The initial meeting between General Howard and Cochise was once thought to have occurred at a place in the Dragoons that is now called Council Rocks.  It is likely that the name itself came about as a result of this misidentification.  For some time it has been acknowledged by most historians that there is a complete lack of evidence to support Council Rocks as having been the location of the Cochise/Howard meeting -- a state of affairs that ended abruptly with my lucky rediscovery of the campsite location in 2001, made possible by having been given a copy of the photograph taken in 1895 by Alice Rollins Crane (for a detailed discussion of this subject, see Cochise's Campsite Rediscovered.)

     In fact, Council Rocks was a place known to Cochise's Apaches, as evidenced by the presence there of Apache rock art, which can be found in and among much more extensive rock art that was left by prehistoric Indians pre-dating the Apaches by many hundreds of years (known as the Mogollon [Mo-go-yon] Culture).  The site is littered, too, with deep metates, or mortars, giving evidence to the fact that it was a major place of settlement, at least intermittently. 

     The Chokonens, as with all Apaches, respected the "ancient ones" and most likely stayed clear of the spot for the most part, out of reverence -- or perhaps out of a fear of ghosts (a phobia deeply ingrained in the Apache psyche).  I have often wondered if Cochise may have taken Howard's party there, as it is not far from the actual site of Cochise's camp.  The fact that such a place is not mentioned in either Howard's or Sladen's accounts seems to indicate otherwise.  It is the only location on the West side of the Dragoons that has been officially marked (a historical plaque can be found at the end of a short walk into the rocks), and it can be found on most area maps.  It is a wonderful spot with a deeply spiritual feeling around it, and well worth a vistor's time.
 
 

     The Americans had willingly delivered themselves into the grasp of the Southwest's most feared and powerful Apache leader and had done so in a time of war.  They fully expected to be held as captives during the next anxious phase of this risky venture and probably had visions of having to negotiate for their own safety (this being much less a concern for Jeffords, of course). 

     But Howard and Sladen were about to get the surprise of their lives.  They were about to experience the warm hospitality of a People they had been taught to think of only as wild and blood thirsty savages.  They would learn very quickly that these war-weary Apaches were surprisingly civilized, refreshingly amiable, and highly principled.