Battle of Cave Creek
By Bob Mason
In December of 1873, Lt. Walter Schuyler led a patrol from Ft. McDowell east of the Verde River. There were 13 troopers, 16 Pima and Maricopa Indian scouts led by the famed Al Sieber and a few civilian packers. The packers were responsible for 25 mules that hauled supplies and camping gear for what was anticipated to be a long patrol. After spending many days in the Mazatazl Mountains without success, they crossed to the west side of the Verde. Aiming at a known source of water, they arrived at the Seven Springs area and then moved on to New River Mesa. Doubling back to the stream, they continued their search for Apaches or the location of their stored food supplies. As they worked their way south and west down the creek they found signs of recent Indian activity. The scouts eventually spotted eleven brush huts concealed in a large cavern under an overhanging shelf of rock.
Lt. Schuyler feared that a frontal attack would allow the escape of many so he planned an ambush. He marched his men openly down the valley some distance away from the creek, avoiding any indication that the cave had been noticed. The patrol moved down to the Stoneman Military Road on the north flanks of what is now Black Mountain and turned west where the road then passed around the south side of what is now the Cave Creek Recreation area.
After camping there one night, they returned east along the Stoneman Road late the next day, camping along the creek. Schuyler decided to time the attack at nighttime to assure that the group of Indians would be consolidated in one place. That night, which turned out to be Christmas Eve, the troops left their pack mules behind and crept quietly up the creek. Timing their arrival at the cave with daylight they surrounded the cave and poured a hail of bullets into it. Nine Indians were killed – only a few escaped. The surprise was so complete that no cavalrymen or Indian scouts were injured. Significantly, several tons of stored food was found in the cave. Traditionally, Indians had followed the practice of saving a portion of their summer harvest to allow them to survive during the winter months. The Army destroyed all of this in keeping with General Crook’s policy of relentlessly pursuing and starving non-reservation Indians into submission. On December 26 the patrol returned to McDowell, exhausted after 26 days in the field.
The Army believed that the Indians found in this cave were Apaches but some modern-day Native American residents say that they believe they were Yavapai. The site of this ambush is located on private property and not available to the public. It is hoped that some day it may be thoroughly and professionally excavated. Such a project would surely yield archaeological evidence that would add to our knowledge of those who occupied this area long ago.
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