The Chiricahua Mountains

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

is a large

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in southeastern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

which is part of the

Basin and Range province The Basin and Range Province is a vast physiographic region covering much of the inland Western United States and northwestern Mexico. It is defined by unique basin and range topography, characterized by abrupt changes in elevation, alternating ...

of the west and

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

and northwest Mexico; the range is part of the

Coronado National Forest The Coronado National Forest is a United States National Forest that includes an area of about 1.78 million acres (7,200 km2) spread throughout mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. It is located in parts of ...

. The highest point, Chiricahua Peak, rises above sea level, approximately above the surrounding valleys. The range takes its name from the Chiricahua Apaches native to the region. The Chiricahua Mountains and other associated ranges, along with

Sulphur Springs Valley The Sulphur Springs Valley is a valley in the eastern half of Cochise County, Arizona. The valley covers an approximated vertical rectangle west of the Chiricahua Mountains–Dos Cabezas Mountains complex. The Sulphur Springs Valley is the larg ...

on the west and the

San Simon Valley The San Simon Valley is a broad valley east of the Chiricahua Mountains, in the northeast corner of Cochise County, Arizona and southeastern Graham County, Arizona, Graham County, with a small portion near Antelope Pass in Hidalgo County, New Mex ...

on the east, form the eastern half of

Cochise County Cochise County () is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after the Native American chief Cochise. The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Bisbee and the most populous city is ...

in southeast Arizona. The Pedregosa Mountains are found at the southern end of the Chiricahua Mountains, while the

Swisshelm Mountains The Swisshelm Mountains are a small mountain range adjacent to the southwest corner of the Chiricahua Mountains of eastern Cochise County, Arizona. They are separated from the Pedrogosa Mountains to the southeast, the Chiricahuas to the northea ...

are located to the southwest. The northwest end of the Chiricahua mountains continue as the

Dos Cabezas Mountains The Dos Cabezas Mountains are a mountain range in southeasternmost Arizona, United States. The Dos Cabezas Mountains Wilderness lies east of Willcox and south of Bowie in Cochise County. The mountain range's name means Two Heads in Spanish ...

beyond

Apache Pass Apache Pass, also known by its earlier Spanish name Puerto del Dado ("Pass of the Die"), is a historic mountain pass in the U.S. state of Arizona between the Dos Cabezas Mountains and Chiricahua Mountains at an elevation of . It is approximately ...

and the

Fort Bowie National Historic Site A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. Access to the Chiricahua Mountains and

is through Willcox from the north,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

from the south, and

Rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

from the east. Part of the range lies within the Chiricahua Wilderness, managed by the Coronado National Forest.

History

The earliest evidence of humans in the vicinity of the Chiricahua Mountains are Clovis archeological sites such as Double Adobe Site in the Whitewater Draw tributary of

Rucker Creek Rucker may refer to: People * Rucker (surname) Places United States * Rucker Park Greg Marius Court at Holcombe Rucker Park is a basketball court in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, at 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, just ea ...

north of

. Subsequently, the Cochise culture another pre-ceramic based culture spanning 3000–200 BCE was defined from sites around the Chiricahua Mountains, including

Cave Creek Canyon A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

. Following the transition to ceramics, artifacts characteristic of both

Mogollon culture Mogollon culture () is an archaeological culture of Native American peoples from Southern New Mexico and Arizona, Northern Sonora and Chihuahua, and Western Texas. The northern part of this region is Oasisamerica, while the southern span of the M ...

and its local variants, the

Mimbres culture Mogollon culture () is an archaeological culture of Native American peoples from Southern New Mexico and Arizona, Northern Sonora and Chihuahua, and Western Texas. The northern part of this region is Oasisamerica, while the southern span of the Mo ...

, are found. These relics span the period from 150 BCE – 1450. The influx of other

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, such as the Chiricahua Apaches, including the leaders

Cochise Cochise (; Apache: ''Shi-ka-She'' or ''A-da-tli-chi'', lit.: ''having the quality or strength of an oak''; later ''K'uu-ch'ish'' or ''Cheis'', lit. ''oak''; June 8, 1874) was leader of the Chihuicahui local group of the Chokonen and principa ...

and

Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache ba ...

occupied the area until forced removal in the late 19th century. The name Chiricahua is believed to originate from the

Opata The Opata (written Ópata in Spanish, pronounced with stress on the first syllable: /ˈopata/) are three indigenous peoples of Mexico. Opata territory, the “Opatería” in Spanish, encompasses the mountainous northeast and central part of the ...

name for the mountains, ''Chiwi Kawi'', meaning "Turkey Mountain". The Chiricahuas were once known for an abundance of wild turkeys. The first recorded mining claim in the Chiricahua Mountains was the Hidden Treasure claim filed in 1881, and mining has continued intermittently to the present with the greatest periods of activity occurring in the 1920s and 1950s. More recently, the Chiricahuas have fallen into use by people smugglers and drug cartels, who position lookouts on their peaks to warn of Border Patrol activities.

Geology overview

The Chiricahua Mountains are an uplifted structural block of the

Basin and Range Basin and range topography is characterized by alternating parallel mountain ranges and valleys. It is a result of crustal extension due to mantle upwelling, gravitational collapse, crustal thickening, or relaxation of confining stresses. The e ...

. The mountains contain

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

basement rocks,

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

and

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

s around a

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

complex formed by

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

eruptions and intrusions 35–25 million years ago. The last major eruption, 27 million years ago, created the Turkey Creek Caldera and laid down of

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcano, volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used t ...

which fused into welded

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

. Subsequent erosion has created mountain ridges covered in stone spires and stone columns,

hoodoos A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, or earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock formed by erosion. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the ...

