Apache Pass
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Apache Pass, also known by its earlier Spanish name Puerto del Dado ("Pass of the Die"), is a historic
mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...
in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
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 ...
between 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 ...
and
Chiricahua Mountains The Chiricahua Mountains massif is a large mountain range in southeastern Arizona which is part of the Basin and Range province of the west and southwestern United States and northwest Mexico; the range is part of the Coronado National Forest. ...
at an elevation of . It is approximately east-southeast of
Willcox, Arizona Willcox is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. The city is located in the Sulphur Springs Valley, a flat and sparsely populated drainage basin dotted with seasonal lakes. The city is surrounded by Arizona's most prominent mountain r ...
, in
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 ...
.


Apache Spring

A natural
freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...
, Apache Spring, emerges from a geological fault line running through the pass. The history of Apache Pass begins with this spring – as the only reliable water source for many miles, the spring served as a critical resupply point for early travelers through the area. Indigenous peoples and westward migrants alike depended on the spring. For the local
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
people, the spring at Apache Pass became a sort of crossroads, with many trails from different directions converging on the site. The great Chiricahua Apache leader
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 ...
, along with many of his followers, favored the area as a camping spot in winter and spring. There were often hundreds of Chiricahuas living nearby. A little higher than the surrounding desert terrain, the pass was cooler on hot days, and the area around the spring provided abundant game and firewood.


Puerto del Dado

After Spanish and Mexican settlers began visiting the area, the spring at Apache Pass quickly became a flash point for conflict with the resident Apache tribes, leading to its original Spanish name ''Puerto del Dado'', the "Door (or Pass) of the Die", meaning "pass of chance", which compared the risky nature of crossing the pass to a game of chance, like one played by soldiers with dice. In the 1830s, some American fur trappers are believed to have traveled through Apache Pass. In 1846, Philip St. George Cooke, leading the
Mormon Battalion The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to July ...
that was surveying and constructing what became
Cooke's Wagon Road Cooke's Wagon Road or Cooke's Road was the first wagon road between the Rio Grande and the Colorado River to San Diego, through the Mexican provinces of Nuevo México, Chihuahua, Sonora and Alta California, established by Philip St. George ...
, bypassed the area, despite Cooke's awareness of its existence from his guides, because details of the route through the pass, including its extent and the availability of other nearby water sources, were unknown, in contrast to the longer route to the south that was eventually chosen. It subsequently fell to a party of Forty-Niners led by
John Coffee Hays John Coffee "Jack" Hays (January 28, 1817 – April 21, 1883) was an American military officer. A captain in the Texas Rangers and a military officer of the Republic of Texas, Hays served in several armed conflicts from 1836 to 1848, including a ...
to pioneer a shorter route between Mesilla and
Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...
, called the
Tucson Cutoff The Tucson Cutoff was a significant change in the route of the Southern Emigrant Trail. It became generally known after a party of Forty-Niners led by Colonel John Coffee Hays followed a route suggested to him by a Mexican Army officer as a shorte ...
, that took advantage of the pass. Hays followed the guidance of Mexican soldiers he encountered at Ojo Ynez on the
Burro Cienega Burro Cienega is a stream that arises at an elevation of 5990 feet, at , in the Big Burro Mountains in Grant County, New Mexico. Its mouth is at 4196 feet at a playa about 5.5 miles southeast of Lordsburg in Hidalgo County, New Mexico. History O ...
in
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
. The cutoff emerged as part of 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 ...
, which became the major southern route of east-west travel for wagons and stagecoaches until the coming of the railroads.


Apache Pass Station

In 1858, 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 ...
Company began stagecoach service between
Saint Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...
and
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
using a bow-shaped route down through Texas and the New Mexico Territory and on into southern California. They built a way station out of stone on the eastern side of Apache Pass, where they could rest their horses and utilize the water from the spring. It and the station at
Dragoon Springs, Arizona Dragoon Springs is an historic site in what is now Cochise County, Arizona, at an elevation of . The name comes from a nearby natural spring, Dragoon Spring, to the south in the Dragoon Mountains at (). The name originates from the 3rd U.S. Cava ...
were made from such durable material, an acknowledgement of the danger they felt from the local Apaches. Apache Pass Station () was originally 35 miles west of Stein's Peak Station in
Doubtful Canyon 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 Cochis ...
and 49 miles east of Dragoon Springs Station, with no water along the route except at these three stations. Later in 1858, two new stations were built between these older stations, so that Apache Pass Station was located 19 miles west of San Simon Station on the San Simon River and 15 miles from Ewell Station, which shortened the route between Apache Pass and Dragoon Springs, and provided water on both sections. It is likely that Cochise's band provided the stage travelers with firewood when he was in the area.


