Crawford Affair

Crawford Affair
Part of Geronimo's War, Apache Wars
Date January 11, 1886 Location near Nacori Chico, Sonora, Mexico Result United States victory
Belligerents
United States	Mexico
Commanders and leaders
Emmet Crawford †	Mauricio Corredor †
Strength
~100	~150
Casualties and losses
1 killed 4 wounded	4 killed 5 wounded

The Crawford Affair was a battle fought between Mexico and the United States in January 1886 during the Geronimo Campaign. Captain Emmet Crawford was commanding a company of Apache scouts, sixty miles southeast of Nacori Chico in Sonora, when his camp was attacked by Mexican Army militiamen. In the action, Crawford was shot and later died; his death nearly started a war between the United States and Mexico.

Following Geronimo's escape from the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona, the United States Army began the Geronimo Campaign to capture the Apache leader who had fled into Mexico. It was during this operation that Captain Crawford, or the 3rd Cavalry, was ordered to proceed south from Fort Apache to pursue the natives. He took with him, just under 100 Apache scouts with Lieutenants Marion P. Maus, William Shipp and Samuel L. Faison. Among the party was the Apache Kid and three armed civilians, including the famous scout Tom Horn, a doctor named T. B. Davis, and Concepción, a translator who spoke Apache.

Crawford and the company left the fort and crossed the border at Agua Prieta on December 11, 1885. There Crawford informed the Mexicans that he was pursuing hostile natives into the Sierra Madre Occidental. He also established a truce with the Mexicans so as to ensure his command's safety from the Mexican Army. On January 8, marching through the mountains, strewn with canyons, the Apache scouts discovered signs of a hostile Apache village in the distance. So for the next forty-eight hours, Crawford pushed his scouts forward in an attempt to attack the village before the enemy could detect them and retreat. All through the night of January 9 and the early morning of January 10, the Apache scouts led a stealthy advance through the canyons. Many of the scouts hurt themselves by falling in the darkness but they continued on for eighteen hours until they reached the village.

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