The Opening Scene: The Dragoons
Why I chose the Dragoon Mountains as the opening setting for my novel.
11/12/20251 min read
The Dragoon Mountains.
My novel, The Wanted and the Unwanted, begins in the Dragoon Mountains. I've hiked, camped, and photographed the Dragoons scores of times. The thrill never fades.
It's where the Chiricahua Apaches held off the American army for ten years. Until General O.O. Howard accepted the terms of peace dictated by Cochise.
The Dragoons are under the supervision of the U.S. Forest Service. At the main parking lot and campsite is a memorial to Cochise.
For hikers the best starter trail is the adeptly named Cochise trail. You'll find an abundant number of hoodoos (thin, tall spires of rock). As you walk along this windy trail, it's not hard to imagine the terror cavalrymen must of felt while scouting for Apaches, wondering what waiting for them behind the rocky cliffs.
It's a wonder this monuments isn't enclosed behind glass, since it's a popular target of thieves.
