[2] A little higher than the surrounding desert terrain, the pass was cooler on hot days, and the area around the spring provided abundant game and firewood.

It and the station at Dragoon Springs, Arizona were made from such durable material, an acknowledgement of the danger they felt from the local Apaches.

[7] The construction of the stage station and the increasing use of the pass by white settlers set the stage for an incident often considered the starting point of Cochise's eleven-year war against the United States, and which was a formative element in the much longer struggle between Apache peoples and American settlers even after Cochise made his own peace.

When Cochise agreed to meet near the camp, Bascom attempted to arrest him and several other Apaches; the resulting stand-off, lasting several days, ended with the deaths of hostages on both sides.

[11] Apache Pass continued to play a major role in frontier history until after the final surrender of Geronimo and his band of renegades in September 1886.

The only thing left behind at Apache Pass after the local ranchers scavenged the ruins for building materials were a few adobe walls, bleaching white in the sun and slowly washing away in the infrequent rains, and the memories of those who had lived through their experiences there.

Visitors who hike along the trails and drive along Apache Pass Road can see the remains of the Butterfield stage station (consisting of the stone foundation), the ruins of the Chiricahua Reservation's agency building, a cemetery, and the remnants of the two forts that were constructed there.

The route of the stage trail can still be seen, as well as the sites near the top of the pass where Lt. Bascom executed his Apache hostages and Cochise's followers burned his.