Yesterday, Monday, I visited Ft. Bowie. It is a park administered by the National Park Service. But it's way remote! To get to it requires a 10 mile drive on a dirt road, then a 1 1/2 mile hike up the side of the mountain through desert and mountain scrub, dry washes and so forth.

NOTE: YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PIC HERE TO ENLARGE IT AND SEE LOTS OF DETAIL.

In the photo the Fort was laid out from the small building you see bottom center. It is a ranger station. There were actually two forts built. The first burned, and the second eventually contained at least 29 structures, including a hospital, barn, officers and enlisted quarters, mess hall, store as well as a large parade ground. (All military facilities HAVE to have a parade ground for marching, inspections, ceremonies,etc!).
The first Fort was constructed starting in 1862. The second was abandoned in 1894 after Geronomo was captured and the Apache Wars were pretty much ended. old historic cavalry/indian sites, and a cemetery. After I left the ranger station (the building in the photo), I hiked up hill further, to get to the very top of the hill where a person has a commanding view in all directions. My legs were getting pretty rubbery feeling by the time I got back to the trail head!

The fort was built for two main purposes: to protect travellers and the U.S. Mail through Apache Pass and to protect Apache Springs, the ONLY water source in the region. The cavalry intended to prevent the indians from getting any water, hoping to eradicate them. That in turn led to many, many bloody battles. In those days, the Apache's were mostly on the warpath and they killed with abandon. The main U.S.Mail route from Memphis/St. Louis went right up through Apache Pass and over to San Francisco, a distance of 2,812 miles that took 25 days. The mail was hauled by Butterfield Overland Mail, who had won a $600,000 annual contract to do this job. They also hauled passengers on the stagecoach. Postage for a letter on this trip was 10 cents; passengers paid $150 apiece, no meals included! Butterfield had a stage station very close to the Fort. So water was important to them too, for both passengers and the animals pulling the stage.

Anyway, tons of history and it was a good trip. Today I'm going to the Chiricahua National Monument listed as 12,000 acres of rocks! (They're BIG).

I'm going to have to extend my stay in this area. So many interesting places I want to see. Most, if not all, are directly related to the cavlary, indians and cowboys.

My water line to the RV froze last night (it's just a white hose). So I turned on my onboard water pump and used my own water this morning. I'm sure the hose will thaw with the sun and be just fine.


This is a "thatched Wickiup" that the Apache's lived in.

The Springs