The Arizona Trail
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On the ninth of April 1795 the gates of the presidio of Tupson opened and out rode its commander, Captain Don José de Zúñiga, and a company of 20 soldiers. Leaving the meager comforts of their Sonoran frontier outpost behind, the company set out on a 50 day journey with the intent of opening a road to improve communication and commerce with their distant neighbors in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Tupson troop was not alone in this endeavor; five other presidios sent men north to rendezvous with the captain on the San Pedro River at the long deserted presidio of Santa Cruz de Terrenate.
From Tupson the captain and his men rode nearly nine leagues east and retired at the Ciénega de los Pimas, a well watered place at the junction of present day Davidson Canyon and Cienega Creek. At day break the troop continued east up Mescal Wash and then passed over gentle rolling county and into the valley of the San Pedro River. On the river just above Benson, the troop turned south riding upstream at a good pace and arrived at Santa Cruz before day’s end, putting 16 or more leagues behind them this day.
With the five other companies reporting in, the captain set about organizing the force. The “fatigue party” (meaning a number of soldiers from different presidios) would be led by the captain and joining him would be the cavalry, the infantry and scouts totaling 100 men. An additional 51 men were assigned to escort the “main body” believed here to be a caravan of pack animals hauling provisions and tended by non-military personnel (the expedition organizational chart shows 151 men on the expedition but a later headcount shows an additional 14 men).
Ordering the main body to rest for three days, the fatigue party departed Santa Cruz at 10 a.m. on April 12, 1795. Proceeding north down the San Pedro River to present day St. David the fatigue party turned northeast on an easy path up Dragoon Wash where they rested in the pass between the Little Dragoon Mountains and the larger Dragoon Mountains (Bolas de la Peñazoosa).
On April 13th troops reconnoitered the Dragoons, Wilcox Playa (Playa de los Pimas) [Photo 1], and west face of the Dos Cabezas Mountains (Cavezas) [Photo 2] while Zúñiga remained on the headwater of the Aravaipa Creek (los Ojos de Santa Teresa) near the east base of the Winchester Mountains (Sierra de Santa Teresa).
On the 14th the captain sent the infantry into the Pinaleño Mountains (La Florida) in search of Apache rancherias. With the infantry gone for the day, the captain crossed the northern edge of the Wilcox Playa and advanced no farther than the gentle rise separating Sulphur Springs Valley and San Simon Valley (Puertro de Quilcho). There are a number of springs on the eastern pediment of the Dos Cabezas Mountains if drinking water was an issue.
At dawn on the 15th the troops were again gathered including the infantry and they all proceeded northeast across the San Simon Valley to the marshy region that included the San Simon Creek and Whitlock Cienega (Ciénega Salada). Camping on the “border” of the cienega (probably the northeast end of Whitlock Valley near Indian Rock) the expedition was now within two leagues of the Río de Gila.
On the morning of the 16th the entire fatigue party waded across the river in the vicinity of Duncan, Arizona. Here the broad river valley offered a quiet stretch referred to as the La Hermita of the Gila (Thomas 1932 pg 247-256), or as San Xavier by Bartolomé Saénz in 1756 (Kessell 1971:149).
For three days the Apache auxiliary and infantry searched the north side of the river for Apache camps while the captain and his cavalry remained under cover. At day break on the 19th with all troops assembled they were ready to proceeded forward crossing into modern day New Mexico.