Southeastern Arizona

I love living in Oregon. But, not being a native Oregonian, I do get burned out on the rain by February. We usually try to take a trip to some place warm and sunny around this time of the year to lift our spirits and get some Vitamin D!  This year we decided to tour southeastern Arizona. I don't think we were alone, though, because we overheard quite a few tourists saying they were from Oregon as well.

Our route started in Phoenix. We headed east to Superior then south to Hayden and Dudleyville where we picked through some nearby mine tailings for wulfenite and calcite. No luck. We camped at the Dudleyville site.

Camping near Dudleyville

The next day we traveled on to Tucson, stopping at the 'famous' El Charro Café for lunch. Established in 1922, El Charro Café of Tucson, Arizona is The Nation's Oldest Mexican Restaurant in continuous operation by the same family. While there, we caught a glimpse of the old Presidio San Augustin del Tucson, which has been reconstructed. We found it mildly interesting and didn't spend much time there. We headed south to the Fairbank Historic Town Site, which is located within the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. Like nearby Tombstone, Fairbank was a silver mining area. It was also the closest train depot to nearby Tombstone, another mining town. There isn't much left of it today, but there is a trail head in the town that takes you on a loop along the San Pedro River with stops at old mining structures and the town cemetery.

Fairbank Cemetery

Fairbank Historic Town Site

We were hoping to get a number of bird sightings during the hike, but there wasn't much to be seen. Some of the birds we saw throughout the entire trip include:

Teddy Bear Cholla

Restored Bisbee Gas Station

• Rufous-crowned Sparrow
• White Breasted Nuthatch
• Common Raven
• American Kestrel
• Roadrunner
• Acorn Woodpecker
• Dark-eyed Junco
• Red-naped Sapsucker
• Mexican Jay
• House Finch
• Chipping Sparrow
• Mourning Dove
• Turkey Vulture
• Crested Caracara
• Gamble's Quail
• Ash-throated Flycatcher
• Abert's Towhee
• Curve-billed Thrasher
• Gila Woodpecker
• Black-throated Sparrow
• Crow
• Loggerhead Shrike
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Green Towhee
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Phainopepla
• Harris' Hawk
• Bridled Titmouse
• Cactus Wren
• American Coot
• Cinnamon Teal
• Grackle

We continued on to Tombstone, a former mining town established in 1879. It is known for its gunslingers, miners, and outlaws. It is the site of the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The town was founded by prospector, Ed Schieffelin, who ventured out from Camp Huachuca, looking for silver. Others within the camp warned him that the only stone he would find out in the dangerous Apache territory was his own tombstone. He did fine silver and named the mine "The Tombstone."

In 1879, Phillip Smith purchased the first pioneer store in Tombstone and erected the Cochise County Bank building at the site when the county was established. Several other businesses were located in the building after Smith went bankrupt. Today it is the visitor center.

Former Cochise County Bank

The historic district in Tombstone is on Allen Street. The most famous event in the town was the fight at O.K. Corral, which actually happened on Fremont Street. The fight involved the Earp brothers (Virgil, Wyatt, Morgan and Warren) who had conflicts with a band of outlaws known as The Cowboys. The conflicts escalated into a shootout in 1881 when the Earp lawmen killed Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and Billy Clanton of The Cowboys.

The Cochise County Courthouse was built in Tombstone in 1882 and operated until 1929 when the county seat was moved to Bisbee. It is now operated as a museum.

Old Cochise County Courthouse in Tombstone

Allen Street Historical District

After Tombstone, we headed to Bisbee, which is the location of the former Copper Queen Mine. The mine is what led to the growth of Bisbee. It was bought by Phelps Dodge in 1885 and closed in 1985. The Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum has incredible mineral specimens that were extracted from the mine. The building was formerly the Phelps Dodge General Office Building. Because of the mine, Bisbee was a boomtown, which is evident from the architecture.

Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum

Copper Queen Mine pit

Bisbee commercial district

Our trip was, in part, to do bird watching and rock hounding. In the hope of finding some birds, we traveled northward to the Chiricahua National Monument which is named after a band of Apache Native Americans. The monument has large areas of volcanic rock, which has eroded into pinnacles and spires. We camped on the edge of the park that night hoping to look for birds the next morning. We were really disappointed to find that most of the roads were closed.

We traveled west the next day to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. This desert covers 120,000 square miles and is the most diverse desert in North America. There are several hikes and interpretive drives. Maps are available at the park headquarters.

The most distinctive cacti are the saguaros. The saguaro is the tallest and largest cactus in the United States growing as high as 50 feet and weighing several tons. It can live to be 200 years old. Other cacti include the prickly pear, teddy bear cholla, chain fruit cholla, and (although not a true cactus), the ocotillo. There are many more desert-adapted species to see and the landscape is incredibly beautiful.

Our final stop on the way to Phoenix was a mine company town called Ajo, north of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on Highway 85. Ajo was designed for the New Cornelia mine workers in 1914 by founder John Campbell Greenway. Phelps Dodge acquired the mine and most of the town in 1931, eventually marketing the homes to snowbirds in 1986 after the mine closed. There is a visitor center in the old train depot which provides a mildly interesting walking tour. Most of the town is built in Spanish Colonial Revival style.

Curley School in Ajo built in 1919

Overall, it was an interesting trip with beautiful landscapes and some interesting historical sites. We could have picked a better time for birds, but we still saw quite a few and added some new species to the list. Overall, a nice winter getaway.