In Apache this place is Te-go-suk, “Place of the Yellow Water,” in the ancestral territory of one of the principal Dilzhe’e Apache clans, the People of the Yellow Speckled Water. This map of the Tonto Apache Tribe’s land prints Elephant Head Tank, Green Valley Park Main Lake and Green Valley Park Middle Lake.
The Tonto Apache Reservation lies in northwestern Gila County, right next to the town of Payson.
KNOWOL made this map in 2026 and gave modern data the look of a vintage atlas. The shaded relief of the landscape comes from United States Geological Survey elevation data, and the streets were drawn from Census Bureau files. The reservation sits inside the Tonto National Forest, about 95 miles northeast of Phoenix and 100 miles southeast of Flagstaff, and at 85 acres it has the smallest land base of any reservation in Arizona.
The Dilzhe’e
The Tonto Apache are a band of the Western Apache, and they call themselves Dilzhe’e, a name that may mean “people with high-pitched voices,” though where it comes from is unclear. They speak the Tonto dialect of Western Apache, one of its three dialects, and the most distinct of them; their page suggests their close ties with the Yavapai may have helped shape it. Tonto Apache families lived mostly east of the Verde River, alongside Yavapai bands, and in places the two peoples formed bilingual bands whose members often spoke both languages; a band’s headman usually had two names, one Apache and one Yavapai. The smallest unit of Tonto Apache life was the family, traced through the mother, with each wife and her children living in their own wickiup, or gowa. They hunted deer, antelope and birds, gathered wild agave, berries and seeds, and the women grew watermelons, pumpkins and corn.
The tribe’s people are the descendants of the Dilzhe’e Apache who lived around Payson long before Europeans came. In 1875 the government closed the Rio Verde Reserve near Camp Verde and forced them to San Carlos, and after 20 years in exile some families made their way back to Payson to find that settlers had taken much of their land. The United States recognized the Tonto Apache Tribe in 1972, the year the reservation was created, and the tribe ratified its constitution in 1980, amending it in 1995 and 2005. A council elected by the members governs the tribe. As of 2015 it had about 145 citizens, most of them living on the reservation. Other Tonto Apache people are enrolled in the Yavapai-Apache Nation at Camp Verde, and Tonto Apache people are also among the San Carlos Apache and White Mountain Apache tribes.
Click to explore a larger preview. The digital watermark does not appear on printed maps.
Names on this map
These names are printed on this map.
Streets and roads: W Rocky Rd, Rocky Rd, W Rim Dr, W Country Club Dr, Parking Lot Boundary, W Country Clud Dr, S Sandstone Pt, Rim View Rd, S Rim View Cir, S Ft Mc Donald Dr, S Green Valley Pkwy, S Oak St.
More street names, A to Z
Alley Way, Annies Aly, Apt Driveway, Bia Rd, BIA Rd 101, Club Ln, Colcord Rd, Cree Cir, E Aero Dr, E Amarillo Cir, E Bonita St, E Cedar Ln, E Cherry St, E Colcord Rd, E Continental Dr, E Elk Ridge Dr, E Frontier, E Frontier St, E Hunter Dr, E Juniper St, E Long Horn Rd, E Main St, E Mc Kamey St, E McKamey St, E Miller Rd, E Myrtle St, E Nugget Ln, E Ox Bow Cir, E Ox Bow St, E Phoenix St, E Pine St, E Reno Ridge Cir, E Ridge Ln, E Wade Ln, E Wagon Wheel Cir, E Willow Cir, Green Valley Pkwy, Lazy Bears Cr, N Pine Cir, Phoenix St, Ponderosa St, Santa Fe Cir, S Ash St, S Beeline Hwy, S Boulder Cir, S Cedarcrest Cir, S Clark Rd, S Coronado Way, S Deer Born Dr, S Golden Bear Pt, S Goodfellow Rd, S Goodnow Rd, S Kodz Rd, S Lakeview Dr, S Mariposa Cir, S Mariposa St, S Meadows St, S Meadow St, S Montana Cir, S Owens Ln, S Palomino Cir, S Ryan Dr, S Sabrina, S Salt Lake Cir, S Sequoia Cir, S Sierra Ancha Ln, S Stover Rd, S Sycamore Cir, S Tonto Rd, S Westerly Rd, W Aero Dr, W Bonita St, W Cedar Ln, W Cherry St, W Elm St, W Estate Ln, W Frontier St, W Main St, W Mc Kamey St, W Oso Dorado Cir, W Pecan St, W Phoenix St, W Pine St, W Randall Ln, W Rim View Rd, W Skyline Cr, W Summit St, W Wade Ln.
Around the map
In 1994 the tribe opened the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino, which became Payson’s largest employer, and in 2015 it built a 249-kilowatt solar power system on the hotel. In May the Multi-Purpose Event Center near the reservation hosts the Gary Hardt Memorial Rodeo. Green Valley Park Main Lake and Green Valley Park Middle Lake take their names from Green Valley Park, one of the two parks of the neighboring town of Payson; the park holds Payson’s Fourth of July fireworks and a replica of the writer Zane Grey’s cabin. Elephant Head Tank has its place on the sheet as well.
This map makes a good addition to an office, library or den, and it can help teach children the geography and history of the area. It’s made for everyone who calls Tonto Apache Tribe home, at Te-go-suk beside Payson, and KNOWOL created it in 2026 to show the land as it looks today. Zoom in on the preview above to explore the details, then click here to get your copy of the Tonto Apache Tribe map.
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