Fort Bowie, Arizona: defending the West

 

Remains of Fort Bowie

Fort Bowie may be a little bit out of the way for some tourists, but for travelers interested in learning more about the Frontier West it is well worth the effort to get there.

Located in southeast Arizona, Fort Bowie is the first tourist attraction visitors driving Interstate 10 from New Mexico will come to. Conversely, it is the last attraction motorists headed from Tucson to Las Cruces, New Mexico, will find.

Getting to the fort

 

The remains of the first and second Fort Bowie are located about 14 miles from Bowie, a small community that appears to be turning into a ghost town, with many main street buildings boarded up. After exiting the freeway, follow the signs, turning on Apache Pass Road.

 

A few miles down this paved road, the road to the Fort Bowie National Historic Site spikes to the left, while Apache Pass Road leads to the trailhead. There visitors can walk 1.5 miles through the hills to the fort’s remains. The trailhead has ample parking and clean restrooms, but no potable water, so be sure to bring plenty, especially on hot days.

 

Remains of Fort Bowie

Where the road spikes, the sign to the visitor center specifies this entrance is for handicapped visitors only. There are only two disabled parking spaces at the small visitor center, and motorists need to call ahead for the gate to be opened. There is parking for a few more cars below the visitor center, but this involves walking up an uneven stone and dirt path. Since the site only gets about 8,000 visitors a year, chances are good, parking will be available.  

Before taking this route, however, motorists need to decide how comfortable they feel driving on a narrow, one-lane gravel road with no shoulders or pull-offs. If you meet a car coming the other way, one of you is going to have to do a lot of backing up. If we had left the visitor center a few minutes later, that’s what would have happened to us since we encountered a delivery truck coming up the hill just past where the road widened.

A remote hillside fort

Plaque of Fort Bowie in 1894



Fort Bowie has a nice informational visitor center that is operated by the National Park Service, which administers the site. There are photographs of what the fort looked like in its heyday. The Army abandoned the fort in 1894; local farmers tore down buildings and fences for wood to build at their sites. What remains are fragments of adobe buildings that have survived the elements since that time. Troops also defended the area when Confederate soldiers invaded during the Civil War, hoping to secure the Southwest for the Confederacy.

The fort is named from Col. George Washington Bowie, leader of the California Volunteers who staffed the fort. It’s probable that he shared common ancestors with Jim Bowie of the Bowie knife and Alamo fame. The fort later became a stop for the Butterfield Overland Mail route.

 

Apache wars

Fort Bowie was an important fort during the  years of war with the Chiricahua Apaches. These wars started in approximately 1861, with the first Fort Bowie being established the following year. The war started when Cochise and  Lt. George Bascom failed to agree on how to rescue the stepson of a local farmer who claimed Apaches had kidnapped him and killed 20 cattle. During the coming days, each side would execute hostages, with a full-fledged battle ensuing. Cochise would visit the fort three times after he signed  a peace treaty ending the wars in 1872.

Walking in the shadow of the legendary Chiricahua Chief Cochise

Monument to Cochise

If you’ve ever watched the Western movie, Broken Arrow, you’ll see the rugged country that the Chiricahua Apaches lived in.  Trails that started in the desert, led through forests and finally through magnificent rock formations of the Dragoon Mountains in southeastern Arizona. At the end of the trail was the stronghold of the Chiricahuas’ great leader, Cochise.


The movie stars Jeff Chandler as Cochise and James Stewart as Tom Jeffords, the only white man Cochise trusted. It is based on the real-life friendship the two men shared.

It’s possible to visit Cochise’s stronghold, if you have the stamina t o hike the five miles into it  (I didn’t). The trail to his stronghold starts at the Cochise Stronghold Campground, a small out-of-the-way campground operated by the U.S. Forest Service. The trail to the stronghold takes off from a shorter, 0.4-mile nature trail at the campground.

Beginning of Cochise and nature trails

Legend has it that Cochise is buried in the mountains around his stronghold, but no one alive now  knows where. Only his immediate family and Tom Jeffords knew where he was buried, and they are all dead.

The campground is open only from September 1 through May 31. While there’s plenty of room between camping spaces, the spaces aren’t very long, and are best suited to tent or pick-up truck campers. Trailers longer than 22 feet are not allowed.  Rigs need to be self-contained as hook-ups are not available. The campground has clean toilets, but potable water is not available.

The campground is located eight miles off of Highway 191, 12 miles off Interstate 10. Turn on Ironwood Road.  The road starts off paved, then turns into gravel for the last few miles. Three streams must be forded; bridges are not available.