Originally, the Copper Corridor was primarily inhabited by native people who gave way to both mining and military. Today, the area is rich with stories of stagecoach robbers and Apache warriors. In fact, one of the only female stagecoach robbers, Pearl Hart, lived in the area. Visit the OLD WEST page to learn more.

Some of the most visited destinations along the Copper Corridor route feature mining and railroad remnants, left behind from the 1800’s. With large companies like Resolution Copper and Asarco in the area, there are opportunities to get a glimpse of what mining was like back then, as well as today.

The Copper Corridor really is the last frontier of the United States. The Gadsden Purchase, a 29,670-square-mile region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by President Franklin Pierce on June 24, 1853. With the exchange of $5,000,000, the United States officially purchased the area from Mexico, making it the last major territorial acquisition in the contiguous United States