Dragoon Springs is located at the northern end of the Dragoon Mountains in Cochise County, Arizona. The springs were an important source of water for Native American people a thousand years ago or more.
In September 1695, Spanish troops camped here. They described this place as muy penascosa, “very rocky”. For the next 150 years, this rocky little mountain range was known as Sierra de la Penascosa.
When, in 1821, the Mexicans won independence from Spain, they too partook of its life-sustaining waters.
And then, in the 1850’s and ‘60’s, came the Americans. And that’s when the trouble started … and when the name changed. From the 1600’s, the Chiricahua Apaches roamed this land; hunting, gathering, and occasionally raiding Mexican and Native American villages. The Chiricahuas considered these mountains and springs theirs.
In early November 1856, four companies of the U.S. Army First Dragoons, 250 soldiers with all their horses, mules, and cattle, camped at the springs on their way to establish Fort Buchanan near present-day Sonoita. No doubt Chiricahua Apaches observed their movements from the rocky heights above in what thereafter became known as the Dragoon Mountains.
Militarily, dragoons were an odd duck. They were essentially horse-mounted infantry. On the offensive, they were cavalry. On defense, they became foot soldiers. By the mid-1800’s, they were essentially light, fast-moving cavalry capable of fighting a pitched battle. Possibly the name comes from the type of gun used by 18th century French dragoons called a dragon.
In 1857, the Americans initiated the first scheduled transcontinental mail service, which preceded the Butterfield Overland Mail Company by a year. Newspaper editors occasionally called this the “Jackass Mail” because this private enterprise under contract from the U.S. Postal Service sometimes used mules to carry the mail and passengers from San Antonio, Texas to San Diego, California, some 1300 miles. It was a misnomer, of course. Everyone knew that “jackasses” are male donkeys.
The San Antonio – San Diego stage stopped at Dragoon Springs for water, but there wasn’t a station build there for another year. In 1858, the Butterfield Overland Mail Company did build a substantial stone station on a plateau about a mile north of the springs that are situated in a canyon. It was a 55’ by 45’ rectangular building with very thick walls 8-10 feet tall. About 2/3 of the interior area was used for a corral, the remainder for storage and sleeping quarters covered with a thatched roof.
At first, the Chiricahuas let the Anglos pass without a confrontation. After all, the Americans were very few, and the Apaches were very many. What harm could a few Americans do? Perhaps they would trade for something useful to the Indians.
While the station was built to protect Butterfield employees and stock from Apaches, the first attack came from Mexicans. In the middle of the night, September 9, 1858, three Mexican laborers hacked and bludgeoned to death three Anglo Butterfield employees and severely wounded a fourth, 24-year-old Silas St. John.
Silas’ left arm was almost completely severed, and he sustained a deep cut in his right hip. However, he was able to get off at least one shot at the murderers, forcing them to flee. He wounded one named Pablo, whose body was later found partially eaten by wolves. Presumably, the motive for this gruesome attack was robbery.
Several employees of the San Antonio to San Diego Mail Company found Silas near death 7 days later. He was dying of thirst as much as loss of blood. His wounds were now maggot-infested, which saved him from infection. They sent for the doctor at Fort Buchanan, who arrived nine days after the attack. The doctor amputated Silas’ left arm at the shoulder and sewed up the deep wound in his right hip. He was taken to Fort Buchanan where, amazingly, he recovered.
About 100′ north of the station, two graves were dug. Two Butterfield employees were buried in one grave and the third was buried in a second grave.
The Butterfield Overland Mail Company stage route through Arizona was abandoned in 1861 because of the Civil War. In February 1862, 120 Confederate soldiers entered Tucson and briefly occupied the dusty, smelly little town.
However, in early May 1862, General Carleton’s California Volunteers, 1,800 strong, were bearing down on Tucson and the Confederates headed back to the Rio Grande, via Dragoon Springs and Apache Pass.
At Dragoon Springs, they were attacked by Cochise’s Chiricahua Apaches. Click here for our story on the Battles of Dragoon Springs and Apache Pass.
Two in the Confederate’s party were killed and buried here. One was Sgt. Samuel Ford. The other was a Mexican boy named Ricardo who had been forced to serve as a stock herder. Their graves lay between the two graves containing the remains of the three Butterfield employees murdered in the stage station four years earlier.
In 1867, the Dragoon Springs stage station was again in use, this time by Tomlinson & Company. The station was abandoned for good when, in 1880, the Southern Pacific Railroad finally arrived in Tucson from the West, then continued on east across New Mexico.
Today, you can visit the ruins of the Dragoon Springs Stage Station and the graves of those who died there. Click here for directions.
For many years, people presumably sympathetic to the Southern Cause, have maintained the gravesite and placed little Confederate flags at each of the four graves. Apparently, they erroneously believed all four graves contained the remains of Confederate soldiers. In fact, only one does. On its headstone is carved: “S Ford”.
As of this writing (2015), there are interpretive signs at the ruins and grave site containing historically inaccurate information. We understand that Gerald T. Ahnert, who has studied and written about the Butterfield Overland Mail Company for over 40 years, is working with Cochise County, Coronado National Forest and others to update the signage at Dragoon Springs Stage Station. Gerry’s book, The Butterfield Trail and Overland Mail Company in Arizona: 1858 – 1861, is most interesting and exceedingly well researched. I received my copy by sending a check for $32.95 to Gerarld T. Ahnert: 1027 Westmoreland Ave., Syracuse, New York 13210.
For more information on the Apaches and the history surrounding the Apache Wars, see our page on the Local History of the Apaches.
