Today we got a bit of a late start on the day and decided to take a drive out to Cochise Stronghold for a bit of a hike. Cochise Stronghold is located in the Dragoon Mts. in Coronado Forest. The stronghold is where Cochise would hold up if he felt he needed to hide for a while.
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| Impressive stone face cliffs and large boulders line the canyon of Cochise Stronghold. |
Cochise was a friend of the white men who first settled in southern Arizona until he and his people were wrongly accused of kidnapping and stealing. The white men tricked Cochise into coming to their camp where they attempted to arrest him despite Cochise's correct assertion that he and his people had nothing to do with the crimes. He even offered to help find the real offenders only to have Lt. Bascom attempt to arrest him. Cochise did not appreciate this treatment and promptly escaped by drawing his knife and slashing his way out of the tent.
After escaping his captors Cochise declared war on the white men. He was considered a brilliant strategist and was credited with never losing a battle. Cochise spent 11 years in all out warfare against the white men and retired in 1872 after a peace agreement was reached with the help of Tom Jeffords, Cochise's only white friend.
Cochise died in 1874, his son, Taza, buried him in the rocks above Cochise Stronghold. Only Taza and Jeffords knew the location of Cochise final resting place, and they took that information with them to their graves.
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| Maybe these little guys know where Cochise is buried? |
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| Hundreds of rocky overlooks just like this one line the canyon of Cochise Stronghold. Any one of them could be his final resting place. |
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| Buds beginning to sprout in the desert! |
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| Yummm! Blue Berries! Ah, no... Not blue berries... |
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| Captured this noisy little bugger working away in the trees. |
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