Tucson, AZ to Bisbee, AZ (I-19 south to Hwy 82 east, Hwy 90 to Sierra Vista, Hwy 80 to Tombstone)
Tubac
The first stop on this swing through southeast Arizona is Tubac, about 40 miles due south of Tucson. Tubac is the site of the first Spanish presidio in Arizona and a way station on the Camino Real, the road from Mexico to the coast of California. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1691 the Pima Indians lived in the valley for thousands of years, developing an extensive system of irrigated agriculture based upon the Santa Cruz River, which flows through the area. The Spanish proved to be harsh occupiers and the natives revolted in 1751. The revolt was put down by the Spanish and the presidio of Tubac was established the following year in order to maintain Spanish control of the area. The Spanish hold on the area was always tenuous because of the warlike Apache tribes immediately to the east and Tubac changed hands several times until the 1800’s, when the Spanish abandoned the area. The presence of the Apache discouraged settlement in the area, culminating in a battle in 1861 which resulted in Tubac being abandoned in favor of Tucson to the north. The major conflicts of the Indian Wars ended with the capture of Geronimo in 1886 but skirmishes continued into the early 1900’s. The presidio buildings at Tubac did not last and the state park today tries to resurrect the memory of those days without many tangible objects. S
Historic sketches of the presidio and the foundations allow for illustrations of how the presidio might have looked in the late 1700’s.
The visitor center (and ever present gift shop) are attached to the original 1885 school, one of the first in Arizona. The school building was in use until 1965. It has been furnished with period furniture.
A small museum is on the grounds with both inside and outside displays. One of the more interesting outside is the recreation of a Spanish “arrasta”, a device developed for crushing ore as the first step in processing raw ore into gold and silver. While there wasn’t much valuable ore in the Tubac area, there was some and the Spanish used forced Native American labor to push the arrasta around, thus dragging the heavy stones over the ore and crushing it.
Fast-forwarding a hundred years to the actual first printing press in Arizona. Biuilt in Cincinnati in 1858 it was hauled overland to Tubac in 1859. The first newspaper in Arizona was printed in Tubac on March 3, 1859.
Also on the presidio grounds is the Rojas House, built in the early 1890’s and continually occupied by Luisa Rojas from her birth in 1894 until her death in 1989. It’s a simple four room “shot-gun” structure with no indoor plumbing.
Two bedrooms, a parlor, and a kitchen made up the house. The house has not been restored but is preserved as it was in 1989.
The presidio grounds served as the center of Old Tubac long after the actual structure decayed. Just north of the walled complex are several original buildings from the early 1900’s. St. Ann’s Church was established in the 1700’s, the current building was built in 1917.
Across the street are several buildings from the 1860’s, one of which (below left) is the original home of one of Arizona’s leading pioneer women, Larcena Pennington, who lived in the house in 1864.
In the 1920’s the center of activity in town moved to north and east of the presidio as the area grew from the arrival of people looking to take advantage of the perceived health benefits of living in the desert. In particular, artists flocked to the town, not to restore the site as a museum of the past, but rather to preserve a simple way of life. Today Tubac is the center of a thriving artist colony and is known as destination for art and crafts. “Modern” Tubac centers around Tubac Plaza with three sides of shops, galleries and restaurants.
The blocks outside of the plaza house a variety of retail stores, galleries and restaurants.
There is a lot of amazing metal sculpture around town, including the cacti in this picture (only the bush is real!)
Leaving Tubac we curve east through the mountains. The arid desert sand underneath the brush is now replaced by grass as elevation rises and we emerge into a broad valley bordered by the Huachuca Mountains to the west and the Mule Mountains to the east. After passing through another Border Patrol checkpoint the view of the valley expands with the city of Sierra Vista and the army base Fort Huachuca sprawling across the foothills of the mountains.
This is the San Pedro River Valley, home to large cattle ranches and the massive military base, Fort Huahuca. The valley slopes down to the river in smooth plains of grass on both sides. In a land where a cow with a large bladder can create a “river” in a minute, the word “river” seemingly applies to any moving body of water, no matter how small. As we cross the bridge over the San Pedro River I note that it seems to be about three feet wide at best and probably six inches deep…, but I don’t want to be too critical, this is the first naturally running water that we’ve seen since the Colorado River in Yuma. Continuing on Hwy 90 into the foothills to the east we reach a junction with Hwy 80, where our road turns north and we head to our next destination, notorious Tombstone, AZ.
Tombstone, AZ
Tombstone is one of the more infamous towns in the history of the West. Founded in 1879 on the site of the richest silver strike in Arizona Territory, the boom lasted barely 20 years. It was at the center of many of the sources of conflict in the settling of the southwest: remnants of the Civil War (Arizona was a center of Confederate support), near the Mexican Border, ranchers vs. cattle rustlers, and the miners with their camp followers. Allen Street, the main drag in town, became infamous for its bars, brothels and brawls, the most famous of which was the “Gunfight at the OK Corral”. In the late 1890’s a fire wiped out most of the town and, along with a crash in the price of silver, lead to a rapid decline. Today the town exists almost entirely dependent upon tourism. I had been forewarned that Tombstone was very “touristy”, but was a bit surprised at what I found. This is the view of Tombstone from the hill south of town looking to the north. It looks much more substantial than it is…
The old courthouse dominates the town on the southwest side.
I was there relatively early on a cool day and the town was just starting to stir. One block north of the courthouse is Allen Street, the main street. It is lined with bars, shops, restaurants, etc., all peddling their wares for the tourists (at a price!)
One of the most notorious saloons was Big Nose Kate’s.
In several of the picture you may have noticed the horse-drawn stage coaches. These are tours for tourists that circle an eight block route around Allen Street. The horses are Clydesdales. Next to the courthouse is a self-contained area that has its own recreation of “Old Tombstone” to walk through, complete with various re-enactments and stage shows, and of course, a mini-golf course!
By noon the streets were starting to fill with tourists with people on every street corner trying to get you to buy a ride on the stage coach or purchase tickets to one of the various r-enactments. It was time for me to move on… Tombstone was a fun, “trashy” tourist experience, ironically the more interesting view of a town in the old West was the visit to “Old Tombstone”, outside of Tucson.
Next up: Copper Country
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