The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saint men, led by Mormon company officers commanded by regular U.S. Army officers. During its service, the battalion made a grueling march of nearly 1,950 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, California.
Apache Pass, also known by its earlier Spanish name Puerto del Dado, is a historic mountain pass in the U.S. state of Arizona between the Dos Cabezas Mountains and Chiricahua Mountains at an elevation of 5,110 feet (1,560 m). It is approximately 20 miles (32 km) east-southeast of Willcox, Arizona, in Cochise County.
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.
Dateland Air Force Auxiliary Field is an abandoned military airfield located in Dateland, Arizona, 40 miles (64 km) east of Yuma, Arizona. Its last known military use was in 1957.
Dateland is a CDP, populated place, and colonia in Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is in an area well known for date palm dates.
Fort Cummings is a former U. S. Army post located near Cooke's Springs, in Luna County, New Mexico. It is located 20 miles northeast of Deming, New Mexico.
Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as the Gila Trail, the Kearny Trail, Southern Trail and the Butterfield Stage Trail, was a major land route for immigration into California from the eastern United States that followed the Santa Fe Trail to New Mexico during the California Gold Rush. Unlike the more northern routes, pioneer wagons could travel year round, mountain passes not being blocked by snows; however, it had the disadvantage of summer heat and lack of water in the desert regions through which it passed in New Mexico Territory and the Colorado Desert of California. Subsequently, it was a route of travel and commerce between the eastern United States and California. Many herds of cattle and sheep were driven along this route and it was followed by the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line in 1857–1858 and then the Butterfield Overland Mail from 1858 to 1861.
The San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line, also known as the Jackass Mail, was the earliest overland stagecoach and mail operation from the Eastern United States to California in operation between 1857 and 1861. It was created, organized and financed by James E. Birch the head of the California Stage Company. Birch was awarded the first contract for overland service on the "Southern Route", designated Route 8076. This contract required a semi-monthly service in four-horse coaches, scheduled to leave San Antonio and San Diego on the ninth and the 24th of each month, with 30 days allowed for each trip.
The Butterfield Overland Mail was a transport and mail delivery system that employed stagecoaches that travelled on a specific route between St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California and which passed through the New Mexico Territory. It was created by the United States Congress on March 3, 1857, and operated until March 30, 1861. The route that was operated extended from where the ferry across the Colorado River to Fort Yuma Station, California was located, through New Mexico Territory via Tucson to the Rio Grande and Mesilla, New Mexico then south to Franklin, Texas, midpoint on the route. The New Mexico Territory mail route was divided into two divisions each under a superintendent. Tucson was the headquarters of the 3rd Division of the Butterfield Overland Mail Company. Franklin Station in the town of Franklin,, was the headquarters of the 4th Division.
Agua Caliente in Maricopa County, Arizona on the border with Yuma County, is a place north of the Gila River near Hyder, Arizona. Named 'Santa Maria del Agua Caliente' in 1744 by Father Jacob Sedelmayer. In 1775, Father Francisco Garces used the current short form. The location was the site of a resort established at the site of nearby hot springs. Agua Caliente, a name derived from Spanish meaning "hot water", received its name from nearby hot springs which were originally used by the local Indigenous population.
Burke's Station was a stagecoach station on the Butterfield Overland Mail route in Arizona. It was named in 1858 after Patrick Burke, the first proprietor of the station. It was temporarily closed when the Butterfield line shut down during 1861 due to the American Civil War. Burke's was located 9.43 miles from Grinnels Ranch approximately halfway over the difficult route to Oatman Flat. It was afterward purchased by King Woolsey. Later revived as a stagecoach station in 1866, it was purchased by William Fourr who also sold flour and groceries there and acquired a dairy herd. Then in 1869, Fourr sold Burkes Station and it continued as a stage station until the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in Arizona, making it obsolete. After closure as a stage station, the name was changed to 'Burkes Ranch' and by 1900 to 'Alpha' (AZ-T101).
