The San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge is located on the U.S.-Mexican border in Cochise County, Arizona, 17 miles east of Douglas. Situated at 3,720 to 3,920 feet elevation in the bottom of a wide valley, the refuge encompasses a portion of the headquarters of the Yaqui River, which drains primarily western Chihuahua and eastern Sonora, Mexico.
Records / History:
The area included in the San Bernardino NWR has a colorful and varied history mostly due to its water resources. During the 1700s, Jesuit priests were in the area for missionary purposes. The 1822 San Bernardino Land Grant (which included the present-day refuge), resulted in large-scale cattle grazing for 10 years, until the ranchers were driven out by the Apaches. Cattle ranching returned and farming began when John Slaughter purchased the land in 1887 and both practices continued until 1979. between 1914 and 1919, cavalry encampments were present to protect settlers during raids by Pancho Villa. These all left their mark on the landscape of the San Bernardino area.
<br><br>The 2,309-acre ranch was acquired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1982 to protect the water resources and provide habitat for endangered native fishes. <br><br>The 2770-acre Leslie Canyon area was established in 1988 to protect habitat for the endangered Yaqui chub (Gila purpurea) and Yaqui topminnow (Poeciliopsis occidentalis sonorensis). The refuge also protects a rare velvet ash-cottonwood-black willow gallery forest. Leslie Canyon NWR is located 16 miles north of Douglas, Arizona, in Cochise County at the southern end of the Swisshelm mountains.
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