Oak Flat is situated within the Tonto National Forest above the small town of Superior in central Arizona. Since the arrival of Spanish and later American colonizing forces, the San Carlos Apache were subjugated by the various imposing governments and forced onto various reservations, namely the Camp Verde reservation in 1860. In 1872, Ulysses S. Grant established the San Carlos Reservation in eastern Arizona and forcibly relocated them there, which is where the majority remain today.
In 1955, President Eisenhower passed a law to withdraw Oak Flat from standard laws that allowed public land to be put to industrial uses, such as timber harvesting and mineral exploration. This passage preserved the area for recreation and cultural functions. It remains a popular spot for hikers, campers, and climbers.
It is also considered the spiritual and ancestral homeland for the San Carlos Apache people, who now live on a reservation 60 miles away, but travel to Oak Flat for ceremonial purposes. For decades, the area has been in the process of being privatized for copper mining, an operation that would utterly destroy the spiritual and natural resources of Oak Flat.
