Fort Huachuca

Camp Huachuca opened on March 3, 1877, one dot in a line of forts meant to hold the frontier against the Chiricahua Apache. Nine years later, General Nelson A. Miles ran the Geronimo campaign from this outpost. When Geronimo surrendered in 1886, the Apache Wars effectively ended — but the fort stayed. The border with Mexico runs roughly fifteen miles south, and the need for a federal presence didn't go away.

What makes Fort Huachuca distinct is who held it longest. From 1913 to 1933, the 10th Cavalry — the Buffalo Soldiers — were stationed here. During World War II, the 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions, both composed of African American troops, trained on these high desert slopes. The history of Black soldiers in the American West runs through this place in ways few installations can match.

The Army never left. Fort Huachuca remains an active military base — headquarters for NETCOM and the U.S. Army Intelligence Center — and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976 for its role in ending the Apache Wars and as the site of the Buffalo Soldiers. The Fort Huachuca Museum covers the Buffalo Soldiers and the Apache campaigns, and a separate Army Intelligence Museum operates on post, with artifacts that include an Enigma Code machine and a section of the Berlin Wall.

Civilian visitors are welcome at the museum but must pass a background check before clearing the gate. Call ahead. This is not a monument to something finished — it's a working installation in Cochise County where the past is still underfoot and the mission continues. If you're already driving toward Bisbee or Tombstone, the museum earns the detour.