Sladen and Howard both describe a fairly short ride of 3 or 4 miles from the location of the initial meeting to the site of Cochise's personal camp.  The descriptions are vague enough that the exact route is impossible to trace, but it would seem logical that they followed Slavin Gulch down to a spot where they could cut through a narrow canyon (a short-cut) that would allow them to exit fairly near the campsite.  There is such a place right next to the spur on which can be found the Council Rocks site, and it appears to be passage that would be easily negotiated by seasoned mounts.  It would save about a mile of skirting around several other projecting spurs, and at least to this writer seems the most likely route.

     The exact spot that Cochise led them to is now known with certainty, after being lost to historians for over 100 years (see the section Cochise's Camp Rediscovered).  From Sladen's journal entries:
 

     They were now situated on the west side of the Dragoon Mountains, just south of the entrance to West Stronghold Canyon.  It is a magnificent place even now -- every bit as stark and remote as it was in 1872, with the exception of the existence of a large horse ranch just west of this spot.  The location is well removed from paved roads and though one can see Interstate 10 a few miles distant, it is far from obvious and the silence and peacefulness of the campsite is wholly preserved.

     Cochise wasted no time offering his guests what few comforts he had to share.  He took them immediately to his own quarters, described similarly by Howard and Sladen in separate recollections.
 

     The campsite referred to in the above quotes is the same site in which can be found the "big rock" that Alice Rollins Crane photographed (in the company of Tom Jeffords) in 1895.   However, the "flat boulder" and the "big rock" are not one in the same, even though Sladen seems to confuse the two in his letter to Alice Rollins Crane, dated October 26, 1896.  In the letter he is expanding from memory (or so it seems) the journal entries that he had written down in skeletal form twenty-four years previously.  Certain statements that he makes in the letter simply do not jibe with the layout of the campsite -- but this problem arises only when he makes mention of the boulder(s).  Both he and Howard describe the rock in front of Cochise's domicile as a "flat boulder".  Sladen, when he is focusing on their first arrival at Cochise's camp, tells us that they rode up to the rock (a phrase also used by Howard), and in his letter to Crane further describes this flat boulder as being "four or five in height and as broad across the top".  In the very same paragraph he further characterizes this rock as being Cochise's favorite place to sit and while away idle time, using the following verbiage:
 

     The problem with Sladen's description in the letter to Crane is that the flat boulder (four or five feet high) actually sits BEHIND the big rock and is quite distinct in the campsite -- there is really very little doubt as to which rock both Sladen and Howard were referring to.  This rock however does not command much of a view of the camp, and even less of the surrounding vistas.  However, the "big rock" that looms so high in Crane's photo most definitely provides an awesome view of both areas.  The two rocks are not separated by more than thirty feet.  While it cannot be said with certainty, I think there is good cause to believe Sladen's memory confused these two rocks and merged them into one.  It is a minor detail, to be sure, but it comes into play when one tries to confirm the layout of the campsite from the writings left by Howard and Sladen (unfortunately for all of us, Jeffords seems to have lived out the rest of his life without writing a detailed narrative of this most important peace mission, though he clearly thought it important enough to personally guide several parties back there in the years following the reservation's closure).

     The descriptions of Cochise's actual domicile, or "shi-cow-ah", are not so easy to pin down, however.  Both Howard and Sladen place this spot very near the flat boulder.  Both agree there was a tree providing shade.  Of course we cannot identify any location at the camp using descriptions of foliage as a lot has changed since 1872 with respect to trees and shrubs.  Howard's 1872 newspaper article gives us the most detailed description:
 

     Sladen, in the letter to Crane of 1896, while relating a particular incident involving Cochise's wife, tells us in no uncertain terms that this house of the Chiefs' was situated behind the "big rock" -- which I take to be the one in Crane's photo:
 

     Howard's excellent description reveals that this domicile must have been fairly spacious, and I believe there is validity in thinking that the entire area "behind the big rock" (meaning between the rock and the slopes of the mountain, which rise almost vertically as you get close to the mountain) could be considered Cochise's shi-cow-ah.  The spot where he slept will probably never be determined with any certainty, but there is a small and nearly hidden recess directly behind the big rock in which can be found a tiny fire ring that is an excellent candidate for, at least, the site of Dos-Teh-Seh's cooking fire on the occasion just mentioned!  The charcoal in this miniature pit looks to be very old and smoke stains on the rocks in the little alcove have obviously been there a very long time.  There is also a place right by this pit that looks like it may have been partly dug out, and is a little longer than the length of a man.

     It is truly tempting, and rewarding as well, to let one's imagination run free while sitting in this protected recess behind the big rock.  Could Cochise have slept here?  Could this be at least part of the shi-cow-ah described by Howard and Sladen?  The answer is "almost without a doubt", to my way of thinking.  We know the camp was on this spot -- we know the big rock was an extremely important part of it and probably it's centerpiece.  The fire ring, if indeed it is old enough, was almost certainly used while they were there -- and to think that Cochise did not at some time or other wander into this most inviting recess and spend some refreshing time in the ample shade would seem quite silly indeed.