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Twenty seven million years ago a volcanic eruption of immense proportions shook the land around Chiricahua National Monument. One thousand times greater than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, the Turkey Creek Caldera eruption eventually laid down two thousand feet of siliceous ash and pumice. This mixture fused into a rock called rhyolitic tuff and eventually eroded into the spires and unusual rock formations of today.
Total size: 11,985 acres
Location:
Chiricahua National Monument is located 120 miles east of Tucson.Historical Facts:
The first inhabitants arrived about 10,000 years ago, nomadic Paleo-Indians who hunted ice-age animals and gathered fruits and nuts. They evolved into the agriculture-based Mogollon culture, which eventually merged with other southwestern cultures, particularly the Anasazi, by 1100 or 1200 A.D. The Chiricahua Apaches followed about 400 years ago. Led by famous chiefs Cochise and Geronimo, they carried out the last major attacks on white settlers before the surrender of Geronimo in 1886. Visitors can tour historic Faraway Ranch, a pioneer homestead and later a working cattle and a guest ranch.
Designation Date: April 18, 1924, by President Calvin Coolidge
Watch the clip
Then water, wind and ice took over, working silently like grains of sand through an hourglass--polishing and perfecting every surface. And this place became what the Apaches call, "Land of Standing-Up Rocks."
>>Free software downloads: Windows Media- Quicktime
Windows Media file:
PC compatible
Low: 175 KB | High: 1.13 MB
QuickTime movie:
Macintosh/PC compatible
1.13 MB
Learn More:
National Park Service Homepage
Chiricahua Background/NPS
Chiricahua Overview/NPSChiricahua Nearby Attractions/NPS
Chiricahua Nature and Science/NPS
Managing Agency:
National Park Service
13063 E. Bonita Canyon Road
Wilcox, AZ 85643-9737
(520) 824-3560
