Travels With Two Sisters: Historic forts: Exploring early outposts of the Arizona Territory | Get Out

A few months ago, a neighbor asked us if we had visited some of the forts in Arizona. Our answer, of course, was a quick “yes.” We love forts! During our cross-country journey, we stopped to explore some historic forts such as Castillo de San Marcos Florida, Fort Clatsop in Oregon, Fort Mandan in North Dakota, Fort Robinson in Nebraska and Fort Osage in Missouri, to name just a few. When we settled down in Arizona, we continued searching for historical places that intrigued us. Forts fell in that category.

The day we were asked about the forts in Arizona, we had a long discussion about how many forts we had found in our travels. At that time, we guessed that we had visited and photographed about nine to ten military sites. Months later, in preparation for this article, we looked through our records and our pictures — we were amazed! We have seen 20 forts in this state. A few of them are operational, some are well preserved, and some have disappeared or disintegrated over time. When we visited the ones listed in this article, we found some remnants: adobe walls, historical signs, rock walls, museums, etc.







Fort McDowell ruins 1.JPG

Ruins at Fort McDowell










Fort Huachuca 1.JPG

Fort Huachuca










Fort Huachuca - Old Post.JPG

Fort Huachuca










Fort Verde 1.JPG

Fort Verde










Fort Verde 2.JPG

Fort Verde










Fort Lowell - Commandant's House.JPG

Commandant’s house at Fort Lowell










Fort Yuma 2.JPG

Fort Yuma










Fort Apache 2.JPG

Fort Apache










Fort Apache 3.JPG

Fort Apache




Travels with Two Sisters is a series of Arizona adventures with Green Valley residents Marie “Midge” Lemay and Suzanne “Sue” Poirier. For more discoveries, check out their books: “One Mile at a Time,” “A Gypsy in Our Souls,” “Connecting Dots,” and their latest, “We Don’t Mind if You Come Along.”