by Rob Samuelsen
Curiosity and a sense of history led me to the Fort Bowie National Historic Site south of the nearly forgotten village of Bowie, Arizona, east of Willcox. Its public access route is a 13-mile drive south of I-10 with the last mile on a groomed dirt road to a parking lot. The parking lot is a way station for the 1.5 mile hike to the fort site. While there are accommodations for disabled visitors, the general public must hike to the National Historic Site. It’s an easy hike with many interpretive signs, ruins, and remnants along the way, but it is a hike and you should make and take necessary preparations and precautions.
Fort Bowie was established in 1862 in response to the unfortunate “Bascom Affair” with the intent of squelching the Apache raids on Mexican and Anglo settlers. Because of the perennial Apache spring, southwestern travelers used this route to replenish their water and, as such, its control was a strategic location for the Army. For the next 32 years, the Army held the post as they fought the Apache Wars – Fort Bowie being the base of operations for the cavalry and the craggy Dragoon Mountains as the stronghold of Chief Cochise and his band of Chiricahua Apaches.
Fort Bowie and Apache Spring are in a beautiful grassland meadow located in a valley in the northern foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains. The trail leading to the fort passes by the Overland Stage ruins, a well-maintained cemetery of soldiers, citizens, and Apaches, and the life-giving water from the natural aquifer. There are many interpretative signs to help give a historical perspective and benches to give respite to hiking visitors. The fort ruins are well marked and there is a small visitors’ center maintained by the National Park Service.
The day I hiked it was perfect. It was light jacket weather and I had enough time (3-4 hours) to absorb the entire experience. While the scenery was beautiful, the story was bitter to me. The senseless loss of life on both sides hurt and emotion swelled when I found Geronimo’s infant son buried amongst the white soldiers and Mexican settlers in the post cemetery. I was humbled to learn how misplaced hubris and ambition resulted in decades of human grief to the last free roaming Native Americans and to the Apache nation. In a way, I was embarrassed to be of the victor class and yet it was just another sad chapter of the conquerors’ story. What was done there was nothing more than a repeat of human aggression practiced for millennia – even since the establishment of mankind – by marauding groups of people for reasons of greed, revenge, misunderstanding, jealousy, power, and survival. Perhaps it’s human nature, a carnal lust, but I can’t help to ask, “Will it ever end?”
