Fort Huachuca Museum and Fairbank ghost town

The museum was open today!  We started with a drive up to the reservoir lookout, a high point near the back of the fort.  Yup, nice view in 3 directions.  As we arrived there we saw a young woman with 2 dogs and a baby carriage Running up the hill.  She came by us a bit later and of course her dogs had to greet Callahan (we were out of the truck admiring the view).  Turns out she had 2 kids in the carriage and although they were small they were not infants.  What a workout!

The museum was only one floor since the second floor is being remodeled.  Good exhibits covering uniforms through the ages, the changing uses of the fort, the changing treatment/role of the black soldier from the Buffalo Soldiers to WWII.

Another museum building showed some of the electronic and drone aircraft developed in part at the fort.  Ft. Huachuca is the home base for Army Intelligence.

The ghost town of Fairbank is on the road to Tombstone from here.  It was one of many villages along the San Pedro River that used water power to refine the silver ore from Tombstone and similar towns.  It was rebuilt in the 1920s and that is mostly what stands now.  The commercial building is original from 1882.  There are only about 5 buildings but it is enough to give you the flavor of the town that was there.  The water power sites and the railroad are long gone without a trace.  Well, there is the railbed which now is a hiking/biking trail.