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| Battle of Cookes Canyon | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theAmerican Civil War Apache Wars | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
 Confederate States | Apache | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| N/A | Mangas Coloradas Cochise | ||||
| Strength | |||||
| 24militia | ~100warriors | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| 4 killed 8 wounded | Unknown | ||||
TheBattle of Cookes Canyon was a military engagement fought between settlers fromConfederate Arizona andChiricahuaApaches in August 1861. It occurred about 40 miles (64 km) northwest ofMesilla, in Cookes Canyon. The exact date of the battle is unknown. The battle occurred in the larger context of both theApache Wars and theAmerican Civil War.
In early August, a group of Arizonan refugees from theTubac area abandoned their village after the withdrawal ofU.S. troops fromFort Buchanan and theSiege of Tubac which left their homes burned. The bunch was known as the Ake Party, and their destination was theRio Grande near Mesilla.
Thewagon train consisted of six double wagons, twobuggies, and one single wagon when it reachedTucson from the surrounding region. At Tucson, several other people joined the procession, which including Moses Carson, the half-brother of the famous scout and soldierKit Carson.
The party was composed of 24 men, 16 women, and 7 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 around August 15, 1861. The large number of livestock would present an irresistible temptation to the Chiricahua Apache warriors underCochise andMangas Coloradas. The journey was uneventful until the party crossed theMimbres River and made for the springs at Cooke's Canyon withinTraditional Arizona and the present dayNew Mexico.
It is unknown whether or not Cochise and Mangas Coloradas were leading the Apache warriors. Most likely they were, as the commanders of the combined Apache force that operated primarily in present-day southwestern New Mexico where Cooke's Canyon is located.
When the last wagon had entered the canyon, the Apaches, estimated to number about 100, sprang theirambush by attacking and scattering the large group of livestock. They then charged the wagons and were stopped from reaching them after a series of mounted countercharges by several men of the party. The wagons were maneuvered into a circle, and the settlers withstood asiege that lasted the remainder of the day. Eventually the Apaches took to the surrounding slopes, firing both arrows and bullets at long range. The settlers responded from their wagon positions, killing several of the attackers who approached them on horseback and foot. Finally, toward the end of the day the Apaches retreated, taking their plunder of 400 cattle and 900 sheep with them. The settlers withdrew to the Mimbres. They had suffered a loss of four men killed and eight wounded.
The last wagon in the party, carrying most of the women and children, had turned about after the first shots were fired and fled back toward the Mimbres River. Unmolested by the Apaches, this wagon reached the settlement on the Mimbres safely and sent a plea for help toPinos Altos, where the Arizona Guards were stationed. The Confederate troops responded to the report, leading to theBattle of the Florida Mountains two days later.
During the summer of 1861, the Apache warriors of Mangas Coloradas and Cochise massacred several other groups of settlers at Cookes Canyon. Apache warriors killed and mutilated a party of seven near the east end of the canyon. Near the same location, they massacred and mutilated nine Mexican herdsmen and stole their forty head of cattle. Three whites of the same party were taken prisoner, tortured and killed later on. Fourteen American settlers were murdered on either July 25 or 26, 1861, and discovered by theLos Angeles Mounted Rifles, soon after.
Again, near that same location they attempted to destroy the Ake Party. Over the months, Apache warriors left what one chronicler called "many bones, skulls, & graves" in Cookes Canyon. Eventually, the Apaches killed as many as 100 Americans and Mexicans in Cookes Canyon, making it the most feared passage on the trail from Mesilla to Tucson. According to historianDan Thrapp, 150 whites were killed within sixty days during this period. Around the same time, the Mexican governor ofSonora estimated that 500 to 600 of his people were killed by the Apache on their side of the border.
32°27′28″N107°40′04″W / 32.45778°N 107.66782°W /32.45778; -107.66782