10,000 Years of Human Habitation

This area has been inhabited for more than 10,000 years. The Clovis people were the first to live in the area nomadically hunting mastodons & other giant mammals. They left behind Clovis spear points, tools & other stone artifacts. The next to inhabit the area were the Mogollon (MOH-guh-YOHN) people who lived here for centuries leaving pottery & other artifacts, habitation sites and metate, grind holes and mortar utensils that give us great insight into their life ways. The Apache people migrated from the Mackenzie River Valley in Canada to the southwest United States and northern New Mexico in the 1400's. Coronado & the Spanish explorers first visited in 1540, thus setting up a historic conflict as to who would control the area. Cochise was born in approximately 1810 and lived in both peaceful & warfare times always with the thought in mind to live in harmony with the new Americans infiltrating the area during the 1800's After decades of warfare with the Mexicans & Americans, Cochise achieved peace in 1872 and died of natural causes in 1874 while residing on the newly formed Chiricahua Reservation encompassing most of modern day Cochise County. When the Apache Wars ended in 1886, what was known as The Cochise Stronghold, attracted attention from white settlers, ranchers & investors. Martin Costello, a saloon keeper, mining investor & businessman from Tombstone acquired extensive land holdings & mining claims, a portion of which has now become Cochise Stronghold Ranch. The ranch land was used very little in the century following the Costello acquisition. The only improvements to the property were an antique wire fence, hand-dug well lined with field stone, partial primitive road, corral & loading chute for occasional cattle grazing. We acquired this property in 2005 from the founding family, the Costello's and established Cochise Stronghold Ranch. We have found the land to be largely undisturbed from ancient times. Our intention is to preserve the habitat, wildlife, birdlife, water resources and antiquities and to provide education for future generations to enjoy.