Today in Manhunting History -- June 11: Into Mexico

Upon learning of Geronimo’s escape, General George Crook set in motion a three-tiered strategy to track down Geronimo. First, 100 scouts under First Lieutenants Charles B. Gatewood and James Parker were sent eastward to patrol the Mogollon and Black Mountains, after which they were to report to Fort Apache.

Once it was clear there were no Chiricahuas lagging behind north of the border, Crook intended to seal the border to catch any renegades trying to return to the United States. From the Rio Grande almost to the mouth of the Colorado River, Crook placed elements of the 10th Cavalry – the famed “Buffalo Soldiers” – at all known watering holes and points of entry. Each troop was accompanied by five Apache scouts who rode out daily to search for signs of the fugitives. Behind this skirmish line Crook posted units at key points along the Southern Pacific Railroad to act as a mobile reserve in case any Chiricahuas broached the defensive line and reentered Arizona Territory. Altogether, roughly 3,000 soldiers, three-quarters of them cavalry, patrolled the border region. To monitor the campaign, Crook moved his own headquarters forward to Fort Bowie in strategic Apache Pass at the northern end of the Chiricahua Mountains.

General George Crook, Commander of the Department of Arizona

Finally, acting under the provisions of the July 1882 agreement between the United States and Mexico that allowed the troops of one country to cross into the other “if in close pursuit of a band of savage Indians,” he deployed two columns south of the border. The first, a combined force of 92 scouts and Troop A of the 6th Cavalry under Captain Emmet Crawford, was to go down the western flank of the Sierra Madres in Sonora province. This force would be paralleled on the eastern flank in Chihuahua by a troop of the 4th Cavalry under Major Wirt Davis.

On June 11, Crook ordered Crawford’s command to enter Mexico, to be followed a month later by Major Davis’s expedition.