Today in Manhunting History -- January 10, 1886: Battle on the Devil's Backbone

The unsuccessful summer campaign and subsequent raid by Josannie led to increasing political pressure on General Crook to produce results. The Commander of the United States Army, Lieutenant General Philip Sheridan, traveled all the way from Washington, D.C. to Fort Bowie to review the situation. He wanted Geronimo’s band destroyed, and on November 29 told Crook to go on the offensive.

Crook’s response was to take his previous innovations, already considered radical by many in the U.S. Army, to their logical conclusion. Although regular troops were supposed to provide rallying points for the scouts and protection for the pack trains, they also severely inhibited the scouts’ mobility. Crook was willing to forego the advantages offered by white soldiers and created a force comprised of 100 Indian scouts, a pack train, and only three officers. The model for this flying column had been suggested to him back in 1883 in the Sierra Madres campaign, when his scouts had begged to be allowed to go ahead of the main expedition.

The critical decision, therefore, was which American officer would lead this experimental unit. But in reality, the choice was obvious from the start. Captain Emmet Crawford had commanded the scouts in Crook’s 1883 expedition into Mexico, and upon the successful completion of that campaign was placed in charge of the San Carlos reservation where he oversaw the renegades now on the warpath until just two months prior to the outbreak. Six-foot-one, with gray eyes, a fellow officer described Crawford, saying: “Mentally, morally, and physically he would have been an ideal knight of King Arthur’s Court.” The Apaches alternately called him “Tall Chief” because of his height, and “Captain Coffee” because of his apparent addiction to the beverage. When reenlisting scouts in October and November for the expedition, Crawford chose only White Mountain and friendly Chiricahua Apaches – mountain Indians whom he knew were ideally suited for the arduous task of trailing Geronimo in the difficult Sierra Madres. These Indians joined the expedition not only because they hated the renegades, but also because they trusted Crawford, who was known for his concern for the scouts serving under him.


CPT Emmet Crawford, leader of General Crook's elite Apache scouts

 On November 29, Crook ordered Crawford’s company to the Dragoon Mountains to intercept Josannie’s band should they cross into Arizona from New Mexico, and then into Mexico, crossing the border once more on December 11. They moved steadily south in Sonora for three weeks, finding nothing.

Crawford set up a base camp in Nacori, on the western edge of the Sierra Madres, and from there deployed his scouting parties. Finally, in early January, one of these parties came across a Chiricahua trail near the Aros River. The scouts reported that it led to Geronimo’s band, holed up in a range known to the Mexicans as “Espina del Diablo,” or “Backbone of the Devil.” Upon the discovery of this fresh “sign” on January 8, 1886, Crawford pushed his men 48 hours without sleep in a desperate attempt to find and attack the hostile village. His party was now more than 150 miles south of the border, farther south in Mexico than any U.S. command had ever chased Apaches.

Just before daylight on the 10th, Crawford’s scouts drew near the high, rocky point where Geronimo’s camp was suspected to be. Crawford divided his force, hoping to surround the Rancheria. Slowly, carefully, the scouts crept forward, “scarcely breathing as we moved.”

Suddenly, the braying of the hostiles’ burros shook the stillness of the cold, mountain dawn, and alerted Geronimo to the scouts’ presence. Geronimo jumped up on a rock and yelled: “Look out for the horses!”

Chiricahua warriors ran out and tried to secure their mounts, but the scouts opened fire, shrieking cries of defiance from the surrounding rocks. Geronimo’s men took cover and returned fire from a nearby cluster of rocks that formed a stronghold.

After a minute, Geronimo’s voice was heard once again: “Let the horses go and break toward the river on foot! Scatter and go as you can!”

Although a rush into the camp would have ensured the capture of at least the women and children, the scouts remained pinned down by the hostiles’ fusillade, deaf to the appeals of their officers to advance. The hostiles escaped into the darkness, and daylight revealed they had once again left behind all their stock, provisions, and blankets. The scouts, exhausted by the forced march that made the skirmish possible, collapsed on any level ground they could find to sleep upon, unable to exploit their victory.

While the scouts’ bullets did not find their marks, the capture of Geronimo’s supplies was a terrible blow in the harsh winter conditions of the Sierra Madres. Toward the middle of the afternoon, as Crawford and his men were still recuperating, a squaw came into the camp. She said that Geronimo and his followers were camped a few miles away and wished to talk to Crawford about surrendering. Crawford agreed to meet with Geronimo, Chihuahua, and Naiche the next day, and a place for the conference was arranged. Crawford was overjoyed as the squaw departed, as the message seemed tantamount to an offer of surrender, and everyone in the American camp seemed to collectively exhale, believing the Geronimo campaign was about to end.