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Salt River Canyon Battle

End of the Tonto Basin campaign

At dawn on December 28, 1872, a 130-man force, consisting of about two companies of the 5th Cavalry from Fort McDowell and Old Camp Grant and 30 Apache scouts under the command of Capt. William H. Brown, surprised a band of more than a hundred Yavapais as they tried to emerge from a cave deep in the recesses of Salt River Canyon. The trapped Indians refused to surrender. Some of Brown's men shot at the roof of the cave and deflected a deadly fire into the defenders. Other soldiers completed the destruction by rolling boulders over the cliffs above. About 75 Indians died, and most of the rest were captured. This victory, along with Crook's other aggressive measures, so lowered the morale of the Yavapais that on April 6, 1873, they made peace at Camp Verde. - NPS