MIAMI — “Butterfield Overland Trail, Treacherous Travel from New Mexico to Arizona” will be presented by local historian and author Rick Powers for the February First Friday lecture series sponsored by the Gila County Historical Society and the Bullion Plaza Museum.  The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2, at the Bullion Plaza Museum with the doors opening at 6 p.m.

The emphasis of the talk will be on the Apache Pass: Crossroad to Clash of Cultures. Considered by travelers as the most dangerous portion of the Butterfield trail,  the treacherous journey through Apache Pass also known by its earlier Spanish name Puerto del Dado ("Door or Pass of the Die", meaning "pass of chance", which described the risky venture of crossing the pass to a game of Russian Roulette. This area is now a peaceful historic site nestled in a mountain pass in Arizona between the Dos Cabezas Mountains and Chiricahua Mountains at an elevation of 5,110 feet.

 A natural freshwater spring, Apache Spring, runs through the pass. The history of Apache Pass begins with this spring - as the only reliable water source for many miles, the spring served as a critical resupply point.  A way station was built out of stone on the eastern side of Apache Pass, where travelers could rest their horses and utilize the water from the spring. It was perhaps the only station on the entire route that was made from such durable material, a possible acknowledgement of the danger they felt from the local Apaches. The need for protection of the spring and the stage station from the marauding Apaches led to the establishment of Fort Bowie.

 Apache Springs was also the site in 1861 of a confrontation between Apache leader Cochise and a Lt. George Bascom. This encounter would be the trigger for an Apache War that would not officially end until the surrender of Geronimo in 1886.The Fort was decommissioned in 1894 and in 1911, the land around the fort site was sold off and the building materials were scavenged. In 1964, Fort Bowie was declared a National Historic Landmark.

Now the old stage station rests peacefully in the southeastern portion of Arizona. But the past was a potential disaster waiting to happen the various cultures clashed at this cross road to history.

There is no charge for the talk, but donations are always welcome.  Gila County Historical Museum and Bullion Plaza Museum are recipients of funds from the United Fund Globe-Miami.