Crawford Affair The Crawford Affair was a battle fought between Mexico and the United States in January 1886 during the Geronimo Campaign . Captain Emmet Crawford was commanding a company of Apache scouts , sixty miles southeast of Nacori Chico in Sonora , when his camp was attacked by Mexican Army militia men . In the action , Crawford was shot and later died ; his death nearly started a war between the United States and Mexico . Background . Following Geronimo ' s escape from the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona , the United States Army began the Geronimo Campaign to capture the Apache leader who had fled into Mexico . It was during this operation that Captain Crawford , or the 3rd Cavalry , was ordered to proceed south from Fort Apache to pursue the natives . He took with him , just under 100 Apache scouts with Lieutenant s Marion P . Maus , William Shipp and Samuel L . Faison . Among the party was the Apache Kid and three armed civilians , including the famous scout Tom Horn , a doctor named T . B . Davis , and Concepción , a translator who spoke Apache . Crawford and the company left the fort and crossed the border at Agua Prieta on December 11 , 1885 . There Crawford informed the Mexicans that he was pursuing hostile natives into the Sierra Madre Occidental . He also established a truce with the Mexicans so as to ensure his command ' s safety from the Mexican Army . On January 8 , marching through the mountains , strewn with canyons , the Apache scouts discovered signs of a hostile Apache village in the distance . So for the next forty - eight hours , Crawford pushed his scouts forward in an attempt to attack the village before the enemy could detect them and retreat . All through the night of January 9 and the early morning of January 10 , the Apache scouts led a stealthy advance through the canyons . Many of the scouts hurt themselves by falling in the darkness but they continued on for eighteen hours until they reached the village . An attack was made at daybreak on January 10 without incident , a few of Geronimo ' s Apaches and some horses were captured while the majority fled . Crawford decided to rest his men at the camp , as they were exhausted from their trek across the desert . Affair . In the afternoon of January 10 , the Americans and their Apache scouts were making camp when a native American woman approached to tell Captain Crawford that Geronimo was a few miles away and wanted to speak with him . The two agreed that on the following day , a council would be held to negotiate an end to the Geronimo campaign . Peace was expected , so Crawford and his company waited joyfully until the next morning at daybreak when the captain was awoken by one of his sentries who warned that Mexican troops were approaching . Believing the Mexicans to be another force of Apache scouts under the command of Captain Wirt Davis , some of Crawford ' s Apaches began shouting calls in their native language . In response , the Mexican force , which included Tarahumara detribalized natives , opened up with a volley of rifle fire . Immediately Crawford grabbed a white flag and rushed to a large rock and climbed to the top where he was in full view of the Mexicans . Crawford , with his blue coat on , waved the flag as he shouted " Soldados Americanos " along with Tom Horn . In Marion P . Maus ' report of the battle he said that the Mexicans knew well of who they were firing at . An investigation launched by the Mexican government also came to the same conclusion . After the first volley a small group of the Mexicans advanced and Lieutenant Maus went to speak with them . Maus told the group that they were American soldiers and would not return fire . He then turned back for camp , when Captain Crawford ordered him to speak with the Mexicans again , to ensure a cease fire . Maus turned back into the direction of the Mexicans , but they opened fire . One of the bullets , reportedly fired by the Mexican commander , General Mauricio Corredor , hit Captain Crawford in the head . The Apache scouts were furious after seeing their commander gunned down and returned fire on the Mexicans . For an hour the two sides skirmished until the Mexicans waved a white flag . The Americans had lost Captain Crawford , who died on January 18 , and four men wounded including Tom Horn , who was shot in the arm . The Mexicans lost four men killed and five wounded , among them General Corredor who six years earlier had killed Victorio , an important Apache war chief . Aftermath . When the Mexicans raised the white flag a ceasefire began , and Lieutenant Maus approached the Mexican line with Tom Horn . The two talked with the Mexicans for a while and concluded that the Mexicans were after scalps for the high bounty established by the Mexican government . One scalp of an Apache warrior was worth 200 silver pesos while a woman or a child ' s scalp was worth 100 . Eventually Tom Horn went back to his side of the lines , leaving Lieutenant Maus alone with the Mexicans . As the lieutenant attempted to leave , the Mexicans demanded that they be given some mules to transport their wounded . Maus agreed , so six mules were given to the Mexicans . However , the Mexicans made a gesture as though they would not let Maus go , so the scouts let out a loud war cry , which frightened the Mexicans into freeing the lieutenant . The United States Army later issued a statement which claimed that if Crawford had survived he would have met with Geronimo and ended the war sooner . Crawford ' s death was felt most in Nebraska where his funeral was one of the largest in the state ' s history . The body of the well liked and respected captain was later moved in 1908 to Arlington National Cemetery where a large marble obelisk was erected over his grave . The death of Crawford nearly sparked another war between the United States and Mexico , but after the Americans ended their own investigation , the matter was not pursued . Crawford , Nebraska , next to Fort Robinson , was named for the captain and Lieutenant Maus received a Medal of Honor .