What student of American history has not heard of Geronimo, famous warrior of the Chiricahua Apache Indians? When, in 1886, Geronimo and his band finally surrendered to United States soldiers, there ended one of the most stubborn phases of aboriginal resistance to white domination. The Chiricahua Mountains and their neighboring ranges were the ancestral home of the nomadic Apache Indians. Living mainly on wild animals and native plants, these resourceful people moved from place to place depending upon the requirements of the season and the supply of food. Occasionally they raided the farmer Indians of the desert valleys, and with the coming of the Spaniards, they found increased incentive to pillage the European cattle, horses, and grains introduced by the white men. Stolen horses greatly increased the power and widened the range of Indian activities, and the southeastern corner of what is now Arizona became an Apache stronghold. With the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 and the opening of settlement of the region to United States citizens, the Apache raiders became more and more a hazard. United States troops were dispatched to the Southwest to protect settlers, prospectors, travelers, and the mail- and passenger-carrying stages of the Butterfield Route which were often attacked. Cavalry camps and bases were established. One of the most famous of these, Fort Bowie, established in 1862, commanded strategic Apache Pass at the end of the Chiricahua Mountains, north of the monument. From 1860 until 1872, the Chiricahua Apaches under the leadership of the wily Cochise matched the strategy of the soldiers. In 1876, the Chiricahua Apaches were finally rounded up and placed on a reservation, but hostilities continued to flare up when bands left the reservation to attack travelers and pillage isolated ranches. Geronimo, who was the most persistent and cunning of the leaders, was captured in 1886. This ended the organized resistance of the Chiricahua Apaches, but “Big Foot” Massai staged several one-man escapades in later years. Cochise Head, just north of the monument, and Massai Point and Massai Canyon, within its boundaries, immortalize the names of two of the famous Apaches of the Chiricahua group. The Monument Chiricahua National Monument, established by Presidential proclamation on April 18, 1924, has an area of nearly 17 square miles. Elevations within the monument range from 5,160 to 7,365 feet above sea level. The monument entrance, which is on the west, is reached by roads from Bowie and Willcox, or by paved roads from Douglas and Bisbee. [Illustration: Geronimo, famous warrior of the Chiricahua Apaches.] About Your Visit You may obtain information and can register at monument headquarters, about 1 mile beyond the entrance. There is a small exhibit room here, and free interpretive service is provided. When personnel is available, visitors are accompanied to points of interest by park rangers who explain the geologic phenomena.