Photo by Gil Aguilera, Chiricahua Alliance

A Chiricahua Apache Monument and kiosk was dedicated in front of Doc Campbell's Post at Gila Hot Springs. The wall is built of carefully placed rocks atop each other and incorporates a graphic brochure of the Apache Homeland. Geronimo, one of the Apaches' best known warriors, was born at the headwaters of the Gila River. Mangas Coloradas, an Apache chief, who married into the Mimbreño tribe, was instrumental in joining together the various Apache tribes in southwest New Mexico in the mid-1800s. He pledged friendship to the American settlers of the area in 1846, but after several Apaches were killed at the hands of miners, he and his warriors waged war until he and others approached Fort McLane under a flag of truce to negotiate peace. But he was killed by Union soldiers there in 1863, allegedly "trying to escape."

Fort Bayard Days, to take place Friday, Sept. 20 for School Days for students, and Saturday, Sept. 21, with vintage baseball games on tap, will feature an Apache presence, as well as representatives of the Buffalo Soldiers group from Tucson, Ariz.

More photos by Gil Aguilera, Chiricahua Alliance

Mescalero - Chiricahua Apache Elders:  Mr. & Mrs. Ted Rodriguez, Bruce Klinekole II and Joe Saenz stand in front of the Apache Wall

Dedication and blessing by Apache Elders of the Chiricahua Apache Monument at the Gila Hot Springs, in front of Doc Campbell's Post, in the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument area in New Mexico.

Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway members, Cecilia Bell, Fran Land and Joe Saenz, pose in front of the monument.