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Our guide to some of the highlights of the Arizona county that still puts the “old” in Old West.
Cochise County is comprised of mostly wide-open spaces, and its historic sites are not necessarily in close proximity to each other, requiring lengthy but scenic drives across desert highways. It’s a good idea to plan your driving accordingly and top off your tank whenever gas is available.
Approximately three hours from Phoenix and one from Tucson, the traffic flows relatively freely along I-10 east toward Mexico and New Mexico. Further south and east, State Route 80 runs parallel with the border, where one out of about every five cars is likely to be some sort of border patrol vehicle. A practical word: Traveling this route, you may occasionally be stopped at border patrol checkpoints and asked if you are a U.S. citizen before being waved on through.
ON THE WAY TO WILLCOX
Located between Benson and Willcox in the tiny unincorporated town of Dragoon near the Little Dragoon Mountains, the Amerind Foundation (2100 N. Amerind Road, 520.586.3666, www.amerind.org) is a world-class nonprofit museum and research center dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Native American cultures; it also provides a wealth of historical background information on the region. Its bookstore is like a library on Native American history and also offers arts, crafts, jewelry, and music.
WILLCOX
The Southern Pacific Railroad’s historic whistle-stop town of Willcox boasts the Rex Allen Arizona Cowboy Museum & Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame (150 N. Railroad Ave., 877.234.4111, www.rexallenmuseum.org), where memorabilia from the life of the actor-singer known as “the Arizona Cowboy” is on display not all that far from where he grew up in Willcox. Next door is The Friends of Marty Robbins Museum (156 N. Railroad Ave., 520.766.1404, www.friendsofmartyrobbins.org), where you can learn a lot about the famous singer whose 1959 hit “El Paso” was the first country song to win a Grammy. Down the street from the historic train depot you can eat at the Big Tex BBQ Dining Car (130 E Maley St., 520.384.4423) and drink at the Historic Palace Saloon (116 S. Railroad Ave., 520.384.4712). The wine-minded will be pleased to know and will want to plan sober driving around the fact that Willcox is one of Arizona’s three main wine trails. In town there are three tasting rooms: Keeling Schaefer Vineyards (154 N. Railroad Ave., 520.766.0600, www.keelingschaefervineyards.com), Gallifant Cellars (112 N. Railroad Ave., www.gcwine.com), and Carlson Creek Vineyard (115 Railview Ave., 520.766.3000, www.carlsoncreek.com). If the hour’s too early for the fruit of the vine, try the bean at Bucko’s Coffee (114 S. Railroad Ave., 520.384.2875). Also on the wine trail and just outside of town, stop in for a meal at A Taste of Coronado (2909 E. Country Club Drive, 520.384.2993, www.letseat.at/atasteofcoronado), where you can sit on a patio amid acres of grapevines and gaze at the Dos Cabezas Mountains while enjoying Coronado Vineyards wine and chef and owner Zach Hoffman’s seafood and grilled specials (his quail and duck dishes get thumbs up from reviewers), fresh lemonade, and cheesecakes.
Driving less than 50 miles from Willcox, you reach Sunglow Ranch (14066 S. Sunglow Road, Pearce, 866.786.4569, www.sunglowranch.com), an inclusive boutique property that combines ranch activities and resort amenities. Accommodations are comfortable “casita” style (one-, two-, three-, and four-room); stays are filled with gourmet meals, horseback riding, guided stargazing, swimming in the solar-heated pool, and trying your skill on the bocce court.
A little more than 50 miles outside of Willcox, four miles from the junction of Arizona State Highway 186 and 181, you find the entrance station of the Chiricahua National Monument and Wilderness (520.824.3560, www.nps.gov/chir), a spectacular wonderland of rock formations within Coronado National Forest and the historic home of the Chiricahua Apache. Also within the 1.78 million acres of “sky island” mountain ranges that make up Coronado National Forest (520.388.8300, www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado) is the Cochise Stronghold, the rugged and magnificent canyon where the Apache leader Cochise took refuge. Following the 4.5-mile hiking-equestrian trail from East Cochise Stronghold Campground over the Stronghold Divide into the West Stronghold Canyon, you may well walk beneath perches that served as the warrior’s lookout.
To get to Fort Bowie National Historic Site (520.847.2500, www.nps.gov/fobo), travel on State Road 186 to the Fort Bowie turnoff; then drive another eight miles on the unpaved road to the Fort Bowie Trailhead. It’s a three-mile round-trip walk to the ruins of the outpost that was established in 1862 after a series of engagements between the U.S. military and the Chiricahua Apaches.
BENSON
A historic stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail Company stagecoach route and the Southern Pacific Railroad, the town of Benson is now primarily known as home of the Kartchner Caverns State Park (www.azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA). A pair of amateur cavers discovered this fantastic subterranean world in 1974 but their amazing find was kept secret; the park was not opened to the public until 1999 after a way to protect the living cave system had been devised.
Gammons Gulch (331 W. Rockspring Lane, 520.212.2831, www.gammonsgulch.com) looks like an authentic Old West Arizona town, but it’s not. The creation of junk collector Jay Gammons and his wife, Joanne, the mock town was put together bit by bit and piece by piece over the past four decades using actual buildings acquired from around the country that were dismantled, shipped to Benson, and reassembled with the express purpose of creating a backdrop for western movie sets. Gammons Gulch is available for tours and is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, September through May. Call for reservations June through August.
Tucked away on the rural edge of Benson, the Singing Wind Bookshop (700 W. Singing Wind Road, 520.586.2425) is a well-organized, modern independent bookstore. Proprietor Winifred “Winn” Bundy, who has lived on a working ranch outside of town with her husband since 1974, gives an extremely entertaining tour.
