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Third Thursday Food for Thought Online Zoom Presentation – “Camp Rucker: Apache Wars Outpost in the Chiricahua Mountains”
September 17, 2020 @ 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
On September 17, 2020, join Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s Third Thursday Food for Thought online Zoom presentation by Bill Gillespie featuring “Camp Rucker: Apache Wars Outpost in the Chiricahua Mountains.” This free online presentation will be held from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. (Arizona/Mountain Standard Time).
In the summer of 1878, the US Army established a small outpost called Camp Supply in the Chiricahua Mountains, in the heart of the Chiricahua Apache homeland. The initial purpose of the post was to serve as base of operations and supply depot for companies of Indian Scouts. That function was cut short when the two young officers leading Indian Scout companies both drowned during a summer storm in the canyon. The camp was renamed Camp John A. Rucker in honor of one of them. Although officially in use for less than three years, the Army continued to make occasional use of the camp for nearly 20 more years, most notably in its final campaign against Geronimo in the summer of 1886. Ranchers who lived at Camp Rucker in the decades that followed were an interesting lot, some of whom wrote about life at Rucker in the 1880s through 1930s. As an archaeologist for the Coronado National Forest for 25 years, guest speaker Bill Gillespie and his Forest Service colleague Mary Farrell conducted volunteer projects at Camp Rucker and successfully nominated the Rucker Canyon Archaeological District to the National Register of Historic Places.
To register for the Zoom meeting go to https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_K6HS7IkdS0KNbXxxp44cJg. For more information contact Old Pueblo at info@oldpueblo.org or 520-798-1201.
Flyer: OPAC_20200917(v2)ThirdThursday_BillGillespie_CampRuckerApacheWarsOutpost