Battle of Big Dry Wash

On July 17, 1882, soldiers from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and 6th Cavalry Regiment clashed with White Mountain Apache warriors in an engagement that would become known as the Battle of Big Dry Wash. Major Evans referred to the site as "Big Dry Wash" in his official account, though subsequent maps labeled it "Big Dry Fork," a name that appears in the four Medal of Honor citations awarded for actions during the fight.

Background

By 1882 a coalition of roughly sixty White Mountain Apache fighters had come together under a leader named Na-tio-tish. In the first days of July, members of this group struck without warning at San Carlos, killing four policemen there, among them the man who headed the force. Following this attack, Na-tio-tish steered his followers northwest into the Tonto Basin. Settlers across the Arizona territory grew fearful and pressed the army for defense, prompting a swift response: fourteen cavalry companies rode out from nearby forts.

By mid-July, Na-tio-tish had guided his warriors along Cherry Creek toward the Mogollon Rim, aiming for General Springs, a familiar watering spot along the Crook Trail. Realizing a single troop of cavalry was tracking them, the Apaches chose to set an ambush at a point seven miles north of the springs, where a branch of East Clear Creek carves a gorge through the rim. They concealed themselves on the opposite side and waited for their pursuers to approach.

Captain Adna R. Chaffee commanded the cavalry troop trailing the Apaches. Yet his lead scout, Al Sieber, spotted the concealed warriors and alerted the soldiers in time. Overnight, Chaffee's single company gained reinforcement in the form of four additional companies from Fort Apache, brought under Major Andrew W. Evans. Britton Davis also accompanied the force, later recounting the engagement in his 1929 book, The Truth about Geronimo.

Battle

On the morning of July 17, a single cavalry company began firing down into the canyon toward the waiting Apaches from the rim above. At the same time, Chaffee dispatched four more companies, two moving upstream and two down, with orders to slip across the canyon and strike the Apaches from another angle. Because Na-tio-tish had neglected to set out lookouts, the soldiers managed the crossing without being spotted. By the fighting's end, somewhere between sixteen and twenty-seven warriors lay dead, Na-tio-tish among them.

The opening major clash of the day unfolded on a ridge above the wash, where Lieutenant George H. Morgan held command. Exposing himself to the Apache guns, he took a bullet that tore through his arm before entering his body.

Roughly two hours after the fighting began, Lieutenant Thomas Cruse noticed what looked like an abandoned Apache camp nearby. Gathering four soldiers under him, he rushed across the ravine hoping to seize it. Once they arrived, concealed warriors opened fire, striking Private Joseph McLarnon, positioned beside Cruse, with a mortal wound. Cruse hauled McLarnon back across the ground they had just crossed to reach safety again. As the clash grew fiercer, Lieutenant Frank West stepped in to lead Chaffee's cavalry troop so that Chaffee himself could focus on directing the overall fight. Gunfire had first erupted around three in the afternoon, and the struggle continued until darkness fell, at which point a violent thunderstorm broke, dumping rain and hail on the battlefield. Meanwhile, the scout Sieber, joined by fellow scout Tom Horn and by Lt. Morgan, crept along the bank facing the Apache position, adding their rifles to the cavalry's fire.

Overwhelmed and lacking sufficient weapons, the surviving Apache fighters used the cover of night and storm to withdraw on foot, making their way to an Apache reservation roughly twenty miles distant. Today the ground where the battle occurred has become a historical park located in Coconino County, Arizona.