Tuesday, September 4 (continued)
Having explored the campground at Cochise Stronghold, the crew and I are ready to cross the bridge to commence walking the nature trail.
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Before we do that, let’s pause and read a marker about Apache Chief Cochise and learn more about him.
Readers: For background I suggest you to follow this link and read the brief biography at the website, This Day In History, entitled “June 8, 1874 — Apache Chief Cochise Dies.”
How did a man by the name of Tom Jeffords become the “blood brother” of Chief Cochise?
In 1867 Captain Jeffords made the personal acquaintance of Cochise:
Captain Jeffords said, “He [Cochise] had killed twenty-one men to my knowledge, fourteen of whom were in my employ. I made up my mind that I wanted to see him. . . . I had acquired a smattering knowledge of the Indian language . . . .
“I went into his camp alone, fully armed. After meeting him, I told him that I was there to talk with him personally, and that I wished to leave my arms in his possession . . . .
“Cochise seemed to be surprised, but finally consented to my proposition, took possession of my arms and I spent two or three days with him, discussing affairs, and sizing him up. I found him to be a man of great natural ability, a splendid specimen of physical manhood, standing about six feet two, with an eye like an eagle. This was the commencement of my friendship with Cochise, and although I was frequently compelled to guide troops against him and his band, it never interfered with our friendship. He respected me and I respected him.” — “Biography of Captain Thomas Jonathon Jeffords,” accessgenealogy.com
See the end of this post for books and a movie DVD about these two legendary men.
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Ready? We have a nature trail to walk!
This is an easy trail. Four-tenths of a mile with a gentle grade.
“Boys, how about you tell everyone about the nature walk as we go along?”
“Sure, RVSue! Just let me catch up to Roger first. He’s always in a hurry to see what’s next! Rog! Wait up!”
“Okay. Let’s see. Umm . . . Here I am on the trail with Roger. We see a big pile of rocks.”
“Lots of big rocks.”
“The trail is skinny through this part . . .
. . . and RVSue is nervous about snakes. I’m not nervous. That’s why I go first and Roger and RVSue stay behind me.”
“More stairs! It’s fun hopping up stairs. Let’s go, Rog!”
“Here we are at the top of the stairs and here’s a place for tired people to rest. We’re not tired. This is too much fun! . . . . Oh, look at Roger’s leg. He looks like he’s peeing on the leash. Hahahaha!”
“Excuse me, Reg. Let’s give Roger a chance to talk, too. Roger what do you have to say? . . . . Roger, honey?”
“RVSue, I’d better do the talking. Roger likes to look around and sniff the air for bears and stuff. He can’t do that and walk and talk at the same time.”
“Or chew gum, I suppose. Oh, Reg, you imp, I see what you did there.”
“Hey, look at this! I’m going to catch this thing!”
“Oh, no, you’re not, Roger. We’ll catch it with my camera and leave it alone.”
(The lizard is about five inches long.)
” C’mon, you two. Forget about the dang lizard. Listen. There’s water up ahead. I think we’re close to the campground where that little stream is.”
“RVSue, can we climb rocks again?”
“Of course, Roger!”
“Thanks, boys, for narrating our nature walk. There’s the PTV waiting for us!”
In the next post . . . .
A closer look at nature, including an odd-looking, green creature we almost missed.
rvsue
NOTE: For those of you who enjoy reading and learning history, here are a few books to consider. I can’t recommend them because I haven’t read them, but the reviews at Amazon are good. — Sue
Once They Moved Like The Wind: Cochise, Geronimo, and the Apache Wars
Tom Jeffords: Friend of Cochise
DVD of the movie starring James Stewart as Tom Jeffords: Broken Arrow
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG!
If you’d like to browse and shop at Amazon, any of the links in the above NOTE will take you there where you’ll find a search box to locate what you want.
