. . . Cochise to Tom Jeffords, speaking of Capt. Sladen (Oct. 1, 1872)
 

      Tom Jeffords outlived his friend Cochise by 40 years and in the years following the closure of Cochise's reservation by the U.S. government (1876) he returned to the site of the peace treaty several times, sharing his story with a select few and revealing locations to those he felt would properly respect that knowledge.

        It has been common knowledge for 130+ years that the campsite held by Cochise's band during the peace talks was on the west side of the Dragoon Mountains, somewhere near the entrance to what is now called West Stronghold Canyon.  A photograph in the archives of the Arizona Historical Society, taken in 1913, purports to show the "location of the peace treaty".  The photographer was a historian named Robert Forbes, who had been shown the spot by local rancher Billy Fourr, a contemporary of Thomas Jeffords.  It is assumed that it was Jeffords who had pointed out the location to Fourr.  This photo was featured in Ed Sweeney's important historical work, "Making Peace with Cochise" (1997, University of Oklahoma Press - click here to order).