HIKE OF THE MONTH

Bloody spring A trickle of water in Apache Pass once spurred battles and heartbreak

FOOLS might BE too strong a word. But they certainly were some combination of impetuous and prideful. I'm speaking of those who came to settle Apache Pass, conquer it, fight for its precious water and otherwise remake it to their particular design. I took my son, Patrick, to hike to it with me. I want him to know about the Territory that became the state of Arizona and the hardships its settlement demanded. If there's a better place to do that than this beguiling passage through the Chiricahua Mountains foothills to Fort Bowie in southern Arizona, I'm unaware of it. At just 1.5 miles, few hikers We will find the trail to the post ruins overly demanding. Patrick and I hiked on a late winter morning, a brilliant sunlight showering down on the saltbush and the sumac, and the maple, white oak and walnut trees that decorate this surprisingly lush desert landscape. We spent as much time reading interpretive signs as we did hiking. Rich history occurred here.

Beginning in the late 1850s, the Butterfield Overland Mail Co. operated a stage station in the pass, and in February 1861, Lt. George Bascom had his seminal encounter with Cochise on this ground. The bitterness from that bloody episode led to years of warfare.

REMAINS OF THE DAY Stone foundations survive from the 1850s, heyday of the Butterfield stage station at Apache Pass in the foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains. DAVE BLY

The trail also passes the replica of an Apache rancheria, complete with brush wickiup, and Fort Bowie's cemetery. It holds numerous white headstones with the simple inscription, "Killed by Apaches." Its most famous occupant? Probably a 2-year-old Apache child named Little Robe-Geronimo's son.

But the most historically important stop along the route wasn't man-made. As we approached it, Patrick's reaction said it all: "Dad! Water! Coming out of the hillside!" Exactly. The spring at Apache Pass gushes yearround and was the pivot point in the struggle to control this area. Without it, Butterfield never would've routed through Apache Pass, which would have made the

soldiers unnecessary-and Fort Bowie, too. After all, the military built the post to secure the pass for wagon travelers moving east and west during the days prior to the railroad.

Construction began in 1862, and in its mid-1880s heyday, the fort garrisoned 304 soldiers, and maybe 50 civilians in dozens of wood-frame and adobe buildings set on a sloping hillside. The military abandoned it in 1894.

Today, visitors can inspect its ruins, mostly chest-high adobe walls and a few stone foundations. "People are surprised by the remoteness," says Ranger Larry Ludwig. "They often ask, 'Why'd they put it all the way up here?' Patrick and I sat on a bench outside the visitors center to have a snack and rest, full of gladness that they put it "all the way up here." Great places should require effort to reach.

But the sweat we expended amounted to almost nothing next to the grit of those who came here in the mid-19th century. Fools? Adventurers? I can't say. I do know they showed courage we can't fathom, as we imagine their lives from the safety of a shaded porch on a winter's day in the civilized 21st century.

when you go

Location: Fort Bowie is 30 miles southeast of Willcox. Getting There: From Tucson, take Interstate 10 east 75 miles to Willcox and State Route 186. On State 186, drive 30 miles southeast to the unpaved turnoff to Fort Bowie National Historic Site. Turn left (east) and drive 8.2 miles to the Fort Bowie trailhead. Hours: The visitors center is open daily, 8 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., except Christmas. Fort Bowie ruins trail hours are sunrise to sunset. Peak season is March through May. Additional Information: (520) 847-2500; www.nps.gov/fobo.