Clear springs seeped year-round, and the hillsides produced enough sustenance to revitalize the warriors after their long overland treks. Mesquite beans, pi on nuts and the fruit of the banana yucca supplemented whatever small game could be found. Like the better-known sky islands of southern Arizona, the Dragoon Mountains rise abruptly out of the sagebrush plain. There, however, the similarities end. But I find myself continually drawn to the Dragoons, lured by the same qualities that attracted the Apaches more than 100 years ago.
Storm clouds cling to the mountaintops following a winter storm in the Dragoons.
The Dragoons are a maze of granite spires, yawning crevices and abrupt precipices. Balanced rocks and boulders the size of small houses are sprinkled across steep hillsides. Soaptree yuccas and sporadic cholla break the profile of the tall flowing grass. In the Dragoons, all things begin either on the west or the east side of the range. The sanctuary of Cochise Stronghold is on the east side.