Crabb Massacre

Crabb massacre
Part of the Reform War
Date April 1–8, 1857 Location Caborca, Sonora, Mexico Result Mexican victory
Belligerents
United States	Mexico Tohono O'odham
Commanders and leaders
Henry Crabb †	Ygnacio Pesqueira Hilario Gabilonda
Strength
~85	1,500
Casualties and losses
84 killed	~200 killed or wounded

The Crabb massacre was the culmination of the eight-day Battle of Caborca. It was fought between Mexico and their O'odham allies against American forces in April 1857. Due to the outbreak of the Reform War in Mexico, the rebel Ygnacio Pesqueira invited the American politician Henry A. Crabb to colonize the northern frontier region in the state of Sonora, on the basis that the colonists would help Pesqueira fight in the civil war and against the Apache. However, when Crabb arrived in Mexico, his command was attacked and ultimately defeated. Some 50 survivors of the battle, out of about 85 men, were executed by the Mexicans.

The Reform War was a religious civil war, one of many between Mexico's rival conservative and liberal factions. Ygnacio Pesqueira fought for the liberals in Sonora, against the state soldiers of the conservative Governor Manuel María Gándara. General Crabb was a former State Senator from California, as well as a former United States Army officer, but his journey to Mexico in 1857, known as the Crabb Expedition, was of a private nature and did not involve the American government or the military. It was in the fall of 1856, after Crabb lost an election to decide the next senator of California, when he came into contact with Pesqueira through his Mexican wife.

Crabb accepted Pesqueira's offer who authorized the general to bring 1,000 colonists. But by the time the expedition left for Mexico, the general had recruited only about 100 men. Other volunteers organized to follow Crabb into Sonora either abandoned the march or were attacked by the Mexicans. Starting out from San Diego in January 1857, the expedition went to the Lower Colorado River and then entered New Mexico Territory, now Arizona, and headed directly for the Gila River where they gathered for several weeks. The location of the camp is now known as the Filibusters Camp. In March they went south for the Tucson area to recruit more men. From Tucson the expedition continued further south to Altar, where they would meet with Pesqueira and his rebels. By the time Crabb reached Sonora, the rebels had already defeated Gándara's troops and forced him into exile. Gándara later sought refuge in Tucson.

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