Back Road Adventure

Emmett Kelly, Jr., like his father before him, was a famous clown. Now he's retired and living in Tombstone at the lower end of the Dragoon Mountains in southeastern Arizona. The day our paths crossed, he was standing on a rock watching a 35foot column of water rush over a jumble of granite boulders deep in the mountain range.

While I stood perplexed at the coincidence of meeting a famous clown in the remote location, Kelly picked up his holstered pistol and headed up the gulch, but not before expressing his amazement that such a scenic spot is so widely unknown.

"I've been living just down the road in Tombstone for 10 years, and I can't tell you how many people there have never wandered into the Dragoons," he said. "This is paradise."

The Dragoon Mountains commemorate the men of the U.S. Dragoon regiments that garrisoned many posts in Arizona Territory. At Dragoon Pass, the walls of the old Butterfield Stage stop could still be seen in the 1930s.

Kelly was not the first celebrity to discover the western side of the Dragoons. A little more than a hundred years ago, a nefarious New York character named William Marcy Tweed, better known as "Boss Tweed," had a fancy house about three miles from Slavin Gulch at a spot now shown on the Coronado National Forest map as Whitehouse Ruin.

Boss Tweed controlled Democratic political nominations and patronage in New York City in 1857. His name eventually became synonymous with corruption after he, the mayor of New York, the comptroller, and the city chamberlain defrauded the city of at least $30 million, largely through padded construction contracts. Tweed lived in the Dragoons, where the adobe remnants of his splendid home remain standing, for about three years. He left this idyllic spot to stand trial in New York. Then he went to prison, where he died in 1878 at age 55. Regardless of what else might be said about Tweed, the man had a good eye for a homestead. The western slope of the Dragoons, which remains an unpopulated and relatively unused portion of the Coronado National Forest, is a natural jewel that is easily reached on an accommodating dirt road.

The best route into this paradise of tawny boulders is the unpaved stretch that begins directly east of the entrance to the Holy Trinity Monastery in St. David, a small agricultural community some 60 miles southeast of Tucson and 15 miles north of Tombstone on State Route 80.

Before leaving Tucson, stop at the Coronado National Forest headquarters and get a map of the Dragoons. If you're planning extensive hikes in the area, also purchase the U.S. Geological Survey topographical map identified as Knob Hill.

The road from the monastery into the Dragoons starts at an unlocked gate, the first of five, from 100 yards to 6.4 miles apart, that a visitor must open — and close — before covering the 14 miles of dirt leading to the base of the range at Stronghold Canyon West. (It is exactly 12 miles from the monastery to the last gate.) Any two-wheeldrive car can handle this road, but a high-clearance vehicle is necessary for those who want to head farther south and east to Slavin Gulch.

By Sam Negri BOSS TWEED'S HIDEOUT AND COCHISE'S COUNCIL ROCKS LURE TREKKERS INTO THE DRAGOON MOUNTAINS

After passing through the third gate, the trees open to provide a panoramic view of the craggy cliffs and rocky spires of the Dragoon Mountains straight ahead. Just after mile marker No. 7, the road splits; take the left fork. Wild grasses and fields of catclaw acacia cover the gently sloping valley north and south of the road. In the distance ahead, just short of the mountains, coneshaped Knob Hill is visible. The road eventually will wind around the north side of the hill and lead to an apron of oak, juniper, and red-barked manzanita bushes fed by a nearby creek that sometimes runs full blast. Just beyond Knob Hill, a ranch house and windmill come into view. Eleven miles from the monastery, and just before reaching the ranch, a road veers to the right. A weathered wooden sign at the junction with an arrow pointing right (or south) identifies the forest road. Turn right here and pass through the last gate.

Once beyond the gate, there are several possible routes. Depending on how much time is available, you can go into Stronghold Canyon West by taking the first left after the gate or you can drive a short distance farther to Whitehouse Ruin and Council Rocks. If you set aside eight hours from the time you leave Tucson, you can see it all with time to spare. That first left after the gate is marked Forest Service Route 687, but you can read the sign only coming from the opposite direction. Eventually it leads into the heavily forested Stronghold Canyon West, where there are several undeveloped campsites. Immediately after taking that left turn, gray-speckled sycamore trees and enormous boulders appear on the right along the creek. Stop for a while and rock hop across the creek. Wander among the huge boulders, and you'll find shallow caves and natural granite shelters sprinkled with smooth manzanita bushes that have grown into twisted trees with trunks a foot thick.

Back Road Adventure

After seeing Stronghold Canyon West, reverse your route, and when you get back to the gate, head left (or south). Take the first left, go through a creek bed, and take another left. Almost immediately, the adobe remnants of Boss Tweed's palatial retreat appear.

The house originally was a U-shaped 15-room structure with a patio in the middle and bay windows facing north. Every room had its own fireplace.

A massive boulder, roughly 70 feet long and 50 feet wide, is at one end of the clearing alongside the roofless adobe remains. Walk around the boulder, and you'll find a small pond, an excellent spot for bird-watching.

Follow the road south from the adobe and take another left, FR 687K, for about one-quarter of a mile. The road ends at a trailhead at the base of a hill known as Council Rocks. Go through the fence and follow the path to the right that leads, in about one-quarter of a mile, to a famous archeological site and red pictographs.

A report prepared by the Forest Service says, "The area, with its large and prominent boulders, has been locally considered the locale where the Chiricahua Apache leader Cochise held council meetings with his people during the mid 1800s. It also has been assigned as the meeting place of Cochise and General [Oliver Otis] Howard when the Chiricahua Apache and U.S. Government made peace in 1872."

TRAVEL TIPS

Back-road travel can be hazardous if you are not prepared for the unexpected. Whether traveling in the desert or in the high country be sure you and your vehicle are in top shape and you have plenty of water. Don't travel alone and let someone at home know where you're going and when you plan to return.

Archeologists say the pictographs, drawings of stickfigure humans, concentric circles, and wavy lines, probably were made by Mogollon peoples about a thousand years ago. However far you choose to go exploring in this scenic hideaway, you're sure to discover the kinds of wonders that made it a paradise to visitors as diverse as a famous clown and an infamous crook.