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Fort Bowie National Historic Site American flag flys behind ruins
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Ranger-led Hikes Every Sunday

Fort Bowie commemorates its 150th anniversary in 2012, and to observe this historic occasion, guided hikes into the site will be offered every Sunday through March.
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Welcome to Fort Bowie

Fort Bowie commemorates the bitter conflict between Chiricahua Apaches and the U.S. military - a lasting monument to the bravery and endurance of U.S. soldiers in paving the way for settlement and the taming of the western frontier. It provides insight into a "clash of cultures," a young nation in pursuit of "manifest destiny," and the hunter/gatherer society fighting to preserve its existence.

 
Ruins at Fort Bowie

Fort Bowie

For more than 30 years Fort Bowie and Apache Pass were the focal point of military operations eventually culminating in the surrender of Geronimo in 1886 and the banishment of the Chiricahuas to Florida and Alabama. It was the site of the Bascom Affair, a wagon train massacre, and the battle of Apache Pass, where a large force of Chiricahua Apaches under Mangus Colorados and Cochise fought the California Volunteers.
 
 

Write to

Fort Bowie National Historic Site,  3203 South Old Fort Bowie Road
Bowie, AZ 85605

Phone

Headquarters
(520) 847-2500

Fax

(520) 847-2221

Climate

The hot and dry Sonoran Desert meets the milder Chihuahuan Desert, and the southern Rocky Mountains about the northern Sierra Madres. Elevations at Fort Bowie range from 4,550 to 5,250 feet
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Heliograph

Did You Know?
Heliographs are instruments which use a mirror and sunlight to transmit Morse Code. General Nelson Miles realized that southern Arizona’s mountainous terrain and huge amounts of sunlight would make the heliograph useful in his campaigns from Fort Bowie against Geronimo in 1886.

Last Updated: February 07, 2012 at 09:30 MST

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