Chiricahua Mountains
Encyclopedia
The Chiricahua Mountains are a mountain range
in southeastern Arizona
which are part of the Basin and Range
province of the southwest
, and part of the Coronado National Forest
. The highest point, Chiricahua Peak
, rises 9759 feet (2,974.5 m) above sea level, approximately 6000 feet (1,828.8 m) above the surrounding valleys.
The Chiricahua Mountains, and other associated ranges, along with Sulphur Springs Valley
on the west and the San Simon Valley
on the east, form the eastern half of Cochise County
in southeast Arizona. The Pedrogosa Mountains are found at the southern end of the Chiricahua Mountains, while the Swisshelm Mountains
are located to the southwest. The northwest end of the Chiricahua mountains continue as the Dos Cabezas Mountains
beyond Apache Pass
and the Fort Bowie National Historic Site. Access to the Chiricahua Mountains and Coronado National Forest
is through Wilcox from the north, Douglas
from the south, and Rodeo
from the east.
archeological sites such as Double Adobe Site
in the Whitewater Draw tributary of Rucker Creek
north of Douglas
. Subsequently, the Cochise culture another pre-ceramic based culture spanning 3000 - 200 BCE was defined from sites around the Chiricahua Mountains, including Cave Creek Canyon. Following the transition to ceramics diagnostic ceramics characteristic of Mogollon culture and it's local variants, the Mimbres culture, are found spanning the period from 150 BCE - 1450. The influx of other indigenous peoples
, such as the Chiricahua Apaches
, including the leaders Cochise
and Geronimo
occupied the area until forced removal in the late 19th century.
The first recorded mining claim in the Chiricahua Mountains was the Hidden Treasure claim filed in 1881 and mining has continued intermittently to the present with the greatest periods of activity occurring in the 1920s and 1950s.
More recently, the Chiricahuas have fallen into use by people smugglers and the drug cartels, who position lookouts on their peaks to warn of Border Patrol activities.
. Subsequent erosion has created mountain ridges covered in stone spires and stone columns, hoodoos
, that rise up out of the forest. These natural features, preserved in the Chiricahua National Monument
, are composed of Rhyolite Canyon Tuff.
A one to two mile wide band of sedimentary rock running southeast to northwest from south of Portal through Paradise and up to the Dos Cabezas Mountains is the source of mineralized
deposits.
The largest of the mines developed in the California district of the Chiricahua Mountains was the Hilltop mine which consisted of 3 interconnected levels totaling 6098 metres (20,006.6 ft).
area which are composed of numerous sky islands
. Five of the 9 life zones are found in the Chiricahua Mounatins. Three hundred and seventy-five avian species, some endemic to the region, have been recorded from the Chiricahua Mountains. There are also ocelots, jaguar
s, mountain lions, Nine-banded Armadillo
, black bears
, and white-tailed deer
. With the base of the Chiricahua's at about 3600 feet (1,097.3 m), the range covers about 6000 feet (1,828.8 m) in elevation. Grasslands and desert cover the base of the range, with Ponderosa Pine
and Douglas fir at the highest elevations. Cave Creek Canyon on the east side is home to the American Museum of Natural History
Southwest Research Station and the small towns of Portal
and Paradise
.
Some species associated with the range:
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
in southeastern Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
which are part of the Basin and Range
Basin and Range
The Basin and Range Province is a vast physiographic region defined by a unique topographic expression. Basin and Range topography is characterized by abrupt changes in elevation, alternating between narrow faulted mountain chains and flat arid valleys or basins...
province of the southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
, and part of the Coronado National Forest
Coronado National Forest
The Coronado National Forest includes an area of about 1.78 million acres spread throughout mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico....
. The highest point, Chiricahua Peak
Chiricahua Peak
Chiricahua Peak is the name of a peak located in southeastern Arizona, located just north of the United States–Mexico border. It is the highest summit in the Chiricahua Mountains and the highest point in Cochise County....
, rises 9759 feet (2,974.5 m) above sea level, approximately 6000 feet (1,828.8 m) above the surrounding valleys.
The Chiricahua Mountains, and other associated ranges, along with Sulphur Springs Valley
Sulphur Springs Valley
The Sulphur Springs Valley is a major valley in the eastern half of Cochise County, Arizona. The valley covers an approximated vertical rectangle west of the Chiricahua Mountains–Dos Cabezas Mountains complex; the Chiricahua's have a valley to the northeast, San Simon Valley, and to the southeast,...
on the west and the San Simon Valley
San Simon Valley
The San Simon Valley is a broad valley east of the Chiricahua Mountains, in the northeast corner of Cochise County, Arizona and southeastern Graham County, with a small portion near Antelope Pass in Hidalgo County of southwestern New Mexico. The valley trends generally north-south but in its...
