Galiuro Wilderness

Galiuro Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
Location	Graham County, Arizona, USA
Nearest city	San Manuel, AZ
Area	76,317 acres (309 km2)
Established	1964
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service

Galiuro Wilderness is a 76,317-acre (309 km²) wilderness area encompassing the mid to upper slopes of the Galiuro Mountains. It is located within the Safford Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is bordered on the south by the Redfield Canyon Wilderness.

Topography

Map of Galiuro Wilderness Area

Elevations in the Galiuro Wilderness range from 4,000 feet (1,219 m) to 7,671 feet (2,338 m) at the summit of Bassett Peak. The Galiuro Mountain Range is a very rough and brushy block fault range characterized by block-like uplifts rising abruptly from relatively level plains that are characteristic of southern Arizona. Erosion has produced many rugged cliffs and steep slopes which have brightly colored exposed soils and rocks. The mountain is a double range bisected by two main canyons, Rattlesnake and Redfield. The wilderness boundary generally follows the forest boundary on the west and approximately one mile east of Trail 287 on the east. The most prominent peaks and high points in the Wilderness include Bassett Peak at 7,671 feet (2,338 m), Kennedy Peak at 7,540 feet (2,298 m), and Sunset Peak at 7,094 feet (2,162 m) along the east divide. Those along the west divide include Rhodes Peak at 7,116 feet (2,169 m), Maverick Mountain at 6,990 feet (2,131 m), and Kielberg Peak at6,880 feet (2,097 m).

Vegetation

The vegetation growing in Galiuro Wilderness varies from species of the semi-desert grassland type to those of the mixed conifer type. The majority of the south and west-facing slopes of the Galiuro Range are covered with dense stands of manzanita, live oak, mahogany and other brush species. The higher slopes and ridgetops have moderate to dense stands of juniper, pinon pine, and oak trees. Along the canyon bottoms and on the northern slopes of the higher elevations grow Arizona cypress, Ponderosa pine, Chihuahua pine, Mexican white pine, Douglas fir, and smaller stands of white fir. Deciduous trees such as sycamore, alder, maple, ash, walnut, and aspen grow in the riparian areas where springs supply water almost year-round, including Power's Garden, Mud Spring, Corral Spring, Juniper Spring, South Field Spring, Kielberg Dam, Walnut Spring, Cedar Spring, and Holdout Spring.

Wildlife

A variety of wildlife can be found Galiuro Wilderness, including large mammals such as Mule deer, Pronghorn, Bighorn Sheep, White-tailed deer, Collared Peccary, Coyote, American Black Bear, and Cougar. Smaller mammal species include Cottontail rabbits, Ground squirrels, Racoon, White-nosed Coati, Foxes, Skunks, and Bobcat. Birds include quail, doves, and the Band-tailed Pigeon.

History

See also: Graham County Sheriff's Office

Original native inhabitants of the area are believed to be the Jacome Indians, a little-known group possibly related to the Apaches.

Power Cabin, site of the Power Brothers Shootout

White settlers began arriving in the mid-19th century, taking up prospecting and later mining and ranching in the 1890s. In 1909 Jeff Power and his family homesteaded in Rattlesnake Canyon and began mining nearby. When two of Power's sons, Tom and John Power, failed to report when drafted into World War I, Sheriff Robert F. McBride of Graham County delivered a letter to the Powers asking them to come in for prosecution, but it was ignored. Several weeks later, on the night of February 9, 1918, Deputy U.S. Marshal Frank Haynes, Sheriff McBride, and Deputy Sheriffs Martin Kempton and T.K. Wooten arrived at the Powers' cabin near the Powers Mine. They carried arrest warrants for Tom and John Power for draft evasion, and warrants for Jeff Power and his hired man, Tom Sisson, for an unrelated charge. Just before dawn on February 10, as the Power camp was preparing breakfast, they heard two of their horses gallop by their dogs began barking. When Jeff Power stepped outside with his rifle Deputy Sheriff Wooten yelled, "Throw up your hands! Throw up your hands!" A furious gunfight ensued, leaving Sheriff McBride, Deputy Sheriffs Kempton and Wooten, and Jeff Power dead. Marshal Haynes escaped to nearby Klondyke, Arizona, while the Power boys and Tom Sisson fled south to Redington on the San Pedro River, leading to the biggest manhunt in Arizona's history. They entered Mexico south of Hachita, New Mexico, where on March 8 they surrendered to a U.S. Army patrol that had picked up their trail and crossed the border in pursuit. At their trial, all three men were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Sisson died in prison at the age of 86, but the Power brothers were paroled in 1960, forty-two years after their conviction. They were pardoned by Governor Jack Richard Williams nine years later.

In 1932, Congress set aside 52,717 acres (213 km²) in the Galiuro Mountains as the Galiuro Primitive Area within the Crook National Forest. It was renamed the Galiuro Wild Area in 1940, with administration shifting to the Coronado National Forest in 1953. With the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964, the area was redesignated the Galiuro Wilderness. A last addition in 1983 incorporated the floor of Rattlesnake Valley into the wilderness, bringing it to a total of 76,317 acres (309 km²).

In January 1943, a World War II B-24 bomber on a training run crashed near the summit of Bassett Peak, killing all eleven men on board. A plaque mounted on one of the wings commemorates their final resting place.

See also

• List of Arizona Wilderness Areas
• List of U.S. Wilderness Areas

External links

• Galiuro Wilderness - Coronado National Forest
• Galiuro Wilderness - Wilderness.net
• Galiuro Wilderness - GORP
• Lands Exhibit: Galiuro Wilderness - Public Lands Information Center