
Dragoon Springs Stage Station & Cochise-Howard Treaty Sites Tour
September 27 @ 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
On Saturday, September 27, 2025, join Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Dragoon Springs Stage Station & Cochise-Howard Treaty Sites Tour” guided by archaeologist Dr. Deni J. Seymour and historian Bill Mapoles. The tour will be from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and begins/ends at south side of Interstate-10 Exit 312 (Sybil Road) about 9 miles east of Benson, Arizona.
This tour to the historic Dragoon Springs Stage Station and Cochise-Howard Treaty archaeological sites in the foothills of southern Arizona’s Dragoon Mountains will be led by archaeologist Dr. Deni Seymour, whose lifelong research has focused largely on the Protohistoric and Historic period Native American and Spanish cultures of the United States’ “southern Southwest,” and historian and firearms expert Bill Mapoles, who is especially knowledgeable about the Dragoon Springs site. Dragoon Springs, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, served the “Jackass Mail” and Butterfield Overland mail companies during the 1850s and 1860s, and was the site of altercations in which construction workers and soldiers of both the Confederate and Union armies were killed, allegedly by Apaches. Debate surrounding the burials will be incorporated into the discussion. A second site, the Cochise-Howard Treaty location, is where Brigadier General Oliver Otis Howard met with the Apache leader Cochise in October 1872 to negotiate the surrender and relocation of Cochise’s Chokonen Apache band. The place of that meeting, which culminated in a peace treaty between Cochise’s band and the U.S. government, has been published by Dr. Seymour based on photographs of unique boulder formations, written historical descriptions of the landscape, and archaeological evidence that she will discuss during our visit. Detailed historical accounts and archaeological investigations enrich our understanding of the location.
This is a fundraising tour – each registrant is asked to make a donation to help cover Old Pueblo’s tour expenses and support its education programs about archaeology and traditional cultures. Registration and prepayment are due 10 days after reservation request or by 5 pm Tuesday September 23. 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org.
Caption: Dragoon Springs Stage Station ruins (left); and Apache wickiup rings at the Cochise-Howard Treaty site, photos by Allen Dart and Deni J. Seymour, respectively
Flyer: 20250927(v1)DragoonSprings_Cochise-HowardTreatySitesTourFlyer