In another article (the one written only a month or so after the successful end to the mission), Howard writes this description:
 

     From Sladen's journal, as compiled by Edwin R. Sweeney ("Making Peace With Cochise"):
 
 

     Both men describe a "natural fortification" that is bounded on at least two sides by towering rocks, or walls.  They also agree, generally, on the size of the area enclosed by this fortification, and they make reference to a stream running through the center (this area of Arizona is subject to great swings in climate.  It is obvious from descriptions of this time that the area was having an unusually wet season, which would have made the Dragoons somewhat more replete with streams and springs than in modern times).  Howard specifically describes a "cienega", which is an area of intermittent swampiness.

     I have spent many hours flying over the Dragoons in my ultralight aircraft, concentrating on the area that lies between Middlemarch Pass (where we know they entered the range and traversed to the west side) and the location of Cochise's west stronghold, where we know the group was eventually led.  There is only one area that shows the unmistakable remnants of a cienega, and fortunately the surrounding features fit perfectly with the writers' descriptions.  This naturally defensible fortress lies at the top of Slavin Gulch, which in times of plentiful rainfall runs as a healthy stream all the way from the heights out to the west grasslands at the foot of the Dragoons.  The gulch itself begins right at the spot where the cienega is evident, and that spot is well protected by towering rock formations consistent with the narratives.

     It is not difficult to imagine the two Indian boys pointing the way as the eager but wary party of Americans make their way carefully up the moderate ascent formed by Slavin Gulch, which would take them through a narrow defile near the top and would then open up into a park-like area with a cienega in the center.  On the next page, I will present photographs to illustrate my theory.