Texas Canyon

Last updated
Rock formations in Texas Canyon Texas canyon az.jpg
Rock formations in Texas Canyon
Texas Canyon in 2006 Texas canyon 5481.jpg
Texas Canyon in 2006

Texas Canyon is a valley in Cochise County, Arizona, [1] about 20 miles east of Benson on Interstate 10. Lying between the Little Dragoon Mountains to the north and the Dragoon Mountains to the south and known for its giant granite boulders, the canyon attracts rockhounds and photographers.

Contents

History

The stagecoach route of the Butterfield Overland Mail passed through Texas Canyon from 1858 until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1862, when the stage line suspended operations. The canyon is historically within the range of the Chiricahua Apache, and Cochise made his last stronghold near here in the Dragoon Mountains during the mid-1870s.

In the mid to late 1880s, David A. Adams, a Cochise County pioneer, moved to the area from Coleman County, Texas, soon to be followed by other family members. Descendants still live and raise cattle on the old family ranch.

The Amerind Foundation, a privately funded archaeological and ethnographic research facility, library, museum and art gallery founded by William Shirley Fulton in the 1930s, is located in Texas Canyon a short distance from exit 318 of Interstate 10.

Related Research Articles

Cochise County, Arizona County in Arizona, United States

Cochise County is located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. The population was 131,346 at the 2010 census. The county seat is Bisbee, while the most populous city is Sierra Vista.

Black Canyon City, Arizona CDP in Yavapai County, Arizona

Black Canyon City is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The population was 2,837 at the 2010 census, up from 2,697 in 2000.

Amerind Foundation

The Amerind Foundation is a museum and research facility dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Native American cultures and their histories. Its facilities are located near the village of Dragoon in Cochise County, Arizona, about 65 miles east of Tucson in Texas Canyon.

Apache Pass

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.

Arizona Strip Part of Arizona north of the Colorado River

The Arizona Strip is the part of Arizona lying north of the Colorado River. Despite being larger in area than several U.S. states, the entire region has a population of fewer than 10,000 people. Consisting of northeastern Mohave County and northwestern Coconino County, the largest settlements in the Strip are Colorado City, Fredonia, and Beaver Dam, with smaller communities of Scenic, Littlefield and Desert Springs. The Kaibab Indian Reservation lies within the region. Lying along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon creates physical barriers to the rest of Arizona. Only three major roads traverse the region, I-15 crosses the northwestern corner while Arizona State Route 389 and U.S. Route 89A crosses the northeastern part of the strip, US 89A crosses the Colorado River via the Navajo Bridge, providing the only direct road connection between the strip and the rest of the state. The nearest metropolitan area is the St. George, Utah metro area, to which the region is more connected than to the rest of Arizona.

Dragoon Mountains

The Dragoon Mountains are a range of mountains located in Cochise County, Arizona. The range is about 25 mi (40 km) long, running on an axis extending south-south east through Willcox. The name originates from the 3rd U.S. Cavalry Dragoons who battled the Chiricahua, including Cochise, during the Apache Wars. The Dragoons established posts around 1856 after the Gadsden Purchase made it a U.S. territory.

Tres Alamos, Arizona Ghost town in Arizona, United States

Tres Alamos is a ghost town in Cochise County in the U.S. state of Arizona. The town was settled in 1874 in what was then the Arizona Territory.

William Shirley Fulton,, an archeologist and founder of the Amerind Foundation was born in Waterbury, Connecticut. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1903.

The Guadalupe Canyon Massacre was an incident that occurred on August 13, 1881 in the Guadalupe Canyon area of the southern Peloncillo Mountains – Guadalupe Mountains. Five American men were killed in an ambush, including "Old Man" Clanton, the alleged leader. They were believed to belong to The Cowboys, an outlaw group based in Pima and Cochise counties in Arizona. Two men survived the attack. The canyon straddles the modern Arizona and New Mexico state line and connects the Animas Valley of New Mexico with the San Bernardino Valley of Arizona. During the American Old West, the canyon was a key route for smugglers into and out of Mexico.

