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Submitted: 3/7/09 • Approved: 3/7/09 • Last Updated: 3/23/18 • R66232-G0-S3
The post cemetery predated the establishment of Fort Bowie when soldiers of the California Column were interred here in 1862. The area was unfenced until 1878, when a four-foot adobe wall was erected to protect the graves from desecration by post livestock. In early 1885, a picket fence replaced the adobe wall and by 1887 headstones replaced the wooden headboards. Some simply read: "Unknown. Killed by Apaches."
Of the most decorated was Medal of Honor recipient O O Spence. Also interred here were military dependents, civilian employees, emigrants, mail carriers, and three Apache children, one of which was Geronimo's two-year-old son.
Five months after the fort's closure, the remains of 72 soldiers, dependents, and "Unknowns" were removed for reinternment at the San Francisco National Cemetery. Twenty-three civilian graves remain.
The cemetery is located within the confines of Fort Bowie National Historic Site in Cochise County, Arizona. The cemetery can only be reached by following the foot path that leads from the public lot to the site of the fort. It is an easy hike of approximately a mile. The hike to the fort itself is 1.5 miles and more than worth the effort.
Contributed on 3/7/09 by goldwing.traveler
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Record #: 66232