Erosion is still going on slowly and persistently among the great pillared cliffs of the monument. Some of the most exposed portions have already been worn away. Pedestal or balanced rocks have formed and fallen; others are tottering; more are just taking shape. Within the span of a human life, only minor changes may be noticed, but with the passage of the centuries the face of Nature is ever changing.
Although the spectacular erosional remnants and the massive columnar structure of the cliffs will impress you even if you hurry through, you will see much more of geological interest if you can stop and use the trail. Here and there are exposed beds of volcanic ash and cinders, indicating the explosive nature of some of the ancient eruptions. Road construction has uncovered shale which was once the mud of a lake bed. One trail is strewn with “volcanic hailstones” weathered out of a ledge composed of millions of marblelike pellets firmly cemented together into a peculiar “peanut-brittle” rock.
Plant and Animal Life
Because of its location as a mountainous island in a sea of arid grassland, the Chiricahua Range affords a haven for a multitude of plants and animals of many varieties. Winter snows and summer rains result in springs and small streams. Dense vegetation covers the shaded canyon bottoms and the cool north slopes of the higher elevations. In contrast, south exposures feel the full heat of the summer sun and have plants characteristic of the desert. Red-stemmed manzanitas and bark-shedding madrones rub branches with the chalky-white limbs of the sycamore and the feathery gray foliage of the Arizona cypress. Green slopes, covered by chaparral of scrub oak and manzanita, face open hillsides dotted with a desert vegetation of yuccas, century plants, and cactuses. Seasonal changes bring with them many varieties of wildflowers.
Arizona whitetail deer are numerous in the Chiricahuas, and in the monument, where they are protected, they become accustomed to man and are frequently seen. Coatimundi and peccary are increasing in numbers. Rodents are common, as are birds of many species. Each vegetative belt and plant association has its own distinctive animal population, some of which are unique because of the relative and long-established isolation of the Chiricahua Range.
Historical Background
What student of American history has not heard of Geronimo, famous warrior of the Chiricahua Apache Indians? When, in 1886, Geronimo and his band finally surrendered to United States soldiers, there ended one of the most stubborn phases of aboriginal resistance to white domination. The Chiricahua Mountains and their neighboring ranges were the ancestral home of the nomadic Apache Indians. Living mainly on wild animals and native plants, these resourceful people moved from place to place depending upon the requirements of the season and the supply of food. Occasionally they raided the farmer Indians of the desert valleys, and with the coming of the Spaniards, they found increased incentive to pillage the European cattle, horses, and grains introduced by the white men.
Stolen horses greatly increased the power and widened the range of Indian activities, and the southeastern corner of what is now Arizona became an Apache stronghold. With the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 and the opening of settlement of the region to United States citizens, the Apache raiders became more and more a hazard. United States troops were dispatched to the Southwest to protect settlers, prospectors, travelers, and the mail- and passenger-carrying stages of the Butterfield Route which were often attacked. Cavalry camps and bases were established. One of the most famous of these, Fort Bowie, established in 1862, commanded strategic Apache Pass at the end of the Chiricahua Mountains, north of the monument. From 1860 until 1872, the Chiricahua Apaches under the leadership of the wily Cochise matched the strategy of the soldiers.
In 1876, the Chiricahua Apaches were finally rounded up and placed on a reservation, but hostilities continued to flare up when bands left the reservation to attack travelers and pillage isolated ranches. Geronimo, who was the most persistent and cunning of the leaders, was captured in 1886. This ended the organized resistance of the Chiricahua Apaches, but “Big Foot” Massai staged several one-man escapades in later years. Cochise Head, just north of the monument, and Massai Point and Massai Canyon, within its boundaries, immortalize the names of two of the famous Apaches of the Chiricahua group.