JOIN US JANUARY 24, 25 and 26, 2023 IN TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA
2023 Southern Trails Chapter of the Oregon California Trails Association
Trail Gathering in Tombstone, AZ
Gain an in depth knowledge of the history of Tombstone, and the trails that traveled through this area. We have a variety of events and outings! Join like minded individuals as we explore the area together.
Event Schedule
We have several activities scheduled to take advantage of Tombstone and the surrounding areas. Join us for one event or all three. Help us keep the trails alive! Our host is Doug Hocking for questions and comments email dhocking@centurylink.net
DAY ONE
Tuesday, 24 JANUARY 2023
DAY TWO
Wednesday, 25 JANUARY 2023
DAY THREE
Thursday, 26 JANUARY 2023
8:00AM - 9:00AM
ARRIVAL AND REGISTRATION
Arrive at Schieffelin Hall located at 402 East Fremont Street, Tombstone 85638, for todays events.
8:00am – 11:30am Book Sales and Networking
8:00am – 9:00am Registration
9:00am Opening remarks by Mark Howe, President of the Southern Trails Chapter.
9:15am An introduction to Tombstone presented by Jon Donahue.
10:00am Doug Hocking will present a photo tour of the trails through Cochise County.
11:00am Diane Hadley will present the history of Guadalupe Canyon.
11:45am – 1:30pm Break for lunch on your own in Tombstone.
1:30pm Following lunch, we drive to Fairbank for a tour of the Battle of Bull Run.
2:30pm We drive to Santa Cruz de Terrenate Presidio Trailhead for a hike to Presidio Terrenate, (1776-1780).
Dinner will be on your own tonight.
8:00AM
MEET AT SCHIEFFELIN HALL – for a Road Trip adventure
8:00am to 8:30am Registration and Book Sales.
8:30am Depart Schieffelin Hall to drive to Ash Creek to see Smith’s grave. He is the only known death of the Mormon Battalion between Santa Fe and San Diego.
9:45am Drive to Slaughter’s San Bernardino Ranch for a tour and talks by Dan Judkins and Diane Hadley and a picnic lunch.
1:30pm Drive to the Mormon Battalion Memorial in Cottonwood Canyon near Guadalupe Pass.
3:00pm Return to Tombstone for dinner on your own.
8:00AM
MEET AT SCHIEFFELIN HALL
8:00am – 11:30am Book Sales and Networking
8:00am – 8:30am Registration
8:30am – 9:30am Gerald Ahnert will present an update on the Butterfield Overland Mail and Dragoon Springs.
10:00am – 10:45am Dan Judkins will present the story of Antoine Leroux as the chief guide to Arizona and New Mexico.
11:00am Rick Collins will share Quirky Episodes of Death and Danger in the Santa Cruz Valley.
11:45am Drive to Monument Ranch for a nice banquet in their fabulous hall and a presentation by Gil Storms – Devil’s Highway.
Lunch is a choice of chicken or brisket, ranch beans, mac and cheese, dinner salad and roll, iced tea and water.
You’ll enjoy the dude ranch and historic atmosphere too.
2:00pm Return to Schieffelin Hall
2:30pm – 3:30pm Cecilia Bell will present the story of Maria Morris and Fort Webster
3:45pm Business Meeting and Elections for the Chapter.
4:30pm A tour of the upstairs of Schieffelin Hall which is the old Masonic Lodge with guide Chris Douglas.
5:00pm New Board Meeting and Conference wrap up. Safe travels! Thank you for joining us!
DAY ONE
Tuesday, 24 JANUARY 2023
8:00AM - 9:00AM
ARRIVAL AND REGISTRATION
Arrive at Schieffelin Hall located at 402 East Fremont Street, Tombstone 85638, for todays events.
8:00am Book Fair and Networking
9:00am Opening remarks by Mark Howe, President of the Southern Trails Chapter.
9:15am An introduction to Tombstone presented by Jon Donahue.
10:00am Doug Hocking will present a photo tour of the trails through Cochise County.