Canelo Hills Range in Santa Cruz County, Arizona

The Canelo Hills are a range of low mountains or hills in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The range consists of a series of northwest–southeast trending ridges extending from the Sonoita Creek valley southwest of Sonoita to the Parker Canyon Lake area in southwest Cochise County, Arizona. The Canelo Hills merge with the Huachuca Mountains to the southeast. The San Rafael Valley lies to the southwest of the range and the Patagonia Mountains lie to the west across the Harshaw Creek valley. The Canelo Hills Cienega Reserve and the ghost town of Canelo, Arizona, are located on the eastern side of the hills.

Little Rincon Mountains

The Little Rincon Mountains are a small range of mountains, lying to the east of the Rincon Mountains, at Tucson, of eastern Pima County, Arizona. The range is located in northwest Cochise County and is part of the western border of the San Pedro River and Valley, the major valley and river of western Cochise County. The river is northward flowing to meet the Gila River; its headwaters are south of the US-Mexico border in northern Sonora. A small part of the Little Rincon range's southwest lies in Pima County.

Dragoon Wash, a stream tributary to the San Pedro River, in Cochise County, Arizona. It has its source just southwest of the town of Dragoon. 32°01′21″N110°02′46″W It runs southwesterly to meet the San Pedro River.

Little Dragoon Mountains

The Little Dragoon Mountains, are included in the Douglas Ranger District of Coronado National Forest, in Cochise County, Arizona.

Dragoon Pass is a gap between the Dragoon Mountains and Little Dragoon Mountains in Cochise County, Arizona. The pass lies at the elevation of 4,629 feet (1,411 m).

San Simon River is an ephemeral river, or stream running through the San Simon Valley in Graham and Cochise County, Arizona and Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Its mouth is at its confluence with the Gila River at Safford in Graham County. Its source is located at 31°51′21″N109°01′27″W.

Stein's Pass, is a gap or mountain pass through the Peloncillo Mountains of Hidalgo County, New Mexico. The pass was named after United States Army Major Enoch Steen, who camped nearby in 1856, as he explored the recently acquired Gadsden Purchase. The pass is in the form of a canyon cut through the mountains through which Steins Creek flows to the west just west of the apex of the pass to the canyon mouth at 32°13′19″N109°01′48″W.

Steins Creek, a Stream or Arroyo tributary to the San Simon River, that arises within an east-west running canyon, in Hidalgo County, New Mexico with its mouth in Cochise County, Arizona. This canyon provides the gap, called Stein's Pass, through which the railroad and Interstate 10 pass through the Peloncillo Mountains. Steins Creek has its source at 32°14′10″N108°59′43″W, and its mouth in the San Simon Valley, where its waters usually sink into the soil, short of any confluence with the San Simon River.

Tres Alamos Wash, an ephemeral stream tributary to the San Pedro River, in Cochise County, Arizona. It runs southwesterly to meet the San Pedro River, across the river from the former settlement of Tres Alamos, Arizona. Tres Alamos Wash passes east and northeastward between the Little Dragoon Mountains and Johnny Lyon Hills to where it arises in a valley east of those heights and west of Allen Flat and the Steele Hills. It has its source at 32°07′45″N110°02′59″W.

Whitmire Creek is a stream tributary to Animas Creek within Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Its source is in Whitmire Canyon in the Peloncillo Mountains in Cochise County, Arizona. It is one of two creeks of that name that are tributary to Animas Creek in the Animas Valley. They both were named for J. B. Whitmire one of the first settlers that established the Whitmire Ranch in the area during the 1880s.

Dragoon Spring is a spring in Cochise County, Arizona. It is located in Jordan Canyon on the northwest slope of the Dragoon Mountains at an elevation of 5,148 feet / 1,569 meters.

References

  1. "Texas Canyon". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved 2019-12-28.

Coordinates: 32°00′54″N110°06′43″W / 32.015°N 110.112°W / 32.015; -110.112