Fort Lowell — Tucson Arizona
Protecting Tucsonans

Fort Lowell was one of twelve large military posts established in the Arizona Territory by the United States Government to protect its citizens from Apache raiders. The Apache Wars began in 1848, when the land and the people living on it were still a part of Mexico. With the Gadsden Purchase, the people occupying this land became American citizens, but changing from being Mexican citizens to American Citizens did not spare them from the rage of the Apache. Nor did it immediately provide the people with any sort of government sponsored presence to protect them.

War

While the Gadsden Purchase made those lands a part of the American territories, no one had asked the native Apaches whether or not this change in government would adequately pacify them. The Apache Wars started in 1848 when Mangas Coloradas, an influential Apache leader, entered a mining camp to negotiate a peaceful coexistence with the new area resident. The miners had come to the Apache lands looking for the gold that had recently been discovered in California. The Apache leader was severely whipped by the miners, and then driven from the camp in complete humiliation.

The Apache Wars had begun. Forty years of vicious guerrilla-style fighting would ensue, and Tucson was right in the middle of the war zone. Unfortunately for the city, The Civil War was also brewing in its new country. When war was declared, the Union was forced to recall its army to fight the Confederacy. Arizona and her settlers were abandoned to the warring Apaches.

In 1861 a Confederate Constitutional Convention claimed the southern part of Arizona for the Confederacy. At about the same time Cochise, who had resisted fighting the settlers, entered the fray. The area returned to the Union in 1862 when three thousand California volunteers under General James Carleton marched to Apache Pass to thwart the Confederacy, and to fight the Apaches. The army reclaimed the Arizona Territory for the Union, and then captured and killed Mangas Coloradas in 1863. Cochise and 200 of his followers escaped. For the next ten years they raided southern Arizona, evading capture by hiding out in the scenic Dragoon Mountains. The California Volunteer Army pitched camp on the east side of Tucson in 1862.

One of the earliest battles with the Apaches of any substantial size was fought by Company K of the California Volunteers three years before Camp Lowell was established. Company K was organized at Santa Cruz by Captain Thomas T. Tidball, and mustered into service in November 1861. On May 2, 1863 Lieutenant Tidball and fifteen enlisted men left Tucson and made five successive night marches. On the morning of May 7 th they attacked an Apache ranch in Arivaypi Canyon, killing 47 Indians, taking ten children as prisoners, and capturing 66 head of livestock. Company K lost only one soldier – a citizen of Arizona.

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END NOTES

Apache Raiders: The Apache were comprised of six groups, each distinguishable by its own unique culture and dialect. The two most celebrated, or recognizable names of these groups are the Chiricahua and the Kiowa. Two of the most famous Apache were the notorious War Chiefs Cochise and Geronimo. The ancestors of the Apache settled in North America circa 1100 AD.Back to article

Apache Wars: This was a violent and interesting time in the history of the southwestern desert rgions. For more information on the wars, and the people in them, try starting with this suggested reading list:

Ogle, Ralph Hedrick. Federal Control of the Western Apache 1848-1886 Albuquerque: Univ. of New Mexico Press, 1940, 1970.
Reedstrom, E. Lisle. Apache Wars: An Illustrated Battle History New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1990.
Thrapp, Daniel. The Conquest of Apachería. Norman: Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1967, 1988.
Wagoner, Jay J. Early Arizona: Prehistory to Civil War. Tucson: Univ. of Arizona Press, 1975.
Worcester, Donald E. The Apaches: Eagles of the Southwest. Norman: Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1979.
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Gadsden Purchase: On December 30, 1853 James Gadsden, U.S. Minister to Mexico, and General Antonio López de Santa Anna, President of Mexico, signed the Gadsden Purchase in Mexico City. The treaty settled the border dispute about the location of Mexico's border west of El Paso, Texas. The final $10,000,000.00 purchase gave the U.S. approximately 29,000 square miles of land in what is now southern New Mexico and Arizona. Back to article

Mangus Coloradas: Circa 1797 – 1863, A Chief of the Mimbrenos Apache, located in the southwestern part of what is now New Mexico. Back to article

California: A large gold deposit was discovered at Sutter's Mill, California in 1848. Over the next two years, people from all over the world flocked to the dream of quick riches in the sunny, western state. Estimates are that as many as 80,000+ relocated to California – most in 1849, hence the term '49ers (forty-niners). Very few struck it rich. Many didn't make it all the way to California, and started to mine the mountains and streams on the route they took to the gold rush. Back to article

The Civil War lasted from 1861 until 1865. It was known by several other names: The War between the States; The War of the Rebellion; The War of Secession; The War for Southern Independence. Back to article

Cochise was most likely born in 1812 in either Arizona or New Mexico. There are conflicting reports and supporting documents about the exact date and location of the celebrated Apache chief's birth. Back to article

General James Henry Carleton was born in Lubec, Maine, on December 27, 1814. Back to article

Dragoon Mountains is the location of the notorious "Cochise Stronghold." The stronghold area, just west of Pearce/Sunsites on the east side of the mountain range, was the hideout of the Chiricahua Apaches for many years, during which time the U.S. Cavalry was in continuous pursuit. The celebrated Apache War Chief, Cochise is buried somewhere in this awe inspiring granite fortress. The exact location of the chief's grave remains unknown. Today, the Stronghold offers recreational opportunities aplenty including bird watching, camping, picnicking, hiking, and horseback riding. Back to article