Feb 27 - Online lecture with Margaret Hangan

Mark Costa • February 4, 2025

Thursday, February 27 at 7pm


People of African descent first arrived in the southwest with the early Spanish explorers in the late 1500s as both free and enslaved persons. After the Mexican American war in 1848, early African American Mountain men such as Jim Beckworth roamed the west, and enslaved Africans accompanied their owners as they traveled to the gold fields in the Sierra Nevada Mountains before California entered the Union as a free state in 1850.

In 1860 the first federal census of the Arizona Territory noted a very small percentage of "free" African Americans in Arizona. But by the 1890, the population of African Americans in Northern Arizona was significantly higher due to companies of U.S. Colored Troops (aka Buffalo Soldiers) being station at Fort Verde and Fort Whipple. Construction of the Atlantic and Pacific Railway was completed by 1882 opening Coconino County to ranching and logging interested, and homesteading. 

African Americans came west to homestead and take advantage of economic opportunities such as ranching where African American men worked as cooks and cowboys, and as laborers in construction and in the mills in Flagstaff. It was not until the 1920s, when the post-Civil War lumber industry of the south started to dramatically decline, that a diaspora of African Americans from the south to the northwestern lumber industry began as southern lumber companies, like the Louisiana based Cady Company left the south for better opportunities in California, Oregon, and Arizona. Soon lumber centered communities across Northern Arizona like Winslow, Flagstaff and Williams saw an influx of skilled African American workers to the area.

This online (Zoom) presentation will talk about the history of African Americans in relationship to the Grand Canyon area and the Timber Industry. Presenter Margaret Hangan has worked as a professional archaeologist since 1989. Originally from California, she moved to Williams, Arizona in 2007 and has worked for both the Kaibab and Tonto National Forests. She recently retired from the Forest Service in January 2025. Margaret has served on many boards and advisory committees through out the years and currently is a member of the NAU School of Forestry Advisory Committee, the Arizona State Historic Sites Review Committee and chair the Historic Preservation Commission for the City of Williams. She is currently the Chair of the Naco Heritage Alliance Board of Directors.

March 22 - Dr. John Langellier Fireplace chat and book signing

By Mark Costa • February 11, 2025
Date: Saturday, March 22, 6 PM Event Address: Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum Join us for a Question & Answer session and book signing with Buffalo Soldier author and military historian John Langellier, Ph.D. In 1881, the first Buffalo Soldiers arrived in Arizona pursuing elusive Apaches. Over the following decades, African Americans from the Tenth U.S. Cavalry and Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Infantry added to the laurels won by the Ninth U.S. Cavalrymen. For more than six decades, Black soldiers served with honor, from campaigns against determined Native Americans to facing dangers along the turbulent border as the Mexican Revolution raged. During the dark days of World War II, they prepared for combat against foes both abroad and at home. All the while, they faced an ever-present, persistent enemy: racism. Author John P. Langellier brings to life the rich history of Buffalo Soldiers in the Copper State.  Registration is required for this event, as there are a limited number of spaces available. Register HERE

December 18 - Jeremy Fricke Meet and Greet

By Mark Costa • December 4, 2024
Camp Naco Meet and Greet with Executive Director Jeremy Fricke Wednesday, December 18, 4-6pm Meet our first Executive Director Jeremy Fricke (pronounced Frik-ē) in the Bisbee Council Chambers, 915 S. Tovreaville Rd. Informally connect with Jeremy beginning at 4 followed by a project status presentation at 5pm. Light refreshments will be provided.

Nov 9 -Bill Cavaliere Fireplace Chat and Tour

By Mark Costa • October 11, 2024
Camp Naco Fireplace Chat Bill Cavaliere - The Chiricahua Apaches November 9, 2024, 2-4pm Camp Naco, AZ Registration is now closed, capacity has been reached. Bill Cavaliere will present a Q and A on the topic of the Chiricahua Apaches next month. Following the discussion, Becky Orozco will guide a walking tour through historic Camp Naco, likely the last one before construction begins! Bill is the author of The Chiricahua Apaches: A Concise History, an overview of the entire history of this particular tribe of fascinating Native Americans covering their arrival in the southwest, their culture, their notable people, their many conflicts and battles, and where they are today. Their story is one of perseverance and tenacity, of courage and sorrow, and of triumph and tragedy. A fiction writer could not have come up with a more unbelievable story; one filled with action, interesting people, emotion, and uncanny twists of fate. Bill Cavaliere is an independent researcher who retired after 28 years in law enforcement, during which time he was sheriff of Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Prior to this, he was employed with the US Forest Service in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. He is currently president of the Cochise County Historical Society and sits on the board of directors of two other historical societies as well. He is currently working on a biography on Naiche, the last chief of the Chiricahua Apaches.

AZ Humanities Grant

September 27, 2024
AZ Humanities grant Camp Naco and the Naco Heritage Alliance are excited to announce we have been awarded a 2024 Arizona Humanities (AZ Humanities) Grant of $10,000. This AZ Humanities grant will support the development of the Camp Naco Immersive Experience Mobile Application (app) that will amplify and increase accessibility to the multiple, layered historical narratives of Camp Naco. Camp Naco primarily embodies the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers while simultaneously touching on histories associated with the Mexican Revolution, Chiricahua Apaches, and Paleo-Indian peoples. This mobile app will be one platform of a larger interpretive plan implementing adaptive technologies to provide immersive experiences to a greater diversity of audiences. Find out more about AZ Humanities at AZHumanities.org.

