The Bascom Affair might sound like the title of a spy movie - but history buffs know it as a run-in 150 years ago that helped ignite prolonged bloodshed between Apaches and the military.
Saturday - in a sort of "hike into history" public event - visitors can walk with historical interpreters to the Bascom site and nearby Fort Bowie.
The locales are part of the Fort Bowie National Historic Site southeast of Willcox.
Sponsored by the National Park Service, the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Tucson Presidio Trust, the free event is billed as a "kickoff event for Arizona's statehood centennial celebration."
About Bascom
The Bascom Affair of 1861 took place in the remote Apache Pass area, near the site where Fort Bowie opened the following year, said Janet Hoppe, a park ranger at the fort.
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Hoppe outlined key elements of the affair:
• Two groups of Apaches raided a ranch, stole livestock and kidnapped the rancher's 12-year-old stepson.
• Chiricahua Apaches, led by Cochise, were blamed for the attack, and Army Lt. George Bascom was sent with troops to Apache Pass to recover the boy and the livestock.
• Bascom met with Cochise and accused him of the raid, but Cochise denied that his group was involved.
• Bascom and his soldiers confined Cochise and members of his family to a tent, saying they would be held until the boy and the livestock were returned.
• Cochise cut a hole in the tent and escaped - leaving the rest of his party as Bascom's hostages.
• As events escalated, Cochise took hostages from a wagon train and later executed them when he was unable to free the Apaches held as hostages.
• Subsequently, the military executed Apache hostages, but women and children were spared.
The affair, according to an account provided by Hoppe, "tipped off 10 years of warfare between Cochise and the military."
"Cochise and his followers increased their attacks on mail riders, ranchers, miners and the military," the account says, noting that the attacks continued until Cochise's armistice with the military in 1872.
Fort Bowie, which opened in 1862, remained active until it was abandoned in 1894.
Visit the sites
Hoppe said historical interpreters will provide detailed information to visitors Saturday. Event hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
"There will also be some exhibits to recognize the start of the centennial celebration," she said.
Visitors should be prepared to hike about half a mile from a parking area to the site of the Bascom Affair. It's a 1.5-mile hike from the parking area to the ruins of Fort Bowie. Handicap access will be available to some of the sites.
"People will see ruins of buildings and the layout of the fort," Hoppe said.
Visitors should bring water and a lunch because no food is available at the site.
Get to the fort
From Tucson, take Interstate 10 east to Willcox and exit onto Arizona 186. Follow 186 southeast about 22 miles to Apache Pass Road. Turn left there and travel eight miles on a dirt road to a trailhead parking lot.
Information: 1-520-847-2500.
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Our centennial special section looks at 100 people who helped build Arizona. Coming Sunday
Contact reporter Doug Kreutz at dkreutz@azstarnet.com or at 573-4192.
