Doubtful Canyon was the name of two canyons in the Peloncillo Mountains, once considered in the 19th century as one canyon that served as the pass through those mountains. Today the canyon bearing the name Doubtful Canyon, is mostly in

Cochise County, Arizona 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 ...

, near the

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

border. It descends to the east into the

Animas Valley The Animas Valley is a lengthy and narrow, north–south long, valley located in western Hidalgo County, New Mexico in the Bootheel Region; the extreme south of the valley lies in Sonora-Chihuahua, in the extreme northwest of the Chihuahuan D ...

past Steins Peak it is in

Hidalgo County, New Mexico Hidalgo County ( es, Condado de Hidalgo) is the southernmost county of the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 4,894. The county seat and largest city is Lordsburg. A bill creating Hidalgo from the southern par ...

. Doubtful Canyon has a tributary, Little Doubtful Canyon that joins it just east of the Arizona New Mexico border. The western canyon is now called West Doubtful Canyon and it descends into the San Simon Valley, in

History

The mountain water sources and the low north south divide that lay between the two Doubtful canyons made it a favored shortcut for early east west travelers to the

Southern Emigrant Trail :''The Southern Emigrant Trail should not be confused with the Applegate Trail, which is part of the Northern Emigrant Trails.'' Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as the Gila Trail, the Kearny Trail, Southern Trail and the Butterfield Stage ...

wagon road that ran farther south before turning west. Doubtful Canyon and West Doubtful Canyon formed the pass where the

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially the Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service i ...

passed through the Peloncillo Mountains. Later near Steins Peak, the Steins Peak Station of the Butterfield Overland Mail was located in Doubtful Canyon. Steins Peak Station was destroyed and its keepers killed by the Apache in 1861.On May 4, 1864, soldiers of

California Column The California Column was a force of Union volunteers sent to Arizona and New Mexico during the American Civil War. The command marched over from California through Arizona and New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and as far east as El Paso ...

fought a band of Apache in the Skirmish in Doubtful Canyon, in the canyon near Steins Peak.

References

{{reflist Valleys of Arizona Valleys of New Mexico Landforms of Cochise County, Arizona Landforms of Hidalgo County, New Mexico