Fort Bowie

Fort Bowie
Apache Pass, Arizona
Fort Bowie in 1893.
Type	Army fortification
Site information
Controlled by	Arizona
Condition	tourist attraction
Site history
Built	1864
Built by	United States
In use	1862 - 1894
Garrison information
Occupants	United States Army

Fort Bowie was a 19th century outpost of the United States Army located in southeastern Arizona near the present day town of Willcox, Arizona.

Fort Bowie was established in 1862 after a series of engagements between the U.S. Military and the Chiricahua Apaches. The most violent of which was the Battle of Apache Pass. The fort was named in honor of Colonel George Washington Bowie commander of the 5th California Infantry who first established the fort. The first Fort Bowie resembled more of a temporary camp than a permanent army post. In 1868, a second, more substantial Fort Bowie was built which included adobe barracks, houses, corrals, a trading post, and a hospital. The second Fort Bowie was built on a plateau about 300 yards to the southeast of the first site. For more than 30 years Fort Bowie and Apache Pass were the focal point of military operations eventually culminating in the surrender of Geronimo in 1886 and the banishment of the Chiricahuas to Florida and Alabama. The fort was abandoned in 1894.

Fort Bowie site today.

Commanders

• Major Theodore H. Coult July 27, 1862 - September 1862
• Captain Hugh L. Hinds September 1862 - May, 1863

Garrisons of Fort Bowie

• Company G, 5th California Infantry. July 27, 1862 - January 1863
• Company E, 5th California Infantry. January 1863 - May, 1863
• Company K, 5th California Infantry. May, 1864 - September, 1864
• ?
• Company L, 1st California Cavalry. June, 1865 - January, 1866
• ?
• Company L, 1st California Cavalry. March, 1866 - April, 1866

The ruins of Fort Bowie are now preserved as part of Fort Bowie National Historic Site.

References

• [Douglas C. McChristian, Fort Bowie, Arizona: Combat Post of the Southwest, 1858-1894, University of Oklahoma Press, 2006, ISBN 0806137819, 9780806137810]