If you travel another 20 miles up the Old West Highway, you will start the climb up the Tonto National Forest until you crest Gonzales Pass.
Down below you will discover the little town of Superior, founded in 1872 and its downtown area looking much the same. It was an enclave of mostly Hispanic copper miners and remains alive with their heritage; a place of good Mexican Restaurants serving authentic food, local bars and cantinas and small shops.
It's somewhat ramshackle charm lies in its period architecture and its picturesque setting between the walls of the Apache Leap and the majestic saddle-backed heights of Picket Post Mountain.
Picket Post Mountain and the Leap have their own intertwined history and legends.
Boyce Thompson Arboretum
What is now the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, three miles west of Superior was once the site of the silver city of Pinal - the prospecting and gambling grounds for Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Kate Elder and Mattie Baylock. Mattie is actually buried close by. Camp Picket Post was located there as well with a heliograph manned atop it to signal the activities of Apache and Yavapai raiding parties.
Easter Lily cacti and other species of South American echinopsis at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum have impressive white blossoms which are popular with bees. True to their name, these splashy plants begin blooming around Easter! ASP photo
In 1870 a raiding party of Apache stole several cattle and horses from settlements in Florence - about 30 miles to the south. The enraged settlers followed them up what was then called Big Picacho - a nearly unscalable vertical cliff wall - and caught the raiders unaware. The legend goes that rather then surrender, the Apache hurled themselves off the cliffs.
The reality is that the Florence settlers were not inclined to accept surrender and forced them over the edge - with the soldiers at Picket Post standing by. The warrior's widows collected their bodies at the bottom of the cliff and their tears turned into the black gemstones known as Apache Tears, as the legend goes. The gems notwithstanding, ever after they have called those cliffs The Apache Leap.
The Old West Highway continues on east up into Gila County, through Top of the World and into Miami - another 19th century mining town and famous for its vintage streets and antique shops. Another few miles bring you to Globe and its historic Downtown District.
Globe and the areas around it contain a veritable Who's Who of legendary Arizona characters.
Al Seiber, Clay Beauford, Tom Horn and most of the other principles of the Geronimo Wars were frequent residents as was Geronimo himself - incarcerated with other famous Apache warriors such as Nachie and Victorio on the San Carlos Reservation. There is good evidence that the teenaged William Bonny - back when he was still calling himself Antrim and not Billy the Kid - worked cattle there for a spell.
It was also from Globe that the fearsome Apache Kid went from trusted Army scout to renegade and unleashed a three-year reign of terror throughout Central Arizona in the 1890s. Doc Holiday's paramour "Big Nose" Kate Elder retreated there from Tombstone and another of Tombstone's famous residents, Finn Clanton, lies buried in its cemetery.
Nor would you go wrong heading suth - taking Highway 60 to the Florence Junction and the 16 miles to the Pinal County Seat of Florence! Because it had good irrigation and water, it was among the first settlements in Central Arizona in 1866 and quickly became its financial and transport center. It still has over 130 buildings listed on the Historical Registry.
Pearl Hart, one of the West's famous bad women, robbed the Florence stage with partner Joe Boot in 1899 - the very last stage robbery in the United States, and was tried and sentenced to Yuma Prison from the Florence Courthouse. Another famous resident of Florence were John Clum - the captor of Geronimo, friend of Wyatt Earp and editor of the Tombstone Epitaph.
Further south you will discover Coolidge, home of the Casa Grande Hohokam Ruins and Picacho Peak, site of the only Civil War battle in Arizona. In any Pinal direction you will strike rich veins of Old Arizona atmosphere - unvarnished, unspoiled and un-commercialized.
Territorial Arizona - it's still here waiting for you to come explore the real Old West.
With all of the beady eyes triple checking my posts, such as you, etc., etc. I try to stay honest, honest Injun. After all the truth is far easier to remember. 
[Joseph L. Cadotte and George Todenworth] killed by Apaches to left of trail.
I can still remember as a kid camping out and about near the Superstition Mountains. One of my friend’s father used to talk about how the Apache used to hang above in the cliffs and wait for people to pass through before ambushing them. Then they’d hide the spoils in a cave that could only be located by them. The dead of the Apache still roam the hills, and slaughter all those who would claim their gold. This is the kind of stuff he’d tell a scared 12 year old before lights out. I remember one night screaming in fright when a tree branch started rubbing against the tent after hearing these stories, and barreling out of the tent into my mom and dad’s. Even if there was gold out there, you couldn’t get me to go back 20 years later..lol! Brings back a lot from my childhood. From: Anonymous
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