Page 43 - Early Naturalists of the Black Range
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The spring house at “Cooke’s Spring” was built in 1881.
There are two road videos which are useful if you wish to get a feel for the area described here: 1) A Trip Into Cooke’s Peak - starting at NM-26, to the south, this video follows a track to just north of Cooke’s Peak; and 2) Frying Pan Access Road, which approaches the camp spot of November 17, Frying Pan Canyon, from the west.
The summit of Cooke’s Peak, named after Cooke following his passage, has an elevation of 8,404 feet; it is an imposing
A dry disused tank at Frying Pan Spring, May 2018.
feature both in shape and mass. The Apache called it “Standing Mountain”, the Spanish called it Picacho de los Mimbres and Cerro de los Remedios - the latter from Pacheco’s map of 1758. The Ft. Cummings site is on the plains at the base of the mountain, at Cooke’s Spring - where the Mormon Battalion camped on the night of November 16.
For context: Remember that Cooke’s Spring was a regular stop on the Gila River Trail, which was a major route from Santa Fe
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