After separating from Lieutenant Davis’s scouts at Eagle Creek, Captain Allen Smith led two companies of the 4th Cavalry in pursuit of the Chiricahuas, accompanied by Gatewood and his scouts. As the command approached the settlements near the San Francisco River and the New Mexico border, they found signs that Geronimo had begun killing settlers. On May 22, the scouts found a trail believed to be Geronimo’s, and followed it 25 miles to Devil’s River, a canyon that opened into a small valley 600 feet below the rim of the Mogollons. As they entered a narrow valley, some 40 feet wide, Smith called a halt and ordered his men to make camp. At about 2PM, the canyon suddenly echoed with gunfire, as the Indians attacked from four directions; up and down the canyon, and from both canyon walls. First Lieutenant James Parker rallied his men and led them into the hail of fire coming from up the canyon. First Lieutenant Charles Gatewood followed, and led his scouts in a charge to the summit.
The Apaches dispersed, and as quickly as the action had begun, it was over. Gatewood and Parker had captured the enemy position at the crest of the canyon, and 500 yards further they took the renegades’ now-abandoned camp. Seventeen fires were still either burning or filled with live or hot coals, and the hostiles left behind some horses, various items of clothing and equipment, and a lot of beef. These possessions were gained at the cost of two soldiers and an Indian scout wounded.
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