Fort Bowie National Historic Site, near Willcox, Arizona, preserves the remains of the base of United States military operations against the Chiricahua Apache. The U.S. government established Fort Bowie in 1862 to gain control of Apache Pass, a narrow road between the Dos Cabezas Mountains and the Chiricahua Mountains. Travelers considered Apache Pass one of the most dangerous points on the road to California because of the risk of Apache attacks there.
On July 15, 1862, a large force of Chiricahua Apaches attacked a detachment of the California Volunteers led by Captain Thomas Roberts as they approached a place in the pass called Apache Spring. The Apache, led by Cochise and Mangas Coloradas , retreated after Roberts’s men returned fire with light cannons. Following this conflict, known as the Battle of Apache Pass, Roberts suggested the need for a fort in the area. The first Fort Bowie was completed in August 1862. A larger fort was built nearby in the late 1860’s. The original fort was then used for residences.
In 1872, a frontiersman named Thomas J. Jeffords arranged peace talks in which Cochise agreed to stop fighting in exchange for reservation land in Arizona. About 1876, the Chiricahua were moved to the San Carlos Reservation. Geronimo, a Chiricahua warrior, refused to live on the crowded reservation. He escaped and led a group of other Apaches into Mexico. Geronimo continued raids against the United States and Mexico until 1886, when he and his warriors surrendered at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona. The U.S. Army abandoned Fort Bowie on Oct. 17, 1894.
Congress authorized Fort Bowie as a historic site in 1964. Visitors must walk a 1.5 mile (2.4 kilometer) trail to reach the ruins of both forts and a visitor center. Sites along the trail include the remains of a stage coach station, a cemetery, a reconstructed Apache wickiup (shelter), the site of the Battle of Apache Pass, and Apache Spring. Exhibits at the visitor center explain life at Fort Bowie and Apache history.
See also Apache Indians ; Cochise ; Geronimo ; Indian wars (Apache warfare) .
