Showman Buffalo Bill Cody also a miner in Arizona

Library of Congress photo

Most people know William Frederick Cody as a Pony Express rider, Indian fighter, buffalo hunter and internationally as a showman. He was also a gold miner in southern Arizona. 

Born in Iowa in 1846, he moved with his family Canada and then to Kansas where his father operated a trading post at an Indian agency. Young Cody went to work to support his family after his father died in 1857. He became enamored of gold at age 14 and was on his way to California when, he became a Pony Express rider, outsmarting outlaws and Indians as he rode his 45-mile route. 

He scouted for the Union Army against the Indians during the Civil War and continued doing so after the war. He was given the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Plains War with the Indians. Cody received the nickname of “Buffalo Bill,” after killing more than 4,200 buffalo in 18 months to supply meat for the Kansas Pacific Railroad. 

He turned to acting when he was 26 years old. Reportedly he wasn’t very good at it, but the crowds loved him anyway. He founded his Wild West show in 1883, eventually touring throughout the United States and Europe. 

But the quest for precious metals that inspired a young   Cody to head for California never really left him. In 1903 he invested in mining ventures, primarily at Camp Bonita, in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains near Oracle, Arizona. Reportedly, he never visited the mine until 1910. Besides gold, the Camp Bonito mines also contained silver and tungsten. The light bulb invented by Thomas Edison used tungsten from Cody’s mines.  

Cody often camped at the mine or stayed in nearby Oracle if his wife was with him.  He eventually owned property in the foothills, with a home, La Casa del High Jinks, built there in 1933. This house today is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The High Jinks ranch is located up a winding dirt road. Itt offers respite for hikers on the Arizona Trail. Remains of some mining operations can be seen at the entrance to the compound.

Cibique, Arizona, site of fight that kicked off new round of Apache wars

Entering Cibique

Cibique, Arizona, is a quiet community of about 1,300 souls surrounded by rolling hills. Dogs and horses freely roam the streets; the community’s middle and high schools are topped by a dome that can be seen from blocks away. 

But Cibique wasn’t always this peaceful. 

In August 1881, it was the scene of a battle between the Apaches and the cavalry from Fort Apache that ultimately resulted in the mass defection of the post’s Indian scouts and Canon Apache warriors joining forces with Geronimo. 

Unhealthy conditions and corruption were the rule on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, A respected medicine man, Nock-ay-det-klinne, began holding ghost dances in the village as the Apaches tried to cope with the disruption of a lifestyle they had enjoyed for centuries.  Some of these ceremonies took place near Fort Apache, with the Army’s Indian scouts attending.  Because of this, Nock-ay-det-klinne, who had counseled Geronimo and Cochise, among other Apache leaders, became a target for the cavalry, especially as fort officers became suspicious of the scouts who attended the ceremonies.

Two horses "dine" on streetside vegetation

The Army soon came to mistrust the scouts, fearing they would side with the other Apaches should an uprising occur. They confiscated their weapons. 

On August 29, the Sixth Cavalry with 79 enlisted men and 23 scouts left Fort Apachte to arrest Nock-ay-det-klinne, the medicine man. After several days of riding over rough, rocky terrain, the Army reached Nock-ay-det-klinne’s camp. They started back to the fort with the medicine man in custody. 

A battle erupted as the Army began to make camp for the night. It became more deadly when the scouts turned against the soldiers, six of whom were killed before the scouts began defending the Army. Later that night, after burying their dead, the Army sneaked out under cover of darkness. It was a victory for the Apaches.

During the attack, Nock-ay-det-klinne, his wife and son, were killed, further inciting the Apaches. Two days later, Apaches attacked the fort, and later joined forces with other regional Apache tribes, including the Chiruicahuas, to set off a regional uprising. It was a war that was to last for two years. 

Fields around Cibique

Cibique is located on the White Mountain Apache Reservation on Indian Highway 12,  about 12 miles from Highway 60, a few miles south of the Fort Apache  junction. If there are any monuments marking the battle site, they are not easily found.

Outdoor sculptures grace old-fashioned Arizona mall

A bison welcomes  visitors to the  Shops at Bison Ranch

The Shops at Bison Ranch is more than just a small shopping mall. It can also double as a tourist attraction with its neat collection of outdoor bronze sculptures.

This Overgaard, Arizona, mall is eye-catching to begin with, featuring colorful old-fashioned store fronts, but drive slowly around it and through the exclusive subdivision of cabins in the back to see a collection of Western sculptures, including buffalo and bronc riders.

 

 The sculptures remind me of the glorious bronze statues located on Main Street in Joseph, Oregon. 

Shops at Bison Ranch is located about 30 miles west of Show Low on Highway 260, also known as the Mogollon Trail, which connects Show Low and Payson. 

k to see a collection of Western sculptures, including buffalo and bronc riders.
The sculptures remind me of the glorious bronze statues found on Main Street in Joseph, Oregon. 

Shops at Bison Ranch is located about 30 miles west of Show Low on Highway 260, also known as the Mogollon Trail, which connects Show Low and Payson. 

Go down under at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Carlsbad Caverns

If you’re traveling through southern Mexico and Carlsbad Caverns isn’t on your list of sights to see, put it there. This phenomenon of nature is well worth the detour.