Bascom Affair

The construction of the stage station and the increasing use of the pass by white settlers set the stage for an incident often considered the starting point of Cochise's eleven-year war against the United States, and which was a formative element in the much longer struggle between Apache peoples and American settlers even after Cochise made his own peace. In February 1861, a detachment of federal troops under Lt. George N. Bascom made camp in Apache Pass, near the spring and the stage station, hoping to negotiate with Cochise and his Chiricahua Apaches for the return of a kidnapped child. When Cochise agreed to meet near the camp, Bascom attempted to arrest him and several other Apaches; the resulting stand-off, lasting several days, ended with the deaths of hostages on both sides. The affront sparked a war between Cochise and the Americans that included the
Battle of Apache Pass The Battle of Apache Pass was fought in 1862 at Apache Pass, Arizona, in the United States, between Apache warriors and the Union volunteers of the California Column as it marched from California to capture Confederate Arizona and to reinforc ...
in 1862, and which only ended eleven years later with a treaty facilitated by General Oliver O. Howard and a white teamster and friend of Cochise's named
Tom Jeffords Thomas Jefferson Jeffords (January 1, 1832 – February 19, 1914) was a United States Army scout, Indian agent, prospector, and superintendent of overland mail in the Arizona Territory. His friendship with Apache leader Cochise was instrumental ...
. Still, the residual anger of other Apache tribes continued for many years in the
Apache Wars The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. After the Mexic ...
, a direct result of Bascom's rash actions.


Fort Bowie

After the
Battle of Apache Pass The Battle of Apache Pass was fought in 1862 at Apache Pass, Arizona, in the United States, between Apache warriors and the Union volunteers of the California Column as it marched from California to capture Confederate Arizona and to reinforc ...
in July 1862, a United States military post, Fort Bowie, was built to protect the pass and the spring. First, a rudimentary post was constructed near the spring, then later, a more permanent post was constructed a little higher on nearby table-land. Ultimately, Fort Bowie became the headquarters for the fight against the Chiricahua Apaches. When Cochise and General Howard finally made peace, the resulting treaty provided for a large reservation to be set aside encompassing most of what is now
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 ...
, Arizona, and centered around Apache Pass, with the Indian agency adjacent to
Fort Bowie Fort Bowie was a 19th-century outpost of the United States Army located in southeastern Arizona near the present day town of Willcox, Arizona. The remaining buildings and site are now protected as Fort Bowie National Historic Site. Fort Bowi ...
. The Chiricahua reservation lasted about 4 years; with Cochise's death in 1874 and the dearth of leadership that followed, tensions (and possibly depredations) increased and the Chiricahuas were moved north to the
San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation (Western Apache: Tsékʼáádn), in southeastern Arizona, United States, was established in 1872 as a reservation for the Chiricahua Apache tribe as well as surrounding Yavapai and Apache bands removed fro ...
and consolidated there under Agent
John Clum John Philip Clum (September 1, 1851 – May 2, 1932) was an Indian agent for the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in the Arizona Territory. He implemented a limited form of self-government on the reservation that was so successful that o ...
so that they could be better managed.Roberts p.155-7. Apache Pass continued to play a major role in frontier history until after the final surrender of
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 ...
and his band of renegades in September 1886. In the early 1890s, with the close of the Apache Wars, Fort Bowie was decommissioned and abandoned. Travelers now bypassed the area on the railroad, built a few miles to the north. The only thing left behind at Apache Pass after the local ranchers scavenged the ruins for building materials were a few adobe walls, bleaching white in the sun and slowly washing away in the infrequent rains, and the memories of those who had lived through their experiences there.


Apache Pass today

Apache Pass is now located within
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'' ...
, managed and interpreted by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
, and, along with the surrounding peaks, stands like a mute guard over its unique history. The few remaining building walls in the area have been "stabilized" for preservation purposes, but will not be restored. Visitors who hike along the trails and drive along Apache Pass Road can see the remains of the Butterfield stage station (consisting of the stone foundation), the ruins of the Chiricahua Reservation's agency building, a cemetery, and the remnants of the two forts that were constructed there. The route of the stage trail can still be seen, as well as the sites near the top of the pass where Lt. Bascom executed his Apache hostages and Cochise's followers burned his. Apache Spring still flows, although it has become a mere trickle relative to its former volume. Today's calm and quiet there belies the bustle and excitement that was characteristic of the spot more than 125 years ago.


See also

*
Butterfield Overland Mail in New Mexico Territory The Butterfield Overland Mail was a transport and mail delivery system that employed stagecoaches that travelled on a specific route between St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California and which passed through the New Mexico Territory. It w ...
* Gleeson Gunfight


References


External links


THE BASCOM AFFAIR, APACHE PASS, February 4, 1861

Topographic map view of Fort Bowie Historical Site, USGS Map Name: Bowie Mountain North, AZ, from www.topoquest.com
{{Butterfield4 Chiricahua Mountains Landforms of Cochise County, Arizona Mountain passes of Arizona San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line Butterfield Overland Mail in New Mexico Territory American frontier Stagecoach stops in the United States