11:00am Diane Hadley will present the history of Guadalupe Canyon.
A 2 hour lunch break for lunch on your own in Tombstone.
1:30pm Following lunch, we drive to Fairbank for a tour of the Battle of Bull Run.
2:30pm We drive to Santa Cruz de Terrenate Presidio Trailhead for a hike to Presidio Terrenate, (1776-1780).
Dinner will be on your own tonight.
DAY TWO
Wednesday, 25 JANUARY 2023
8:00AM
MEET AT SCHIEFFELIN HALL – for a Road Trip adventure
8:00am Doors open for the Book Fair and Networking.
8:30am drive to Ash Creek to see Smith’s grave. He is the only known death of the Mormon Battalion between Santa Fe and San Diego.
9:45am drive to Slaughter’s San Bernardino Ranch for a tour and talks by Dan Judkins and Diane Hadley, followed by a picnic lunch and a talk.
1:30pm drive to Guadalupe Canyon or Cottonwood Canyon for a tour and some time at the canyon.
Return to Tombstone for dinner on your own.
DAY THREE
Thursday, 26 JANUARY 2023
8:00AM
MEET AT SCHIEFFELIN HALL
8:00am – 11:30am Book Sales and Networking
8:00am – 8:30am Registration
8:30am – 9:30am Gerald Ahnert will present an update on the Butterfield Overland Mail and Dragoon Springs.
10:00am – 10:45am Dan Judkins will present the story of Antoine Leroux as the chief guide to Arizona and New Mexico.
11:00am Rick Collins will share Quirky Episodes of Death and Danger in the Santa Cruz Valley.
11:45am Drive to Monument Ranch for a nice banquet in their fabulous hall and a presentation by Gil Storms – Devil’s Highway.
Lunch is a choice of chicken or brisket, ranch beans, mac and cheese, dinner salad and roll, iced tea and water.
You’ll enjoy the dude ranch and historic atmosphere too.
2:00pm Return to Schieffelin Hall
2:30 – 3:30 Cecilia Bell will present the story of Maria Morris and Fort Webster
3:45 Business Meeting and Elections for the Chapter.
4:30 A tour of the upstairs of Schieffelin Hall which is the old Masonic Lodge with guide Chris Douglas.
5:00pm New Board Meeting and Conference wrap up. Safe travels! Thank you for joining us!
Download a Complete Program of the 2023 Tombstone Trail Gathering
About This Trail Gathering in Tombstone
We care about the original trails that connected the United States at a time when communication and distance travel were not so easy. Learn about the early inhabitants of the area, and how those trails turned into wagon roads, before railroads came through and before highways and Interstates.
With speakers, books, maps and adventures, you’ll want to be a part of this educational experience! We invite the general public to join us as we bring together the experts and the novice to learn more about local history.
Schieffelin Hall is a building from the American Old West in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, the largest standing adobe structure still existent in the United States southwest. It was built in 1881 by Albert Schieffelin, brother of Tombstone founder Ed Schieffelin, and William Harwood as a first class opera house, theater, recital hall, and a meeting place for Tombstone citizens.
Tombstone Arizona Points of Interest in the historic district!
Tombstone Event Speakers
Schieffelin Hall is the headquarters for this trail gathering. We will have a variety of authors joining us with books for sale. You may want to bring a cushion to sit on the hard benches provided in the hall. We will be driving to various location on the trail as part of our adventures. Be sure to bring water and a hat for your comfort. Binoculars can be worthwhile too for taking in the views. You will be driving your own car for the field trips and some walking is to be expected. If that is too much for you, Tombstone has many attractions you can visit in town.
HISTORY GUIDE
Doug Hocking
Doug Hocking was raised on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in New Mexico, and retired from the US Army after serving in Military Intelligence and as an officer in Armored Calvary. He is an accomplished author and speaker and member of the board of the Southern Trails Chapter of the Oregon-California Trails Association. He will share a Photo tour of the Trails through Cochise County.
