The Battle of Salt River Canyon, or the Battle of Skeleton Cave, was the first principal engagement during the 1872 Tonto Basin Campaign under the command of Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant colonel

Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 George Crook

George Crook

George R. Crook was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...

. It was part of the Yavapai War

Yavapai War

The Yavapai War, also known as the Tonto War, or the Apache War, was an armed conflict in the United States from 1871 to 1875 against renegade Yavapai and Western Apache bands of Arizona. It began in the aftermath of the Camp Grant Massacre, on April 28, 1871, in which nearly 150 Pinal and Aravaipa...

 from 1871 to 1875.

Battle

On December 28, 1872 Crook's men encountered the Yavapai

Yavapai people

Yavapai are an indigenous people in Arizona. Historically, the Yavapai were divided into four geographical bands that considered themselves separate peoples: the Tolkapaya, or Western Yavapai, the Yavapé, or Northwestern Yavapai, the Kwevkapaya, or Southeastern Yavapai, and Wipukpa, or Northeastern...

 and Apache

Apache

Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...

 stronghold at Skeleton Cave located in Salt River Canyon

Salt River (Arizona)

The Salt River is a stream in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about long. Its drainage basin is about large. The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the Verde River...

. Crook's force composed of 130 troopers from the 5th Cavalry Regiment led by Captain William H. Brown

William H. Brown

William H. Brown was a United States Navy sailor during the American Civil War and a recipient of America's highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor.-Biography:...

 and another thirty Apache Scouts. The army took up a position around the mouth of Skeleton Cave

Skeleton Cave

Skeleton Cave is a lava tube within Deschutes County, Oregon, of the United States. The cave is within Deschutes National Forest and is located on the northern flank of Newberry Volcano near the city of Bend.- Origin of the name :...

 and surprised the natives when they tried to leave. Surrounded, the warriors refused to surrender and the soldiers opened fire. Some of Brown's men aimed for the roof of the cave to deflect the bullets and rock fragments towards the defenders. This tactic led to the unintended deaths of women and children within the cave. Others, who were personally accompanied by Crook, rolled rocks and boulders down from the cliffs above. Seventy-six dead were found in the cave afterward. A few who managed to surrender were taken to Camp Grant. Among the dead within the cave was Chief

Tribal chief

A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...

 Nanni-chaddi, who had claimed that no soldier would ever find his stronghold there. Crook followed up this victory with another at Turret Peak

Battle of Turret Peak

The Battle of Turret Peak occurred March 27, 1873 in the Arizona Territory between the United States Army and a group of Yavapai and Tonto Apaches as part of Lieutenant Colonel George Crook's campaign to return the natives to reservations.- Background :...

 several weeks later. The Apaches soon made peace at Camp Verde

Fort Verde State Historic Park

Fort Verde State Historic Park in the town of Camp Verde, Arizona is a small park that attempts to preserve parts of the Apache Wars-era fort as it appeared in the 1880s...

in 1873 though some skirmishing continued into 1875.