Buffalo Soldiers at Bat

By Mark Costa • September 4, 2024
Saturday, September 28, 2pm - Register HERE

Buffalo Soldiers and the Garfield Monument

By Mark Costa • August 9, 2024
Register for this free event by clicking HERE

2024 National Buffalo Soldier Day celebration

By Mark Costa • July 3, 2024
A free event for the whole family! 

Juneteenth 2024

By Mark Costa • May 29, 2024
The Sierra Vista African American Community Coalition presents The 9th Annual Juneteenth Celebration June 19, 10am-4pm - Buena High School, Sierra Vista Camp Naco will be sponsoring this annual celebration featuring fun for the whole family with food, games, flowetry, a black business market, ancestral balloon release, a basketball tournament and the presentation of the Buffalo Soldier Legacy Award by the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers (SWABS). Also featuring music by BWPC and Freddy J. Join us!

Iron Riders Lecture

By Mark Costa • May 24, 2024
Pedaling a New Concept: The US Army Bicycle Corps-America's Rolling "Black Army" Tuesday, May 28, 2024, from 5:30-6:30pm, Free to attend Join us for a fascinating look at a little known military experiment and the brave soldiers who took part. Cochise College instructor Glenn Minuth will share his research at a free event, to be held at the Copper Queen Library. This lecture is a partnership event co-sponsored by the Copper Queen Library, the Naco Heritage Alliance and Camp Naco Project. During the late 1800s, it's no surprise that the widespread popularity of the bicycle attracted the attention of U.S. Army leaders. In 1892 the Army Chief of Staff communicated his interest by approving one regiment to be equipped with bicycles, to obtain all information of military importance surrounding local forts. A young officer organized the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps whose mission was to thoroughly "test the practicality" of the bicycle for military purposes. How did the A. G. Spalding Company play into this experiment? What did each bicycle carry? Training trips of increasing lengths prepared the unit for a major 800-mile expedition. How did they complete their longest expedition 1,900 miles away? And why was an even longer trip to San Francisco from Montana not approved and what did that signal for the Corps future? Presenter Glenn Minuth was a (35-year) Department of Defense civil servant who retired at Fort Huachuca. His bachelors and graduate degrees are in geography with emphasis in cartography, geomorphology, remote sensing, and geology. He is also a graduate of the Army Management Staff College. He has been an instructor for 30 plus years at Cochise College, AZ in both credit and non-credit programs and leads field trips and lectures in the areas of: geology, geography, earth science, astronomy, ecology, weather/climate, agriculture, and military history.

The Past, Present, and Future of Camp Naco

By Mark Costa • April 16, 2024
Preserving Place & Empowering Community: The Past, Present, and Future of Camp Naco with Rebecca Orozco and R. Brooks Jeffery Saturday, May 4, 2024, 11:00 am – MST A Free Online Program sponsored by the Arizona Historical Society Presented by the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum A copy of the video presentation can be found HERE Camp Naco is a cornerstone of Buffalo Soldier history in Arizona and represents the proud tradition of Black military regiments after the Civil War. The Camp's 17-acre site and 100+ year-old adobe buildings sit just 600 yards north of the US-Mexico border in the community of Naco Arizona and reside on the ancestral lands of the Chiricahua Apache. In 2022, the City of Bisbee and Naco Heritage Alliance received $8.1M in funding support, initiating a 4-year journey to 1). Preserve and rehabilitate the site's 20 buildings and open spaces; 2). Develop place-based programming to reactivate the site by interpreting its diverse cultural landscape and addressing community needs; and 3). Build organizational capacity to successfully sustain Camp Naco's mission into the future. This presentation will outline the diverse histories of the Camp Naco site, the tireless efforts to preserve its buildings, and the future vision to reactivate Camp Naco as a destination to honor its past while addressing contemporary needs in the border community of Naco Arizona. Rebecca Orozco is a third-generation resident of the border in Arizona. She recently retired from Cochise College and the University of Arizona as a history and anthropology instructor. In 2021 she was named Faculty Emeritus for Cochise College. She helped develop a cross-border studies program at Cochise College and the Center for Lifelong Learning and continues to offer non-credit history and travel programs. For the past 22 years, she has been working to save historic Camp Naco. She discovered the camp while working to develop cross-border programs for Elderhostel, an educational travel program for seniors. The abandoned adobe fort set off a quest to discover the history and then to preserve the Mexican Revolutionary War era camp built to stop the conflict from spilling across the border. After arson fires destroyed five buildings in 2006, she helped get the property transferred first to Huachuca City and then to Bisbee. The Naco Heritage Alliance was formed in 2008 and under their work, a Brownfields grant of $400,000 was secured to mitigate the asbestos from the Camp. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 and named one of the Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places in 2022. R. Brooks Jeffery is a heritage conservation consultant serving as Startup Executive Director of the Naco Heritage Alliance. He is a Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Arizona where he had a 35-year career as a teacher, scholar, and administrator advancing heritage conservation as part of a comprehensive ethic of environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability in places throughout the world. This online program is free, but space is limited.
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