Fort Bowie National Historic Site

For nearly 25 years, Fort Bowie stood at the crossroads of the Chiricahua Apache's fight to defend their ancestral homeland and the U.S. Army's westward expansion. Today, visitors embark on a 3-mile scenic loop trail traversing the ground where this profound cultural collision forever altered the course of both American and Indigenous history.

Fort Bowie Ruins

San Simon Valley can be seen just beyond the ruins of the cavalry barracks.

Ruins of the fort with mountains and valley in the background.

Mountain howitzer

The mountain howitzer is a symbolic relic from the active days of Fort Bowie

Close up of a canon barrel

Post Trader's Store

The Post Trader's store on a spring day.

Ruins of adobe building under a blue sky with white clouds.

Fort Bowie landscape and ruins

Fort Bowie was once a bustling frontier military fort. Today, the ruins offer a place of reflection.

Ruined walls of the old buildings and mountains in the background

Fort Bowie Cemetery

Fort Bowie cemetery is accessed via the Fort Bowie Trail, and in addition to many US troops buried here, some Apache/Indeh are buried here as well.

Black and white photo of white tombstones in a cemetery, mountains in the background

Heliograph demonstration

The heliograph was an important communications tool in the late 1880s. Stationed on top of high desert peaks, sunlight was reflected off mirrors in coded patterns to send a message miles away.

A group gathers as a ranger displays the heliograph equipment