Fort Bowie National Historic Site

Fort Bowie was built in 1862 in the Chiricahua Mountains to protect the U.S. Mail route and settlers heading west to the California gold fields. The fort served as the base of operations during the Apache Wars (1861-1886), the ...

National Historic Landmark - Fort Bowie and Apache Pass

Commanding the eastern entrance of Apache Pass, Fort Bowie (1862) was a focal point in Army operations against the Chiricahua Apache in the 1860s and 1870s. A much-traveled mountain crossing of strategic value due to the presence of spring water, ...

Fort Bowie

National Historic Site

A Regional Legacy

Cochise. Geronimo. Though their reputations were fierce, the Chiricahua Apaches didn't stop explorers, prospectors, settlers, and merchants from Westward immigration. To establish a lifeline between the East and California, the Butterfield Overland Trail was built in ...

Old Fort Bowie

Guardian of Apache Pass

Established 1862 following the battle of Apache Pass, largest conflict in Arizona Indian Wars. Massed Apaches under Cochise and Mancas Coloradas were routed by howitzers fired by California volunteers attacked in the pass. Fort Bowie overlooked only ...

First Fort Bowie

To your right, a spur trail follows a military road 300 yards to the first Fort Bowie ruins.

On July 28, 1862, a 100-man detachment of the 5th California Volunteer Infantry began construction of the primitive fort, completing it two weeks ...