Forting Up On the Apache Trail
From Tucson, Arizona, to Lawton, Oklahoma.
Categories: Renegade Roads
By: Johnny D. Boggs 05/01/2008
Forting Up
Long before I saw Stagecoach, Broken Arrow or Ulzana’s Raid, the Apache Wars fascinated me. So has Arizona. I often wonder why I don’t live there, but, then I remember it has something to do with rattlesnakes and 423-degree summers.
Yet if you think we have it rough today (getting stuck in puddles of water, eating too much at Tucson’s Mi Nidito), imagine how rough soldiers stationed in Arizona during the conflict with the Apaches had it. You get a pretty good glimpse of those hardships at Fort Lowell Museum, an Arizona Historical Society branch located at a public park in Tucson.
The army established Fort Lowell in 1873—an earlier post, established about seven miles away in 1866, was moved because of health reasons. The museum, which features various exhibits chronicling military life, is housed in the reconstructed commanding officer’s quarters. Before the army abandoned it in 1891, the fort housed troops from the Second, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Cavalry and the First, Eighth and 12th Infantry. You know, white guys.
Yet black soldiers did their part in the campaigns against the Apaches, so I’m off to Sierra Vista. The famous Ninth and 10th Cavalry and 24th and 25th Infantry Buffalo Soldiers were active against the Apaches, although the soldiers were stationed primarily in New Mexico and West Texas. Not until the 1890s did the Ninth Cavalry come to Fort Huachuca, and the fort, still an active post, has been considered the home of the Buffalo Soldiers since 1913.
Established by the Sixth Cavalry in 1877, Fort Huachuca became one of the main military establishments during the Apache campaigns, and the Fort Huachuca Historical Museum excellently depicts military life during those times. Not only will you learn about soldiers both black and white, but you’ll also learn about the honorable roles and efforts of the U.S. Indian Scouts.
The fort most associated with the Apache Wars, though, is isolated Fort Bowie. Put on your hiking shoes and watch out for rattlers, because it’s a three-mile, round-trip walk to this national historic site.
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