Fort Bowie National Historic Site
A few years back I visited the Chiricahua National Monument for a hike while staying at a RV park in Wilcox, AZ. Also planned that day was to visit Fort Bowie just up the mountain but the 8 miles of washboard dirt road scared me away. I had even purchased the lapel-pin while in the Chiricahua Visitor’s Center (I collect them from all National Parks) prior to the failed attempt. I have carried the guilt of having the pin without actually visiting the site ever since …
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. Wikipedia
Since the group (Aluminarium, @asolojourner, and myself) are camped only a few short miles from Fort Bowie it was a day-one destination for us all. We piled into a single truck – more capable then my van of handling the washboard road – and quickly arrived at the Fort Bowie National Historic Site trailhead… yes, trailhead. We still had another 1.5 miles of hiking ahead of us before we got to the Fort itself. I do not know why but I had always envisioned the road to lead us directly to the Fort. Just clueless I guess, but luckily the four of us were packed and ready for a hike, so we set out the way of the tramp… on foot.
The trail brought us past multiple sites that had to do with the Fort (Overland Mail route, Apache Spring) and the battles fought with the local Apache Indians (Cemetery, site of Battle of Apache Pass), each with plaques to educate us in each lesson. This also broke the 1.5 mile hike into small segments with sites-to-be-seen every quarter mile or so. A nice way to setup a trail if you ask me.
When we arrived at the Fort itself, the Visitor’s Center was full of artifacts and photos of the time and more educational plaques. In the corner, a chest of replica era-specific clothes were there for the “young adults” to try… so we did. Finally we set out to see the sights of the Fort before hiking back to the truck and much needed happy-hour drinks.
Above image credit – Aluminarium
