J.A. Jance, Mystery Author

A Sheriff Joanna Brady Mystery

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The Wild West & Cochise County

Joanna Brady, Cochise County, Arizona's only sheriff, encounters lots of modern-day murder and mayhem, which is right in line with Cochise County's colorful past. The famous and the infamous, from Coronado, to Cochise and Geronimo, to Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, have taken part in Cochise County history.
Cochise County is named for the great Apache chief Cochise (co-cheze), whose name comes from "cheis," an Apache word for wood. Beautiful and dramatic, most of the county is covered in desert grasses, mesquite and oak trees.
Cochise County's ancient history shows that the Anasazi, forerunners of the Pueblo Indians, lived along the San Pedro River about13,000 years ago. Other Native American tribes in the area included theHohokam and the Solado (who were drive out by the Apaches around 1700.)
Don Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, the Spanish conquistador, was the first European to enter what would become Cochise County in 1540, searching for the legendary "Seven Cities of Cibola," whose streets were paved with gold. Finding nothing monetarily worth their time, the land was left to the natives and soon Catholic missionairies tried to convert the natives. The Apaches drove away nearly all the settlers and the area was considered too dangerous until the mid 1850s, when the US army and railroad companies created outposts.
The "Wild West" chapter of Cochise County history begins with the movement of American settlers into the area, and their frenetic clasheswith the Apache. After valiant efforts to protect their land, the lastApache warriors, under the great chief Geronimo, surrendered inthe late 1880s.
After the railroad's completion, tough mining camps (many of which are now ghost towns) like Charleston, Contention City, Dos Cabezas,Paradise, and the most notorious, Tombstone, flourished, along withfabled figures like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.
Today, Cochise County is a thriving area with its economicroots in ranching, agriculture and mining. Tombstone and the rest ofCochise County are growing tourist attractions. The beauty of the landand its romantic, violent and contentious past continue to draw newvisitors and residents alike.

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