on the east, form the eastern half of Cochise County
Cochise County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*78.5% White*4.2% Black*1.2% Native American*1.9% Asian*0.3% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*4.0% Two or more races*9.6% Other races*32.4% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
in southeast Arizona. The Pedrogosa Mountains are found at the southern end of the Chiricahua Mountains, while the Swisshelm Mountains
Swisshelm Mountains
The Swisshelm Mountains are a small mountain range adjacent to the southwest corner of the Chiricahua Mountains of eastern Cochise County, Arizona...
are located to the southwest. The northwest end of the Chiricahua mountains continue as the Dos Cabezas Mountains
Dos Cabezas Mountains
The Dos Cabezas Mountains are a mountain range in southeasternmost Arizona, USA. The Dos Cabezas Mountains Wilderness lies east of Willcox, Arizona and south of Bowie, Arizona in Cochise County...
beyond Apache Pass
Apache Pass
Apache Pass is a historic passage in the U.S. state of Arizona between the Dos Cabezas Mountains and Chiricahua Mountains, approximately 32 km E-SE of Willcox, Arizona.-Apache Spring:...
and the Fort Bowie National Historic Site. Access to the Chiricahua Mountains and Coronado National Forest
Coronado National Forest
The Coronado National Forest includes an area of about 1.78 million acres spread throughout mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico....
is through Wilcox from the north, Douglas
Douglas, Arizona
Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico and a history of mining.The population was 14,312 at the 2000 census...
from the south, and Rodeo
Rodeo, New Mexico
Rodeo, is an unincorporated town in Hidalgo County in the southwestern corner of New Mexico at . It lies less than one mile from the border with Arizona on New Mexico State Highway 80....
from the east.
History
The earliest evidence human's in the vicinity of the Chiricahua Mountains are ClovisClovis culture
The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian culture that first appears 11,500 RCYBP , at the end of the last glacial period, characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools...
archeological sites such as Double Adobe Site
Double Adobe Site
The Double Adobe Site is an archaeological site in southern Arizona, twelve miles northwest of Douglas in the Whitewater Draw area. In October 1926, just three months after the first human artifact was uncovered at the Folsom Site, Byron Cummings, first Head of the Archaeology Department at the...
in the Whitewater Draw tributary of Rucker Creek
Rucker Canyon
Rucker Canyon is a major canyon draining the western central-south of the Chiricahua Mountains, the central landform of the eastern third of Cochise County, Arizona's extreme southeast, bordering southwest New Mexico. It is famous for historic Camp Rucker....
north of Douglas
Douglas, Arizona
Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico and a history of mining.The population was 14,312 at the 2000 census...
. Subsequently, the Cochise culture another pre-ceramic based culture spanning 3000 - 200 BCE was defined from sites around the Chiricahua Mountains, including Cave Creek Canyon. Following the transition to ceramics diagnostic ceramics characteristic of Mogollon culture and it's local variants, the Mimbres culture, are found spanning the period from 150 BCE - 1450. The influx of other indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
, such as the Chiricahua Apaches
Chiricahua
Chiricahua are a group of Apache Native Americans who live in the Southwest United States. At the time of European encounter, they were living in 15 million acres of territory in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona in the United States, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico...
, including the leaders Cochise
Cochise
Cochise was a chief of the Chokonen band of the Chiricahua Apache and the leader of an uprising that began in 1861. Cochise County, Arizona is named after him.-Biography:...
and Geronimo
Geronimo
Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
occupied the area until forced removal in the late 19th century.
The first recorded mining claim in the Chiricahua Mountains was the Hidden Treasure claim filed in 1881 and mining has continued intermittently to the present with the greatest periods of activity occurring in the 1920s and 1950s.
More recently, the Chiricahuas have fallen into use by people smugglers and the drug cartels, who position lookouts on their peaks to warn of Border Patrol activities.
Geology overview
The Chiricahua Mountains were formed by volcanic eruptions spanning 35 - 25 million years ago. The last major eruption, 27 million years ago, created the Turkey Creek Caldera and laid down 2000 feet (609.6 m) of volcanic ash which fused into welded Rhyolite tuffTuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
. Subsequent erosion has created mountain ridges covered in stone spires and stone columns, hoodoos
Hoodoo (geology)
A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements...
, that rise up out of the forest. These natural features, preserved in the Chiricahua National Monument
Chiricahua National Monument
Chiricahua National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service located in the Chiricahua Mountains. It is famous for its extensive vertical rock formations. The monument is located approximately southeast of Willcox, Arizona. It preserves the remains of an immense volcanic eruption that...
, are composed of Rhyolite Canyon Tuff.
A one to two mile wide band of sedimentary rock running southeast to northwest from south of Portal through Paradise and up to the Dos Cabezas Mountains is the source of mineralized
Mineralization (geology)
In geology, mineralization is the hydrothermal deposition of economically important metals in the formation of ore bodies or "lodes".The first scientific studies of this process took place in Cornwall, United Kingdom by J.W.Henwood FRS and later by R.W...
deposits.