SIERRA VISTA
An active Army post and National Historic Landmark, Fort Huachuca (www.huachuca.army.mil) was originally created in 1877 to protect settlers from raiding Chiricahua Apaches and to help secure the Mexican border. Although the threat of Indian raids was severely diminished by Geronimo’s surrender in 1886, the military maintained its presence near the border and in 1913 Fort Huachuca became the base for the Buffalo Soldiers’ 10th Cavalry Regiment. Today the Fort Huachuca Historical Museum depicts the story of the U.S. military’s presence on the southwestern frontier and the Buffalo Soldiers’ historic involvement. (Note that Fort Huachuca is an active military installation. Visitor passes are available to U.S. citizens at the main gate with a valid driver’s license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance or rental vehicle agreement. All passengers over 13 must have photo identification.)
DOUGLAS
The Douglas Visitor Center (345 16th St., 520.417.7344, www.visitdouglas.com, www.douglasaz.org) is a logical place to get the lay of the land in this historic border town; plan to spend some time perusing the display cases and photographs chronicling the town’s adventuresome history.
The Slaughter Ranch Museum (6153 Geronimo Trail, 520.558.2474, www.slaughterranch.com) tells the story of former Confederate soldier, Texas Ranger, and Cochise County sheriff John Slaughter, who developed a cattle ranching empire from a San Bernardino land grant in 1884. Slaughter fended off Apache raiders and is credited by Arizona historian Marshall Trimble as the man who “more than any other man, cleaned the rustler element out of southeastern Arizona.”
The Gadsden Hotel, (1046 N. G Ave., 520.364.4481, www.hotelgadsden.com), a National Historic Monument hotel built in 1907 is the town’s signature lodging as well as the town’s signature landmark.
BISBEE
There’s so much to see and do in Bisbee it’s a good idea to draw up an itinerary at the Bisbee Visitor Center (2 Copper Queen Plaza/Convention Center, 866.224.7133, www.discoverbisbee.com).
On a tour of the Queen Mine (478 N. Dart Road, 866.432.2071, www.queenminetour.com), you can don a hard hat and ride a train deep into the earth to search out remaining veins of the copper, gold, turquoise, silver, lead, and zinc that put Bisbee on the map.
Relive Bisbee’s rowdy days as a frontier copper town at the Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum (No. 5 Copper Queen Plaza, 520.432.7071, www.bisbeemuseum.org).
The chic and stylishly appointed Letson Loft Hotel (26 Main St., 877.432.3210, www.letsonlofthotel.com) is a modern conversion of what was once known as the Mansion House Hotel. Its eight unique guest rooms make you feel what it might be like to have a cool apartment in town. Just up the hill, the slick and polished Copper City Inn (99 Main St., 520.432.1418, www.coppercityinn.com) has five clean and comfortable rooms with balconies overlooking Main Street and the Mule Mountains. The spacious Warren Suite has a full kitchen and a 24-foot-long balcony.
Fine dining can be had at Café Roka (35 Main St., 520.432.5153, www.caferoka.com), where a combination of Italian, Californian, and Mediterranean cuisine is served with live jazz on the weekends.
On the casual side, Screaming Banshee Pizza (200 Tombstone Canyon Road, 520.432.1300, www.screamingbansheepizza.net) serves up creative versions of traditional favorites like pizza, calzones, and pastas in a cool nightclublike setting.
TOMBSTONE
The Tombstone Visitor Center (888.457.3929, www.tombstonechamber.com) can suggest more than a half-dozen itineraries and lists of must-see and -do activities even if you only have one day.
The new Apache Spirit Ranch (895 W. Monument Road, 877.404.7262, www.apachespiritranch.com), a luxury cowboy- and Indian-themed resort located on the western end of Tombstone, boasts spectacular panoramic views of the Dragoon Mountains and 17 uniquely themed guest rooms and suites strung together on the property’s own Main Street. The all-inclusive resort offers on-premise horseback rides through the ranch’s dry creek bed washes.
At Big Nose Kate’s Saloon (417 Allen St., 520.457.3107, www.bignosekates.info), named for Doc Holliday’s longtime companion, you’ll be treated to food (foot-long hotdogs, Mexican food, black angus burgers), a full bar, live music, folks in character and costume, and plenty of Old West atmosphere. This was once the Grand Hotel, originally built in 1880, and the place where the McLaurys and Clantons stayed the night before the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Even if it’s a little theme parky, who can resist a reenactment (daily at 2 p.m.) at the O.K. Corral (326 E. Allen St., 520.457.3456, www.ok-corral.com). After all, this is the spot where Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Virgil Earp, and Morgan Earp shot it out with the Clantons and McLaurys on October 26, 1881. Begin your tour at Tombstone’s Historama, where Vincent Price narrates a multimedia history of the town; and The Tombstone Epitaph, the 1880s museum of Arizona’s oldest newspaper.
Close to the O.K. Corral, Boothill Graveyard (www.boothillgraves.com) provides graphic 300-grave proof of what a violent and desperate place Tombstone really was. Besides the famous O.K. Corral residents, there are Chinese residents who died of leprosy, a prospector killed in a blast, a train robber shot while resisting arrest. Killed by Apaches, succumbed to smallpox, fell in an abandoned mine, shot in the street — a trip through the rows of the old graveyard gives a sobering picture of life (and death) in the Old West.
- Read the “Arizona Centennial” feature in C&I’s January issue.
- Get a list of Arizona centennial events.
