Ed Riggs

The trails that thread the Wonderland of Rocks are largely one man's work. Ed Riggs grew up on Sulphur Springs Valley ranches, studied engineering at MIT, and flew with the Army Air Corps in France before marrying Lillian Erickson and settling at her family's Faraway Ranch in 1923. When Chiricahua became a national monument in 1924, Riggs surveyed its boundaries and, as a trail foreman with the Civilian Conservation Corps, laid out the paths that let visitors walk among the balanced rocks and spires. His engineering turned a hard landscape into a place you could cross on foot.

What the plaque says

Ed Riggs. Lillian Erickson's husband, Ed Riggs, was instrumental in the development of Chiricahua National Monument. He was quiet and warm-hearted - a man who liked to work with his hands. Ed Riggs grew up nearby on his family's cattle ranches in the Sulphur Springs Valley. At the outbreak of World War I, Ed signed up for the army. After studying engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he served in France with the Army Air Corps. In 1923, Ed married Lillian Erickson, and came to live here at her family home, Faraway Ranch. Together they developed the ranch for raising cattle and accommodating guests. When Chiricahua National Monument was established in 1924, Ed surveyed the boundaries and served as a trail construction foreman with the Civilian Conservation Corps. His engineering skills helped to create the remarkable system of park trails that lead through the "Wonderland of Rocks."

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Chiricahua National Monument — 1.5 mi
  The Land of Standing-Up Rocks — Cochise and Geronimo's stronghold

More markers nearby

• Neil and Emma Erickson — steps away
• Faraway Ranch — steps away
• The Chiricahua Apache — 0.9 mi