The largest of the mines developed in the California district of the Chiricahua Mountains was the Hilltop mine which consisted of 3 interconnected levels totaling 6098 metres (20,006.6 ft).
Flora and fauna
The Chiricahua Mountains are a Bio-diverseBiodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
area which are composed of numerous sky islands
Sky Islands
Sky Islands is a 1993 Jazz album by Ramsey Lewis released on GRP Records.The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.-Track listing:-Personnel: *Tony Carpenter - Percussion, Background Vocals...
. Five of the 9 life zones are found in the Chiricahua Mounatins. Three hundred and seventy-five avian species, some endemic to the region, have been recorded from the Chiricahua Mountains. There are also ocelots, jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
s, mountain lions, Nine-banded Armadillo
Nine-banded Armadillo
The nine-banded armadillo , or the nine-banded, long-nosed armadillo, is a species of armadillo found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos...
, black bears
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
, and white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
. With the base of the Chiricahua's at about 3600 feet (1,097.3 m), the range covers about 6000 feet (1,828.8 m) in elevation. Grasslands and desert cover the base of the range, with Ponderosa Pine
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...
and Douglas fir at the highest elevations. Cave Creek Canyon on the east side is home to the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
Southwest Research Station and the small towns of Portal
Portal, Arizona
Portal is an unincorporated community in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. It lies south-southeast of San Simon and at the mouth of Cave Creek Canyon on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains. Often called the Yosemite of Arizona, the rock walled canyon is composed of fused volcanic tuff...
and Paradise
Paradise, Arizona
Paradise is a ghost town in Cochise County in the U.S. state of Arizona. The town was settled in 1901 in what was then the Arizona Territory.-History:...
.
Some species associated with the range:
- Arizona Sycamore
- Catocala violentaCatocala violentaCatocala violenta is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found from Colorado to Arizona, east to Texas and into Mexico.The wingspan is 70-80 mm. Adults are on wing from July to August depending on the location. There is one generation per year....
-(=Catocala chiricahua) - Charadra tapaCharadra tapaCharadra tapa is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found in the Chiricahua, Huachuca, and Santa Rita Mountains of south-eastern Arizona, although the species probably occurs in adjacent parts of Mexico....
- Chiricahua Leopard FrogChiricahua Leopard FrogThe Chiricahua Leopard Frog, Rana chiricahuensis, is a species of frog in the Ranidae family. It is found in Mexico and the United States. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes,...
- Eared QuetzalEared QuetzalThe Eared Quetzal , also known as the Eared Trogon, is a near passerine bird in the trogon family, Trogonidae. It breeds in streamside pine-oak forests and canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico south to western Michoacán. It is sometimes seen as a vagrant to southeasternmost Arizona in...
- Elegant TrogonElegant TrogonThe Elegant Trogon, Trogon elegans , is a near passerine bird in the trogon family. It breeds from southeasternmost Arizona in the United States to northwestern Costa Rica. It occasionally is found as a vagrant in southeasternmost and western Texas.It is a resident of the lower levels of semi-arid...
- Nine-banded ArmadilloNine-banded ArmadilloThe nine-banded armadillo , or the nine-banded, long-nosed armadillo, is a species of armadillo found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos...
- Hypotrix lunataHypotrix lunataHypotrix lunata is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found from south-eastern Arizona southward to the State of Durango in northern Mexico....
- Johann's PinyonJohann's PinyonPinus johannis, the Johann's Pinyon, is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to North America. The range extends from southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico, United States, south in Mexico along the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sierra Madre Oriental to southern Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí...
- Lilium parryiLilium parryiLilium parryi is a rare species of lily known by the common names lemon lily and Parry's lily. It is native to the south-western United States and northern Mexico where it is a rare sighting in moist areas in mountain habitat. In California it is currently known from the San Bernardino and San...
- Lithophane leeaeLithophane leeaeLithophane leeae is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is only found in the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona.The length of the forewings is about 25 mm....
- Madrean pine-oak woodlandsMadrean pine-oak woodlandsThe Madrean pine-oak woodlands are subtropical woodlands found in the mountains of Mexico and the southwestern United States.The Madrean pine-oak woodlands are found at higher elevations in Mexico's major mountain ranges, the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Trans-Mexican...
- Rocky Mountain Douglas-firRocky Mountain Douglas-firThe Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii subsp. glauca, is an evergreen conifer native to the interior mountainous regions of western North America, from central British Columbia and southwest Alberta in Canada southward through the United States to the far north of Mexico...
- Tricholita ferrisiTricholita ferrisiTricholita ferrisi is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is only known from Onion Saddle in the Chiricahua Mountains and Ash Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains of extreme south-eastern Arizona at elevations between 1,575 and 2,325 meters. This is the Madrean Sky Islands region of the northern Sierra...
–((?)found only at Onion Saddle)
