Most Americans know at least a little about Custer’s Last Stand, also known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The incident has an epic quality worthy of Homer’s Illiad or Virgil’s Aeneid. The battle took place on June 25th & 26th, 1876 between the combined forces of the Lakoda, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes [...]
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The story of the Coronado Expeditions is one of bravery, perseverance, high adventure, faith, and incredible greed. Between hiking trails and scenic back roads, we can retrace their historic route.
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In late 19th & early 20th century New York, newly arrived Irish Catholics were considered low-class by other ethnically “Anglo-Saxon” groups, such as German, English, & Dutch, who were mostly Protestant.
“Low-class” is perhaps too mild a term. The Irish were considered hardly better than Negroes, whom most whites believed were sub-human. Odd as it may seem to us today, the fair-skinned, blonde or red-headed Irish were not considered white in an era when white supremacy was a given.
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Other than to explore the abandoned old downtown and a few scattered artifacts, there isn’t much to do in Clifton except take photographs and say you’ve been there. But there is a reason to go to Clifton. Clifton is the northern entrance to the Black Hills Back Country Byway, a delightful couple-hours drive through the rugged beauty of Greenlee County that takes you from Clifton to Soloman on Hwy 70 near Safford. In fact, before modern highways, this unpaved 21 mile scenic drive was the only road from Safford to the mines at Clifton. The Byway crosses the Gila River several times and offers travelers many campsites and picnic areas. The campsites are barren places with a ramada, BBQ, and firepit. The picnic areas are completely different. Some offer magnificent vistas. Others are in thick riparian areas along the Gila, particularly at Gila Box. You can see for yourself on … Continue reading
The following is a review included in our post about our Southeastern Arizona road trip which you can follow under Adventures or Scenic Back Roads. Now we were really hungry and getting desperate. The next possibility would be Manor House & Rock ‘N Horse Saloon. One obvious problem is that this place is rated by TripAdvisor reviewers as not-so-good (2.5-Circles). Nevertheless, Manor House had the advantage of being open on Sundays. … Continue reading
Duncan, Arizona is small-town Americana. Not much happens here and, from what we could determine, that’s the way most locals want to keep it. Our main reason for coming to Duncan is that it’s close to Clifton, Morenci’, the Black Hills Byway, and the Gila Box.
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The area near Safford has several worthwhile things to see and do: Roper Lake State Park, Dankworth Ponds, and Discovery Park. Just to the west of Safford is 10,000 foot-high Mt. Graham. At the top are some of the most powerful telescopes on earth. The road to Mt. Graham is about as steep, narrow, and windy as you’re likely to find in the United States. There’s a nice picnic area about 8 miles up this road from Rt. 191 a few miles south of Safford.
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On the third and final day of our Southeastern Arizona adventure, we started early. Deborah Mendelsohn, our Simpson Hotel B&B innkeeper in Duncan, had prepared a delicious take-along breakfast for us the night before. Normally, we would have slept in and enjoyed breakfast with her and the other guests, but we had a lot of [...]
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Days One/Recap This is a continuation of my post about our April 2012 three-day tour of Southeast Arizona. On day-one, we visited the ghost towns of Pearce, Courtland, and Gleason east of Tombstone with a short side trip to Rattlesnake Crafts & Rocks. Then we continued south to the Slaughter Ranch east of Douglas, then [...]
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One of the stranger places we visited on our tour of Southeastern Arizona is John & Sandy’s Rattlesnake Crafts & Rocks. John makes wallets, belts, and other useful items and souvenirs out of rattlesnake skins and sells them out of an old trailer. He also collects a lot of stuff others have discarded as junk. Here you will find literally tons of Old West artifacts lovingly horded for decades and on display for your amusement. Old signs, bottles, tools, boots, lanterns, you-name-it.
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Day One
This is a continuation of my post about our April 2012 tour of Southeast Arizona. On day-one, we visited the ghost towns of Pearce, Courtland, and Gleeson east of Tombstone with a short side trip to Rattlesnake Crafts & Rocks. Then we continued south to the Slaughter Ranch east of Douglas, then north, ending the first day at Portal Peak Lodge in Portal, AZ. Here we eat in the cafe, slept in a small room, and most importantly, acquired a 25¢ map that showed the back road over the mountain.
One of the perks of my job is discovering extraordinary pictures of our Sonoran Desert. Some of the most extraordinary come from John Edwards, a local photographer and illustrator.We both live in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains, only his home is a little higher than mine. His vantage point affords him an excellent view [...]
Continue readingLast week I posted here about how the U.S. Government hosted 8 0r 10 Apache men for an all expenses paid sightseeing tour of Washington D.C. and New York City. Many people seemed to have enjoyed that tidbit of local history, so here’s a brief follow-up. This account comes from the same book, Britton Davis’s [...]
Continue readingLike so many others, I enjoy local histories. Understanding history is how I get a sense of the places and people I visit as I travel around Baja Arizona creating my videos, photographs, stories, and reviews to share with you on my Southern Arizona Guide. Of late, I have been reading extensively about the Apache [...]
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(A) Fort Lowell in east Tucson. (B) Fort Bowie. (C) Cochise Stronghold. (D) Chiricahua National Monument. (E) Fort Huachuca.
View main Apache Wars article here:
Read the Apache Wars sequence of events in the following article.
Two good places to dine and overnight in Southeastern Arizona are:
Places of Major Historical Importance In Southeastern Arizona include Ft. Huachuca, Ft. Bowie, Chiracahua Mountains, and Cochise Stronghold
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The Apaches lost their wars against the Mexicans and Americans for six basic reasons.
First, the Apaches were hopelessly outnumbered. When an Apache chief, such as Cochise, lost a warrior in battle, there was no replacement until one of the younger boys grew up and became a warrior. All an American or Mexican military officer usually had to do when he lost men was call for readily available replacements. It was a war of attrition.
Continue readingCould these devastating wars have been avoided? The short answer is “NO!” Given the inevitability of the White Man’s massive western migration; and the Apache’s understandably powerful desire to hold on to their ancestral lands, brutal conflict was unavoidable.
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(Italics are my comments to assist readers in understanding the fuller context. jg) DEDICATORY Geronimo: The True Story of America’s Most Ferocious Warrior Because he has given me permission to tell my story; because he has read that story and knows I try to speak the truth; because I believe that he is fair-minded and will cause my people to receive justice in the future; and because he is chief of a great people, I dedicate this story of my life to Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States. Geronimo. (Over many months in 1905, Geronimo told is life story to S.M. Barrett. Barrett transcribed Geronimo’s spoken words into English with the help of an interpreter who Geronimo trusted.) INTRODUCTORY S. M. Barrett: 1905 Early in October I secured the services of an educated Indian, Asa Deklugie, son of Juh (pronounced Ho or sometimes Whoa), chief of the Nedni Apaches, … Continue reading
Good food and lodging are few and far between in Cochise County Apache Country. Here are a couple of suggestions.
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I had a pleasant conversation with the proprietor of the Cochise Stronghold Bed & Breakfast, Ms. Nancy Yates. She showed me around the property and her one unoccupied casita – very pleasant. If I am limited to just two words to describe her B&B, they would be serene and isolated. Unless Nancy gives you VERY specific directions, you will never find it, which is actually her marketing strategy. She has a very specific clientele in mind and does not want people just driving around to bop in uninvited. Much of Nancy’s business is hosting retreats and special events, such as weddings. Nancy prepares special, very healthy breakfasts and has them delivered to your casita. Now, that’s service. … Continue reading
