Morning journal and courier., 1883-05-28
THE INDIANS DEFEATED.

Crook R0uts the Apaches-Forty Indians
and Many Scouts Left Dead-The
HOstiIes Escape in tho Darkness-A
Telling Victory for the American Gem
eraI.
CHICAGO, May 27.-The following special
has been received from Tombstone, A. T.
The statements therein made, however
should be received with some degree of eau
ton, as, although the reliability of the cour
iers is unimpeached, the source of their news
may be open to question:
TOMBSTONE, Arizona, May PA Mexican
courier who arrived last night says: The
battle reported by various couriers is be-
lieved to have occurred on the 18th or 18th
inst. Crook struck the trail of the hostiles
at Trescabillo, where Colonel Garcia had a
fight on the 26th ult. The trail led in
southeast direction through a country almost
impossible. When within two days march
of the Rio Papagoch, which has its head
quarters in Chihuahua and flows westerly
through pass in the Sierra Madre, emptying
into the Sonora river. Crooks advance Skin
mish line was jumped by the hostiles. Five
Apache scouts were killed at the first fire and
the officer in command wounded. The
name of the officer is not given, but it is be-
lieved to be Captain Adna r. Chaffee of
Ohio, commander of troop I, Sixth caval-
ry. The scouts then fell back upon
the main column. After accommodating
general advance was ordered. The hostiles
occupied both sides of a narrow canon and
awaited the coming of Crooks forces. The
fight commenced at 10 q. m. and lasted until
dar1- hrou
and one of their Chiefs believed to be Loco,
who left San Carlos a year ago last March,
is reported killed. During the progress of
the fight Crook fanked with fifty
scouts the T.. Indians danson on , the , east
driven from cover charged down the side IF
the mountain across the canyon and Joined
the renegades behind the rocks on either
side of the canyon. 1t was during this that
the greatest number of the enemy was killed.
The hostiles, estimated at $50 with no women
and children, were believed to consist of
Juhs and Loco's bands with Indians from
Chihuahua. The scene of the battle, from
the best information obtainable, is believed
to be three hundred miles south of the line,
about two hundred miles from Opusura, the
Mexican headquarters. Mayor Biddle, |
base of supplies has received no |
official news of the battle. All the above |
news received here has come through Mexi- |
can sources. The Mexican forces are dis |
tributed from the Sonora river to the foot |
hills of the Sierra Madre, as it is expected |
the hestiIes will break up into small bands |
and raid exposed settlements. The line is |
guarded by a triple Gordon of United States |
soldiers and enlisted scouts for distance of |
$50 miles so it will be extremely difficult for |
the hossiles to escape and regain the seour-
ity of San Carlos. After the battle the |
hostiles escaped in the darkness. Crook |
took the trail in the morning and probably |
before now has coralled them with their wo-
men and children. Game is scarce in the |
region of the Sierra Madre, where the hos |
tiles now are, and as soon as their supply of |
horses and mules is exhausted they will be |
compelled to either surrender or break up |
into small bands and scatter through the |
country. 1t is this latter action that is |
feared, both by the Mexican residents of |
Sonora and Chihuahus and the citizens this |
side of the line.
A second dispatch from Wilcox, |
A. T., confirms the above and |
says the Indians were out in force, |
the scouts towards the main body and killed /
a number of them. The fight lasted till |
when the hostiles retreated with |
forty Indians and the same number of |
scouts killed.
LATER-W1LLoox, A. t., May 27.-Some |
Mexicans who have just arrived from near |
the scene of battle claim that the Indian /
scouts refused to fight and even threatened |
to open fire on Crook and the white soldiers |
if he persisted in hostilities against the In |
dams and that in consequence Crook was |
compelled to retreat from the battlefield. |
This is not credited here, as the informant |
who brought the intelligence of Crooks sue
cess is in every way responsible and trust
worthy man and came from the immediate |
vicinity of the fight He reports only two
wounded white soldiers, neither fatally.