Fort Bowie, Arizona : Combat Post of the Southwest, 1858–1894

"Fort Bowie, in present day Arizona, was established in 1862 at the site of the famous Battle of Apache Pass, where U.S. troops clashed with Apache chief Cochise and his warriors. The fort's dual purpose was to guard the invaluable water supply at Apache Spring and to control Indians in the developing southwestern region. Douglas C. McChristian's Fort Bowie, Arizona, spans nearly four decades to provide a fascinating account of the many complex events surrounding the small combat post." "In a sweeping narrative, McChristian presents Fort Bowie in fresh contexts of national expansion and regional development, weaving in threads of early exploration, transcontinental railroad surveys, the overland mail, mining, ranching, and the conflict with the Apaches. This is the definitive history of what was a genuine combat post."--Jacket. Fort Bowie, in present-day Arizona, was established in 1862 at the site of the famous Battle of Apache Pass, where U.S. troops clashed with Apache chief Cochise and his warriors. The fort's dual purpose was to guard the invaluable water supply at Apache Spring and to control Indians in the developing southwestern region. Douglas C. McChristian's Fort Bowie, Arizona, spans nearly four decades to provide a fascinating account of the many complex events surrounding the small combat post. In a sweeping narrative, McChristian presents Fort Bowie in fresh contexts of national expansion and regional development, weaving threads of early exploration, transcontinentral railroad surveys, the overland mail, mining, ranching, and the conflict with the Apaches. This is the definitive history of what was a genuine combat post Viewed from a distance, Apache Pass is unimposing-merely a shallow saddle separating southeastern Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains from the Doz Cabezas at the northern extremity of the range.