During the summer of 2011, on the eve of my first research trip for APACHE PORTAL, three massive wildfires at once burned out of control across eastern and southeastern Arizona.

By November the Chiricahua National Monument area of the Chiricahua Mountains was barely reopened, with limited access.

The second article in my World of Apache Portal series of in-depth looks at the settings and making of my exciting frontier novel explores the historic homeland of the Apache after the devastating “Horseshoe 2 Fire.”