The Skeleton Canyon massacres occurred in July 1879 and July 1881 amid the Wild West era. On both occasions, the American Cochise County Cowboys outlaw gang massacred groups of Mexicans who had crossed the border into Arizona, and the massacres led to the retaliatory Guadalupe Canyon Massacre in August 1881.
History[]
First massacre[]
In July 1879, the Cochise County Cowboys outlaw gang of Arizona launched a cattle raid across the border into Mexican Sonora, where American outlaws often rustled Mexican cattle and brought them back to Tombstone for sale. The July raid killed several inhabitants of a northern Sonora rancho, and Commandant Francisco Neri was informed of the attack and sent out a detachment of Rurales under Captain Alfredo Carrillo to pursue the Cowboys across the border. The Rurales crossed into Arizona via Skeleton Canyon, where the large group of Mexican rural police was ambushed and massacred by the Cowboys, whose numbers included Newman Haynes Clanton, Ike and Billy Clanton, Curly Bill Brocius, Florentino Cruz, Johnny Ringo, and Frank and Tom McLaury. Only three of the Rurales survived.
Second massacre[]
The site of the second massacre
In July 1881, Curly Bill learned that several Mexican smugglers were headed into Arizona via Skeleton Canyon with a large cargo of silver, so he and his men arranged an ambush. Several Mexican pack trains had already been ambushed upon crossing the border, causing international incidents and Mexican governmental protests to President Chester A. Arthur. Curly Bill, Johnny Ringo, and 20 other men ambushed the smugglers, killing 4 and stealing $4,000 in bullion and livestock. Don Jacinto Orosco was the only survivor, being shot in the back but escaping while Sheriff Clay Hollister of Tombstone came across the massacre and searched the bodies for identification papers. Orosco later summoned the Rurales to deal with the outlaws, leading to the Guadalupe Canyon Massacre.