Located in the Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns was formed 250 million years ago when it was the coastline for an inland sea. Inside you’ll find 119 caves with stunning stalactite and stalagmite formations. Some look like big boulders, others like gigantic icicles.  These limestone formations are all stunning.

The formations can be found in “rooms,” some of which are huge. The Big Room, for example, got its name because it’s the biggest down there. It is 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide and 285 feet high. It is the fifth largest cavern in North America.

Formations and caves have names, such as the Balloon Ballroom, Witch’s Finger, Chocolate High, Halloween Hall and Left Hand Tunnel. Signage throughout describes what you’re looking at. 

And, of course, there’s the Bat Cave, so named because the cavern’s majority of bats sleep here during the day. They leave at sunset in swarms that’s a sight to see if you’re there at the time.

Carlsbad became a national monument in 1923 and a national park in 1930. 

Carlsbad Caverns

The caverns are accessible by hiking down a trail from the natural entrance or by elevator. I hiked down the trail when I first visited there in 1972 and found the paved steep walkway and handrails slippery with bat guano. To say the least, I was perturbed when I got to the bottom and saw the elevator.  I took it back up. When I visited again in the spring of 2017, I took the elevator both ways.

The caverns are handicapped accessible. Wheelchairs are permitted on the main trail, but only to a certain point. After that, you’ll have to retrace your way back to the “lobby.”

Carlsbad Caverns is open daily, except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

You can see more pictures of Carlsbad Caverns on my Youtube slideshow.

White sand glistens in New Mexico

Driving in White Sands

It may look like snow and ice are covering the roads and hills, but don’t let appearances fool you. It’s sand. White sand. Like in White Sands National Monument.

The white sand here is considered one of the world’s natural wonders. You can walk on it (even barefoot if you want), slide on it, camp on it, hike on it or bicycle on it.

The white sand is actually salt gypsum crystal, but from a distance you’d be hard pressed to differentiate it from snow. The gypsum comes from the nearby San Andres and Sacramento mountains. Rain dissolves the gypsum and carries it to the Tularoso Basin where it dries out and becomes sand. Thanks to the wind, it then forms into dunes.

The monument is located in southern New Mexico, about 16 miles southwest of Alamagordo. The white sands have starred in a few monies, including Hang ‘em High and Young Guns II.

 During World War II, White Sands was used as a missile testing site. Testing continues today. The National Park Service warns hikers they might come across active missiles, which should not be disturbed. At times the monument is closed when missiles are being tested.

Otherwise the monument is open daily except for Christmas Day.

St. Stephen's: a scene of peace in Fort Stockton, Texas

St, Stephens

An old wooden church sits quietly on a street corner in Fort Stockton, Texas.

Constructed in 1896, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church is the oldest church in the Pecos region. Originally called St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, It was built in Pecos, 54 miles northwest of Fort Stockton, and moved to its present location at the intersection of Second Street and Spring Drive.

Members of the congregation bought the old church and placed it on land donated by Dr. D.J. Sirley.

Interior furnishings in this Victorian-style church include an ebony cross.

Services are held every Sunday at the church.

The church has been a Texas landmark since 1966.

Another view of St. Stephen's

The Alamo: most sacred ground in Texas

The Alamo

There is no more sacred ground in Texas than the site of an early Spanish mission, Mission San Antonio de Valero, more commonly known as The Alamo. Texans today consider it a shrine. It is an icon for the Lone Star state.

 The mission might have ended its days in peaceful obscurity except for a bloody battle that took place there in 1836 during the Texas Revolution for independence from Mexico. It was the turning point in the revolution. While the Texans may have lost the battle of the Alamo, a few months later they won their war for independence.

 Located in what today is the heart of San Antonio and surrounded by modern skyscrapers, the Alamo was built by the Franciscans in 1718. It was a combination of mission, hospital and fortress on the banks of the San Antonio River.  

A tour guide points out bullet holess

The battle for the Alamo began on February 23, 1836, when Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna amassed 6,000 troops outside the mission. With Texas defenders numbering only around 200, the conclusion was foregone from the start. Still, the Texans held on for 13 days before being overrun and massacred by the Mexican Army.

 Mexican troops had been stationed at the mission since the early 1800s, but were routed from their post by Texans in December 1835. Getting the mission back was revenge for them. 

Davy Crockett

National Archives photo

Among the Texas dead were William Travis, fort commander; Jim Bowie, 40, frontiersman and inventor of the famous Bowie knife, and Davy Crockett, 49, former Congressman and famed frontiersman. You can read about how the trio ended up in Texas, far room their homes, in Three Roads to The Alamo by  William C. Davis. A list of the defenders who died during the battle can be found on the Alamo's official wesite.

 If you visit the Alamo today, you’d be hard pressed to imagine the bloody conflict that took place there. The setting is an oasis filled with lush vegetation and a slow moving canal filled with vibrant orange fish. Since Texans consider the Alamo a shrine, visitors are cautioned to dress and behave respectfully while they’re on the grounds.

 The Alamo is open daily, except for Christmas Day, at 300 Alamo Plaza. Admission is free.

 More photos of the Alamo can be found on my YouTube slideshow, Remember the Alamo!.