Arizona citizen., 1873-09-20

in conquering the Apaches, and the
 hardships and patient endurance of
 his officers and men are but little
 known or appreciated. It is known
 that the Apaches had successfully
 fought against and detied the power
 of Spain, Mexico and the United
 States; that centuries had come and
 gone and still they were the same
 restless, defiant enemy of civilization,
 sweeping over thousands of miles of
 country and leaving behind them
 death and destruction. For twelve
 years the United States had striven
 in vain to conquer them, and when
 Gen. Crook assumed command of the
 department they were better armed
 with improved guns and better sup piled with ammunition and better sat
 isfied that they were masters of the
 situation than at any former period.
 Twice he organized a campaign
 against them, but before he struck a
 blow peace commissioners were sent
 from Washington and active opera
 tions were suspended. So when about
 @ year ago he had organized his third
 campaign, it was generally under
 stood that to prevent third inter
 ruption by peace commissioners, as
 little as possible should be said of his engagements and victories. For this reason, while six thousand savage Apaches were conquered in 8 few months by driving them from cav- erhs, lava beds and mountain passes heretofore considered impregnable, and while an area of country larger than the State of New York, was secuted over, where officers and men had to march on foot in dead of win ter and carry their rations upon their backs, so little IS known or has been said about it, that outside of Arizona, the little Modoc unpleasantness is considered grand affair compared to it. Had Gen, Crook met with the same loss in proportion to the Indians he had to fight that was suffered in the Modoc war, the whole army of the United States would have been annihilated in conquering the Apa- ches, and we are informed by those who are familiar with this and the Modoc country, that much of Arizona where Gen. Crook had to fight the Apaches, was worse than that. In this connection we propose to give brief description of one of the many fights Gen. Crook and his brave men had before the Apaches sued for peace. It was told to us by one who was engaged in the fight:
 There is a place on the Rio Salado that the Apaches had used as one of their strongest holds; it had been their custom when pressed by citizens or soldiers after committing depreda- tions on the settlements, to retreat to this place where pursuit had proved unavailing. The river here com pressed within one-half its ordinary width roars in fury as it dashes be- tween the precipitous walls which tower 1900 feet above and excluding almost entirely the rays of the sun. About half way up the precipice there is a bench in front of cave oft small dimensions in the face of the topmost cliff. A trail led to this cave made by steps in the rock, and only accessible to one person at time, and before reaching the cave series of lava beds had to be passed through, the most complete breast work of stone, from which the Ind ians unseen, could discharge volley after volley of bullets and arrows upon the adventurous assailants. The Pima Indians had SO often suffered defeat at the hands of the Apaches, that they had been led to regard this place as under the protecting aegis of the tutelary deity of the Apaches hence it is called Superstition Noun tain.,
 One of the great causes of Gen. Crooks success in Indian warfare, is his skill in obtaining the services of Indians to fight against Indians, and among this class he obtained the serv- ices of young warrior named Nau- .aie, whose earlier years had been passed among the Apaches inhabiting :his mountain, and of course he was familiar with this stronghold. But with all this knowledge, these lava beds and caves could not be taken without immense slaughter unless the Apaches could be surprised, which is 1S..a1l " Hj&o,1f {o do
 To reach this Doint unobseryed