HISTORY GUIDE
Gerald Ahnert
Gerald T. Ahnert lives in Syracuse, NY, fifty miles from John Butterfield’s home in Utica, NY. He has been researching Butterfield’s Overland Mail Company for fifty years, and has contributed information for the Resource Study Act to support the Butterfield Trail bill now in the Senate.
He has given many presentations in Arizona. For forty-five years he spends about half of the year at his cabin in the Yukon’s Klondike gold fields where he mines for gold.
HISTORY GUIDE
Susan Dragoo
Susan Dragoo is an Oklahoma-based writer and photographer. Her work on western history and historical travel has been published in the Chronicles of Oklahoma, Overland Journal, Oklahoma Today, and other journals. Plan to attend her presentation “The Butterfield Overland Mail Route and Emigrant Trails through Indian Territory.”
HISTORY GUIDES
Cecilia Bell
Our own chapter Vice President and history expert will present the story of Maria Morris and Fort Webster.
PRESENTATIONS BY:
Gil Storms
With his Ph.D. in English from Rutgers University, he currently lives in Tucson where he researches and writes on Arizona History. He will present on the Devil’s Highway.
Rick Collins
Quirky episodes of death and danger in the Santa Cruz Valley. Rick is a Park Ranger, ACDSO for the Tumacacori National Historical Park.
HISTORY GUIDE
Dan Judkins and Diane Hadley
Dan Judkins has lots of knowledge on the Southwest and will be our host and the Slaughter San Bernardino Ranch along with Diane Hadley. He is the editor of Desert Tracks since 2020, and a member of the board of Southern Trails.He will also present the story of Antoine Leroux as the chief guide to Colonel Cooke in Arizona and New Mexico.
OCTA Trail Guides
Melissa and Christopher Jones
This year the 1846/1847 Army of the West and the Mormon Battalion celebrated the 175th Anniversary of their famous march from Iowa to San Diego. Learn more about this incredible journey and how the efforts of the Mormon Battalion made significant contributions through Cooke’s Wagon Road as part of General Kearny’s thoroughfare for emigrants on the southern trail to California.
Event Pricing
EVENT PRICING: Would you like to join us? We look forward to meeting you! Our Southern Trails Chapter of the Oregon-California Trails Association would like to sponsor this three-day event for $75 for an individual to the Southern Trails Chapter. Or, we discount it to $125 for two! This includes Registration, Snacks, a Picnic Lunch, and the Banquet at Monument Ranch. You will still have a chance to have lunch and dinner on your own Tuesday. Use the REGISTER link to register please!
Hotels and Accommodations
There are many excellent hotels in the Tombstone area.
Please do a little research and make your own reservations.
Local Hotels
Larian Motel
Located next door to Schieffelin Hall
410 East Fremont Street
Tombstone, AZ 85638
(520) 457-2272
Tombstone Grand Hotel
580 W Randolph Way
Tombstone, AZ 85638-2603
(520) 457-9507
Tombstone Monument Guest Ranch
895 West Monument Road
Tombstone, AZ 85638
(520) 457-7299
(Distances from Schieffelin Hall)
Landmark Lookout Lodge (1/2 mile away)
Tombstone Miners Cabins (4 blocks)
The Russ House (recently remodeled, 3 blocks)
Tombstone Motel (1 block)
Larian Motel (next door to Schieffelin Hall)
Tombstone Grand Hotel (newest but about a ½ mile away)
Virgil’s Corner B&B (2 blocks)
Sagebrush Inn (2 blocks)
Katie’s Cozy Cabins (4 blocks)
Tombstone Monument Guest Ranch (2 miles but top notch)
Allen St. Inn (3 blocks)
Tombstone Bordello B&B (4 blocks)
Silver Spur Homestead
Crazy Annie’s Bordello and Saloon (4 blocks)
Additional modern accommodations in Sierra Vista, 20 minutes away
A few more. Check this site for photos: https://tombstoneweb.com/lodging/
