Why is Heliograph Peak called that?

There is a point on my map in southeast Arizona called Heliograph Peak. Why?

Why what?

Why is it on your map? That's what maps are for. They show you where things are.

Why is it named Heliograph Peak? That's a different story.

Heliography is, of course, the ancient method of sending messages by reflecting sunlight off a mirror or some other polished surface.

It was perfected in the 1800s when British military engineers figured out how to coordinate the mirrors with surveying equipment to pinpoint locations of senders and receivers.

During the 1880s, General Nelson Miles established a network of at least 25 heliograph stations around Arizona.

One of them was on the mountain in question here. It operated between May and September 1886. During that time it handled about 2,000 messages. However, the mirrors were not directly involved in the surrender of the Apache leader Geronimo.

In 1932 the U.S. Forest Service proposed and the U.S. Geologic Survey agreed that the mountain should be designated as Heliograph Peak. During the Great Depression, workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed a 99-foot steel fire watchtower on the site.

I only know most of this from reading "X Marks the Spot," a study of Arizona place names by Byrd Howell Granger.

E-mail Clay at clay.thompson@arizonarepublic.com.