Fort Hauchuca is not only an Army base but also a Historic site. The fort was constructed in 1877 by Captian Samuel Marmaduke Whitside along with two companies of the 6th Cavalry and was one of a chain of forts established to guard southern Arizona against the Chiricahua Apaches led by Geronimo. It became an official fort in 1882. It was here the Army organized an elite strikeforce that chased Geronimo and his followers through Mexico's Sierra Madre during the summer of 1886 and forcing their surrender. Fort Hauchuca was also the headquarters of the famed 10th Cavalry, the Buffalo Soldier, one of the Army's elite Black Cavalry Corps. The Buffalo soldier originated in the 10th Cavalry formed in 1866 at Fort Levenworth, KS. The nickname was given to the "Negro Cavarly" by the Native American tribes they fought. The Native Americans saw the dark skin and the black curly hair, the black hair looked like a Buffalo coat, and named the troops "Buffalo Soldier". Although several African American regiments were started during the Civil War and fought for the Union the Buffalo Soldiers were established by Congress as the first peacetime all Black Regiment in the regular US Army. Mark Matthouse, who was the oldest living of the original Buffalo Soldiers, passed away on September 6, 2005 at the age of 111 years old. Fort Huachuca is still a U.S. Army installation. It is located in Cochise County about 15 miles north of the Mexican border in southeast Arizona. Beginning in 1913 the fort was the base of the Buffalo Soldiers 10th Cavalry Regiment. It was their headquarters for 20 years. During WW II the fort had quarters for more than 25,000 men and today could they have enough quarters for 16,000. In 2010 the population of the base is roughly 6500 Active Duty, 7400 family members and 5000 civilians. It is a nice base with a lot of land and beautiful views of the moutains surrounding it and the valley located north of it.
Sierra Vista, AZ a city located right outside Fort Hauchuca. Sierra Vista is Spanish for mountains which is perfect because it is surrounded by Huachuca, Dragon, Whetstone, Mustang and Mules Mountains. It is 70 miles southeast of Tucson, AZ and sits at 4623 ft above sea level in the high desert. The first business to open in Sierra Vista was located right outside the East gate of Forth Huachuca. It was Saloon, with a house of ill repute, and opened in 1892. Sierra Vista, through out the next several years continued to grow and worked hard to become a city but other areas kept springing up and it finally became incorporated and was made an official city in 1956. Sierra Vista has industry, retail and supports Fort Hauchuca. Its population is 45,908 with a median income of $38,500 and a median age of 32. Like other Arizona towns, there is the older area and a newer area of town. It reminded me a lot of Alamogordo, NM until we entered the newer end of town where there is a new towncenter area built.
I took a lot of pictures of Fort Hauchuca but was not able to create a slideshow due to internet issues. I will put one together later today and post the pictures tomorrow. Today we are headed to Tombstone, AZ to check out the area and see what kind of trouble we can get into. Check back tomorrow to see what we did and check out some pictures too!
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