, that rise up out of the forest. These natural features, preserved in the

Chiricahua National Monument Chiricahua National Monument is a unit of the National Park System located in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. The monument was established on April 18, 1924, to protect its extensive hoodoos and balancing rocks. The Faraway Ra ...

, are composed of Rhyolite Canyon Tuff. A one to two mile wide band of

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...

rock running southeast to northwest from south of Portal through Paradise and up to the Dos Cabezas Mountains is the source of mineralized deposits. The largest of the mines developed in the California district of the Chiricahua Mountains was the Hilltop mine which consisted of 3 interconnected levels totaling .

Flora and fauna

The Chiricahua Mountains are a bio-diverse area which is composed of numerous

sky islands Sky islands are isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau, and has extended to similarly isolated high-elevation forests. The isolation has si ...

. Five of the 9

life zones The life zone concept was developed by C. Hart Merriam in 1889 as a means of describing areas with similar plant and animal communities. Merriam observed that the changes in these communities with an increase in latitude at a constant elevation ar ...

are found in the Chiricahua Mountains. Three hundred and seventy-five avian species have been recorded from the Chiricahua Mountains; some are largely Mexican species for which southern Arizona is the northern limits of their ranges. Other animals of note include

ocelots The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southwe ...

jaguars The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...

mountain lions The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

, black bears, and

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

. With the base of the Chiricahuas at about , the range covers about in elevation. Grasslands and desert cover the base of the range, with

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

and

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

at the highest elevations. Cave Creek Canyon on the east side is home to the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

Southwest Research Station and the small towns of

Portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...

and

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

Species associated with the range

Arizona sycamore ''Platanus wrightii'', the Arizona sycamore, is a sycamore tree native to Arizona and New Mexico with its range extending south into the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Sinaloa.Laferriere, J.E. Platanaceae, "Sycamore or Plane Tree Fam ...

* '' Catocala violenta'' (=''Catocala chiricahua'') * ''

Charadra tapa ''Charadra tapa'' is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Chiricahua, Huachuca, and Santa Rita Mountains of south-eastern Arizona, although the species probably occurs in adjacent parts of Mexico. The length of the forewings is 18 ...

'' *

Chiricahua leopard frog The Chiricahua leopard frog (''Lithobates chiricahuensis'' syn. ''Rana chiricahuensis'') is a species of frog in the family Ranidae, the true frogs. Distribution and habitat It is native to Mexico and the United States (Arizona and New Mexico) ...

Eared quetzal The eared quetzal (''Euptilotis neoxenus''), also known as the eared trogon, is a near passerine bird in the trogon family, Trogonidae. It is native to streamside pine-oak forests and canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico south to ...

Elegant trogon The elegant trogon (''Trogon elegans''), also known as the coppery-tailed trogon, is a near passerine bird in the trogon family. Taxonomy ''T. elegans'' has five recognized subspecies, including the nominate subspecies: *''T. e. elegans'' Gould ...

Nine-banded armadillo The nine-banded armadillo (''Dasypus novemcinctus''), also known as the nine-banded long-nosed armadillo or common long-nosed armadillo, is a mammal found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos. It ...

* '' Hypotrix lunata'' *

Johann's pinyon ''Pinus johannis'', the Johann's pine, is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to North America. The range extends from southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico, United States, south in Mexico along the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sie ...

* ''

Lilium parryi ''Lilium parryi'', common name lemon lily, is a rare species of lily. ''Lilium parryi'' is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico where it grows in moist areas in mountain habitats. In California it is currently known ...

'' * ''

Lithophane leeae ''Lithophane leeae'' is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is only found in the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the ...

'' *

Madrean pine-oak woodlands The Madrean Region (named after the Sierra Madre Occidental) is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in North America, as delineated by Armen Takhtajan and Robert F. Thorne. It occupies arid or semiarid areas in the southwestern United ...

Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir ''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''glauca'', or Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, is an evergreen conifer native to the interior mountainous regions of western North America, from central British Columbia and southwest Alberta in Canada southward through ...

* '' Tricholita ferrisi''– ((?) found only at Onion Saddle)

Gallery

File:Chiricahua nima4.JPG,

File:Chiricahua nima6.JPG, Hoodoos, Chiricahua National Monument File:Chiricahua Nima1.JPG, Trees and hoodoos, Chiricahua National Monument File:SpherulitesChiricahua.JPG,

Spherulites In petrology, spherulites () are small, rounded bodies that commonly occur in vitreous igneous rocks. They are often visible in specimens of obsidian, pitchstone, and rhyolite as globules about the size of millet seed or rice grain, with a dul ...

File:Taghdeem be doostam Pastoral.JPG, Road to

File:Chiricahuamountainsarizona.jpg, Sunglow Ranch File:Cave Creek Canyon.JPG, Cave Creek Canyon File:Chiricahua map.jpg, Chiricahua Mountain Range (

), and its sub-Ranges, with the bordering valleys.

References

External links

The Nature Explorers Chiricahua Expedition
A 2-hour 49 minute ecosystem video. * *
Chiricahua Peak Summit, trails, mountainzone.com, (coord)

Chiricahua Mountains Study Area

Map of Chiricahua and Dos Cabezas Mountains

* {{Authority control Mountain ranges of Cochise County, Arizona Madrean Sky Islands mountain ranges Coronado National Forest Mountain ranges of Arizona