Page:On the border with Crook - Bourke - 1892.djvu/509

 met his death at or near Nacori, Sonora, Mexico, January 11, 1886, under peculiarly sad and distressing circumstances. These are narrated by General Crook in the orders announcing Crawford's death, of which the following is an extract:

"Captain Crawford, with the zeal and gallantry which had always distinguished him, volunteered for the arduous and thankless task of pursuing the renegade Chiricahua Apaches to their stronghold in the Sierra Madre, Mexico, and was assigned to the command of one of the most important of the expeditions organized for this purpose. In the face of the most discouraging obstacles, he had bravely and patiently followed in the track of the renegades, being constantly in the field from the date of the outbreak in May last to the day of his death.

"After a march of eighteen hours without halt in the roughest conceivable country, he had succeeded in discovering and surprising their rancheria in the lofty ranges near the Jarras River, Sonora. Everything belonging to the enemy fell into our hands, and the Chiricahuas, during the fight, sent in a squaw to beg for peace. All arrangements had been made for a conference next morning. Unfortunately, a body of Mexican irregular troops attacked Captain Crawford's camp at daybreak, and it was while endeavoring to save the lives of others that Crawford fell.

"His loss is irreparable. It is unnecessary to explain the important nature of the services performed by this distinguished soldier. His name has been prominently identified with most of the severest campaigns, and with many of the severest engagements with hostile Indians, since the close of the War of the Rebellion, in which also, as a mere youth, he bore a gallant part."

The irregular troops of the Mexicans were Tarahumari Indians, almost as wild as the Apaches themselves, knowing as little of morality and etiquette, the mortal enemies of the Apaches for two hundred years. While it is probable that their statement may be true, and that the killing of Crawford was unpremeditated, the indignities afterwards heaped upon Lieutenant Maus, who succeeded Crawford in command, and who went over to visit the Mexican commander, did not manifest a very friendly spirit. The Government of Mexico was in as desperate straits as our own in regard to the subjugation of the Chiricahua Apaches, which could never have been effected without the employment of just such wild forces as the Tarahumaris, who alone would stand up and fight with the fierce Chiricahuas, or could trail them through the mountains.

"Geronimo" sent word that he would come in and surrender at a spot he would designate. This was the "Cañon de los Embudos," in the northeast corner of Sonora, on the Arizona