Fort Bowie

Fort Bowie
Apache Pass, Arizona
Fort Bowie in 1893.
Type	Army fortification
Site information
Controlled by	Arizona
Condition	tourist attraction
Site history
Built	1864
Built by	United States
In use	1862 - 1894
Garrison information
Occupants	United States Army

Fort Bowie National Historic Site
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Location	Cochise County, Arizona, United States
Nearest city	Bowie, Arizona
Coordinates	32°08′46″N 109°26′08″W / 32.14611°N 109.43556°W / 32.14611; -109.43556Coordinates: 32°08′46″N 109°26′08″W / 32.14611°N 109.43556°W / 32.14611; -109.43556
Area	999.45 acres (4.04 km2)
Established	July 29, 1972
Visitors	9,656 (in 2005)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Fort Bowie National Historic Site
Fort Bowie and Apache Pass
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
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Built	1862
NRHP Reference #	72000194
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	July 29, 1972
Designated NHL	December 19, 1960

Fort Bowie was a 19th-century outpost of the United States Army located in southeastern Arizona near the present day town of Willcox, Arizona. The remaining buildings and site are now protected as Fort Bowie National Historic Site.

Fort Bowie was established by the California Volunteers in 1862 after a series of engagements between the California Column and the Chiricahua Apaches. The most violent of which was the Battle of Apache Pass in July 1862. The fort was named in honor of Colonel George Washington Bowie commander of the 5th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry who first established the fort. The first Fort Bowie resembled a temporary camp rather than a permanent army post. In 1868, a second, more substantial Fort Bowie was built which included adobe barracks, houses, corrals, a trading post, and a hospital. The second Fort Bowie was built on a plateau about 500 yards (460 m) to the east of the first site. 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. The fort was abandoned in 1894.

Two engagements between the United States Army and the Chiricahua led to the construction of Fort Bowie in 1862. The first engagement, known as the Bascom Affair, took place in January 1861 when a band of Apaches raided the ranch of John Ward. Ward mistakenly believed that Cochise and the Chiricahua Apaches were responsible for the raid and demanded that the military take action against Cochise to recover property stolen during the raid. The next month, the army responded to Ward's request by sending Lieutenant George Nicholas Bascom and fifty-four men to Apache Pass to confront Cochise. Bascom managed to capture Cochise and threatened to hold him hostage until Ward's property was returned but the Apache leader managed to escape. Sporadic fighting between Cochise's warriors and Army troops would continue for years to come.