Cochise Stronghold, just west of Pearce/Sunsites on the east side of the Dragoon Mountains, is a fabled area which was the hideout of the Chiricahua Apaches when pursued by the U.S. Cavalry. The legendary chief Cochise is buried somewhere in this natural granite fortress, though the location of his grave is unknown. In addition to…
Author: discoverseaz
Saguaro cactus
(Cereus giganteus) 30-50 feet mature height The northeastern portion of the Sonora desert, the Arizona upland desert, is home to the giant saguaro (sometimes spelled sahuaro and pronounced sah-wah-roh). This cactus has become the symbol of Arizona, and it is the most massive cactus in the United States, though it may be exceeded in size by some…
The Paleo-Indians
During the 100,000 years of the most recent Ice Age, while much of the Earth’s water was locked up in the ice caps, the level of the oceans at times dropped by as much as 300 feet. At these times the Bering Strait became dry land, and animals migrated across a wide territory known as…
The Presidio of Santa Cruz de Terrenate
Near the San Pedro River west of Tombstone the ruins of the Spanish Presidio de Terrenate still stand. The site was chosen on August 22, 1775 by Hugo O’Conor, the Irish mercenary who had come up with the plan of relocating the three presidios. He chose a spot on a bluff overlooking the San Pedro…
San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge
The San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, along with the neighboring Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge, protects scarce aquatic and riparian habitats. The San Bernardino Refuge stretches across the bottom of a wide valley and includes a portion of the headwaters of the Yaqui River, which drains western Chihuahua and eastern Sonora, Mexico. This wetlands habitat…
A Scout with the Buffalo Soldiers
written and illustrated by Frederic Remington Slightly abridged from The Century; a popular quarterly. Volume 37, Issue 6, April 1889. I sat smoking in the quarters of an army friend at Fort Grant, and through a green lattice-work was watching the dusty parade and congratulating myself on the possession of this spot of comfort in such…
The Horse in North America
New! The Horses of the Plains Most of the evolutionary development of the horse (54 million years ago to about 10,000 years ago) actually took place in North America, where they developed the very successful strategy of grazing (eating grass) rather than browsing (eating softer succulent leaves). These grazers had evolved specialized teeth for processing the…
The Apache language by John C. Cremony
The Apache Language | Its Remarkable Regularity and Copiousness | How Apaches are Named | Apache Beauties | Disinclination to tell their Apache Names From Life among the Apaches as observed by John C. Cremony, ca. 1862 Elsewhere it has been stated that my vocabulary of the Apache language had been forwarded to the Smithsonian Institute through General…
Old Tombstone
Silver in the Tombstone Hills In 1877, about the same time that Captain Whitside was sent to southeast Arizona to locate a site for a military camp, which turned out to be Camp (later Fort) Huachuca, a German from Pennsylvania was prospecting in northern Arizona. While prospecting up in the Walaipai country, Ed Schieffelin heard…
Photo Gallery
Photos previously featured on the main page can be viewed here.