming process continued.

The renaming carries unusual weight because it is being described as the first bridge in Arizona named for a Navajo Code Talker. For Cameron, a crossroads for residents, travelers and people moving between the Navajo Nation and northern Arizona, the designation puts Diné military history directly into the daily path of motorists who use U.S. 89.

Arizona House Concurrent Memorial 2006 urged the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names and the United States Board on Geographic Names to take the steps needed to adopt the bridge name. Legislative text says Jimmie Preston died on February 18, 1966, while serving as Cameron Chapter president, linking his wartime service to his local role in Navajo governance.

The turnout at the unveiling reflected that dual legacy. Cameron Chapter officials, the Cameron Veterans Organization, Navajo Nation Police, Arizona Highway Patrol officers, Arizona Department of Transportation representatives, the mayor of Tusayan and members of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors were among those reported at the ceremony, alongside veterans, tribal officials and state lawmakers.

For Apache County, the new bridge name does more than honor one man. It makes Navajo military service part of a public roadway that thousands will see and use, turning infrastructure into a marker of memory. The span now stands as both a transportation link and a formal reminder that the history of the Navajo Code Talkers is not confined to ceremonies or textbooks, but etched into a place where everyday travel and tribal history meet.