Council Rocks

There is another weather system moving in and it was already a bit breezy early this morning. So rather than spreading rocks around the garden to deter, or at least slow down, the onslaught of the local wildlife on my yet-to-be-planted tender little plants and getting blown about, we decided on an outing to Council Rocks. We had not yet visited there and it is a local point of interest.


Our area has a lot of history: the Cochise Stronghold was the last holdout of Apache Chief Cochise, and Council Rocks is where he is rumored to have signed the peace treaty with General Howard to end the hostilities in 1872.




Council Rocks is on the west side of the Dragoon Mountains; we live on the east side. We took the truck over rough Middlemarch Pass to get to the other side of the range, and scenery there is spectacular. The Stronghold is even more forbidding here, and it is not surprising that it is a popular destination for rock climbers. It is obvious this area gets more rain than we do as there are more large trees and the grass is abundant.


After about 8 more miles of dirt road we arrived at Council Rocks. Apparently this formation has been used for a long time by people seeking shelter and some petroglyphs are still evident. The historical sign indicated however that Cochise signed the treaty at a site more north, at Dragoon Springs. Nevertheless, it was well worth a visit as the rock formations are awesome, and reminiscent of those in the Chiricahuas, on the other side of our Sulphur Springs Valley.