Vallecito, in San Diego County, California, is an oasis of cienegas and salt grass along Vallecito Creek and a former Kumeyaay settlement on the edge of the Colorado Desert in the Vallecito Valley. Its Spanish name is translated as "little valley". Vallecito was located at the apex of the gap in the Carrizo Badlands created by Carrizo Creek and its wash in its lower reach, to which Vallecito Creek is a tributary. The springs of Vallecito, like many in the vicinity, are a product of the faults that run along the base of the Peninsular Ranges to the west.
Murderer's Grave Station is a historic locale, later called Kinyon Station and Kenyon Station was a stagecoach station of the Butterfield Overland Mail located along the Gila River in Arizona. The site was located 20 miles east of Oatmans Flat Station and 15 miles west of Gila Ranch Station. It was located along the Gila River near the present site of the Painted Rock Reservoir
Oatman Flat Station, later Fourr's Stage Station, was a stagecoach station of the Butterfield Overland Mail located along the Gila River in Maricopa County, Arizona. The site was located 20 miles (32 km) east of Flap-Jack Ranch and 20 miles (32 km) west of Murderer's Grave Station, near the Gila River at Oatman Flat. It is to the east of the Oatman Grave, where the family of Olive Oatman was buried following their massacre on the Southern Emigrant Trail by Yavapai in 1851.
Oatman Flat, is a flat, south of Oatman Mountain, on the south bank of the Gila River and north of the mouth of Wild Horse Canyon in Maricopa County, Arizona. The flat was named for the Oatman family that was massacred in their camp on the bluff overlooking the flat in 1851. They were later buried there along the Southern Emigrant Trail overlooking the flat that bears their name. What became known as Oatman Grave 33°00′15″N113°09′23″W, on the flat below is a memorial and not the grave site.
Sentinel is an unincorporated community in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It has an estimated elevation of 692 feet (211 m) above sea level.
Camp Hyder was a US Army installation in Arizona, functioning as a subcamp of the Desert Training Center in Riverside County, California. The main headquarters for the Desert Training Center was Camp Young, this is where General Patton's 3rd Armored Division was stationed. Camp Hyder is 2 miles (3.2 km) miles south of Hyder, Arizona. The camp was just north of the Gila River. Camp Hyder is 60 miles (97 km) miles east of Yuma, Arizona, near Camp Horn. Camp Hyder was built at the site of an old 1890s military base. Trained at Camp Hyder, in 1943, for six months was the 77th Infantry Division from April 1943 to September 1943. Then the 104th Infantry Division moved in for training. Unlike the other camps, no large tank activity was done. The camp was built by The 369th Engineer Regiment. Camp Hyder had its own rail station at which most troops arrived. The train station at Sentinel, Arizona south of the camp was also used. Over 13,000 troops were trained at Camp Horn and Camp Hyder.
The Camp Horn was a sub camp of the US Army, Desert Training Center in Riverside County, California. The main headquarters for the Desert Training Center was Camp Young, this is where General Patton's 3rd Armored Division was stationed. Camp Horn was near Camp Hyder about 6 miles (9.7 km) miles west of Hyder, Arizona. Camp Horn was just north of the Gila River. Camp Horn was 54 miles (87 km) miles east of Yuma, Arizona. Most troop arrived at Camp Horn from the train station at Camp Hyder or the train station at Sentinel, Arizona south of the camp. Over 13,000 troops were trained at Camp Horn and Camp Hyder. The 81st Infantry Division trained at Camp Horn was from June 1943 to November 1943.
Symbolic and artistic rock etchings produced centuries ago by prehistoric peoples
Mormon Battalion Trail marker in Oatman Flats, Dateland, Az.
Oatman family grave
Oatman Family Masacre site
Oatman Mountain
Ruins of the Southern Overland Trail stage stop station built by William Fourr
Inside the Nate Salsbury house ruins
Nate Salsbury Corral
Ruins of the 1895 Sentinel Train Depot
1890s Camp Hyder structures
