Battle of Cookes Canyon

Part of the American Civil War
Apache Wars

Date	Mid August, 1861
Location	Cooke's Canyon , Arizona Territory, now in Luna County, New Mexico
Result	Confederate victory

Belligerents

Confederate States

Apache

Commanders and leaders

N/A

Mangas Coloradas
Cochise

Strength

24 militia

~100 warriors

Casualties and losses

4 killed
8 wounded

unknown

The Battle of Cookes Canyon was an engagement of the Apache Wars fought in the later part of August 1861, between settlers from Confederate Arizona, and Chiricahua Apaches. It occurred about 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Mesilla, in Cookes Canyon. The exact date of the battle is unknown.

In early August, a group of Arizonan refugees, from the Tubac area, abandoned their village due to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Fort Buchanan and the Siege of Tubac which left their homes burned. The bunch was known as the Ake Party, and their destination was the Rio Grande near Mesilla.

The wagon train consisted of six double wagons, two buggies, and one single wagon when it reached Tucson from the surrounding region. At Tucson, several other people joined the procession, which including Moses Carson, the half-brother of the famous scout and soldier, Kit Carson.

The party, now composed of twenty-four men, sixteen women, seven children, along with 400 head of cattle and 900 head of sheep, as well as horses and goats. The settlers, who were mostly miners and ranchers, left Tucson on or about August 15, 1861.

The large number of livestock would present an irresistible temptation to the Chiricahua Apache warriors under Cochise and Mangas Coloradas. The journey was uneventful until the party crossed the Mimbres River and made for the springs at Cooke's Canyon within Traditional Arizona and the present day New Mexico.

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Wikipedia