Fort Bowie, The Battle of Apache Pass, Cochise and Geronimo. |
I'd visited this historic area before, but returned with a digital camera to retake
photos . . . and do a little more hiking! For anyone who didn't see "Broken
Arrow", a very brief overview: Apache Pass first saw the white-eyes when railroad survey crews came through around 1850. For some time the vital spring in the Pass was shared amicably by both whites and Apaches, until one day in 1861 when a stupid (aren't they all?) 2nd Lt. Bascom took Chief Cochise hostage over a minor dispute. This developed into a ferocious eleven years war, until an army scout, Tom Jeffords (Jimmy Stewart!) talked Cochise into a truce. After Cochise died, Jeffords stayed on as Indian Agent, but after he left the Apaches — forcibly moved to the arid San Carlos Reservation — went on the warpath again under Geronimo. Fort Apache was built to protect the Pass, and remained garrisoned until after Geronimo "surrendered" in 1886. (Interesting sidebar: At the time of his surrender, Geronimo's band consisted of 16 warriors, 12 women, and 6 children. Forces chasing him numbered 5000 — a quarter of the entire U.S. army! Wonder if they had the same trouble finding recruits as George Bush?) |
Where it all started. The spot where Lt. Bascom took Cochise hostage. |
Above and Right: Remains of the Butterfield Stage station, and a section of the actual stage route west out of the Pass. |
Left: The fort cemetery. The marker is for Geronimo's son Little Robe, who died in
1885, aged two. |
Site of the Battle of Apache Pass, 1862, between Cochise and his ally Mangas Coloradas
and a column of "California Volunteers" stopping for water. The Apaches on
the heights were finally driven off by howitzers. |
Apache Springs, still providing water today — except now you're cautioned about
drinking it! |
The crumbling adobe foundations are all that's left today of Tom Jefford's cabin
(left) and Fort Bowie. Bleak symbols of America's Manifest Destiny, and how it
affected the Apache Nation. |