Along the Highway into the Haunts of Geronimo

JUNE, 1933 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Along New Highway Into Haunts of Geronimo 7

BUILT by co-operative agreement between Cochise county, Arizona, and the United States Forest Service, the new Geronimo Trail follows the Mexican boundary from the city of Douglas through the Peloncillo Mountains to Cloverdale, in the Animas Valley of New Mexico.

Named for the wily Apache medicine man whose cruel nature and long series of depredations against white settlers kept American troops in the saddle on his trail for many years, the road passes through a part of the country in which Geronimo was most active. A monument on which is inscribed a history of the highway has been erected near the spot where the Apache leader surrendered to Gen. Nelson A. Miles of the United States army in 1885. The monument was unveiled April 2, 1933, by Gov. B. B. Moeur at a celebration attended by 4,000 Arizona and New Mexico residents of the district.

tory of the highway has been erected near the spot where the Apache leader surrendered to Gen. Nelson A. Miles of the United States army in 1885. The monument was unveiled April 2, 1933, by Gov. B. B. Moeur at a celebration attended by 4,000 Arizona and New Mexico residents of the district.

Piercing a region of great scenic beauty, the new highway rises to an elevation of approximately 6,000 feet at the Arizona-New Mexico line near the summit of the Peloncillos. It runs nearly due east 25 miles from Douglas along the Mexican border to a point a few miles from the historic old Slaughter ranch, where it turns northward 11 miles into the mountains, climbing rapidly but on a steady, easy grade to the state line.

From Douglas to the mountains the road traverses one of the finest cattle range districts in the state. From the foothills to the summit of the Peloncillos may be found numerous scenes of grandeur and luxuriant mountain growth, principally of oak, pinon and cedar. Besides providing a direct and satisfactory artery of traffic between Doug-las and the Animas Valley, the Geroni-mo Trail opens to the people of South-ern Arizona a new recreational district where the air is always cool even in the warmer season of the year and where outing and camping spots abound.