Cochise is an example of a ghost town that was not a mining camp. It was created in the early 1880s as a water and fuel stop along the Southern Pacific railroad. In 1882 railroad telegrapher John Rath built the Cochise Hotel to serve the railroad crews and also put a Wells Fargo office in the front room.

A post office was granted in 1896.

Cochise had a peak population of about 3000, as a result of increased ranching in the Sulphur Springs Valley and mining activities that had started in nearby Johnson and Pearce.

Cochise today still has a couple of residents. The Cochise hotel is open for meals and lodging (after reservation) and is really worth a visit. The guestrooms are all furnished with authentic antiques.

The silence in Cochise is only broken occasionally by the roar of a passing freitht on the Southern Pacific line, which long ago replaced steam engines with diesels that never stop for water or coal.