Skull/Skeleton Cave...

Non LDM treaure hunting and Old West history.
Post Reply
Cubfan64
Expert
Posts: 537
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 3:20 pm

Skull/Skeleton Cave...

Post by Cubfan64 »

I was wondering if anyone here knows the true location of Skull/Skeleton Cave - the one where Crook and Bourke and the 5th cavalry did what could only be described as a massacre of Apache and Yavapai men, women and children?

I did some searching online as well as on topo maps and while at first I was sure I knew the location and coordinates, I came across some old photos that don't look much like the cave I've seen from recent hiking visits.

I saw some information from the Forest Service that indicated they are under no obligation to give out the real coordinates for the cave as they do not want it disturbed (and rightly so) as well as the fact that it holds sacred significance to local Native Americans.

The coordinates I have I won't post here, but a quick internet scan will find the same ones I have as well as some photos. What I'm wondering is if any of you can confirm exactly where this cave really is?

I'm not even certain I'll have time to visit it, but it's a place I thought would be important for me to visit and to just sit for awhile and contemplate life and death. I have no intention of disturbing the site at all.

Send me a PM if you would be able to help me.

Thanks
User avatar
djui5
Expert
Posts: 835
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 4:33 pm
Location: AJ
Contact:

Post by djui5 »

Call Greg. He's been there :)
Randy Wright
Hobbiest LDM seeker
Mesa, AZ

"I don't care if it has electric windows. I don't care if the door gaps are straight, but when the driver steps on the gas I want him to piss his pants."
Enzo Ferrari
Cubfan64
Expert
Posts: 537
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 3:20 pm

Post by Cubfan64 »

djui5 wrote:Call Greg. He's been there :)
Just got an e-mail from him :) You'd think by now I would just ask him my questions first - hehe
User avatar
djui5
Expert
Posts: 835
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 4:33 pm
Location: AJ
Contact:

Post by djui5 »

Yeah, we all learn that eventually :)
Randy Wright
Hobbiest LDM seeker
Mesa, AZ

"I don't care if it has electric windows. I don't care if the door gaps are straight, but when the driver steps on the gas I want him to piss his pants."
Enzo Ferrari
pippinwhitepaws
Expert
Posts: 831
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2007 2:30 pm

Post by pippinwhitepaws »

December 28, 1872—Apache Cave (Skull Cave)

" ‘Brown ordered our fire to cease, and for the last time summoned the Apaches to surrender, or to let their women and children come out unmolested. On their side, the Apaches also ceased all hostile demonstrations and it seemed to some of us Americans that they must be making ready to yield, and were discussing the matter among themselves. Our Indian guides and interpreters raised the cry, ‘Look out! There goes the death song; they are going to charge!’ It was a weird chant .. half wail and half exultation—the frenzy of despair and the wild cry for revenge.’ So wrote Captain John G. Bourke, 3rd U.S. Cavalry, who was describing the action at the famous Battle of the Cave, on December 28, 1872. From Camp Grant and McDowell, three 5th Cavalry Troops, with Indian Scouts, had located a large rancheria belonging to one of the Kwevikopaya (Apache-Mohave) bands of the Yavapai tribe and attacked it. The Kwevikopaya warriors, trapped in a cave above the Salt River, counter-attacked to buy time for their women and children to escape. The soldiers checked this maneuver, and the surviving Indians, ‘all more or less wounded,’ were driven back within the cave where they resumed their death chant. At this point, troop commanders ordered the soldiers to fire ‘as fast as the breach-block of the carbine could be opened and lowered ... into the mouth of the cave,’ where, according to Bourke, ‘lead poured in by the bucketful.’ The battle continued, with the desperate cry of the wounded women and children becoming ever more frequent, as the soldiers’ deadly carbine fire ricocheted throughout the cave and into the ranks of the Indians. ‘It was exactly like fighting with wild animals in a trap,’ observed Bourke, ‘the Apaches had made up their minds to die... .’17 The fight concluded with an assault upon the cave led by a corporal of Company G, 5th U.S. Cavalry. The Chronological List recorded fifty-seven Yavapais killed in this battle/massacre (Bourke reported seventy-six killed, and twenty captured). The soldiers’ casualties were reported at one scout killed (a Pima Indian) and one scout wounded."18

This site is located on the north shore of Apache Lake, about 1/2 mile northeast of Horse Mesa Dam.
ScottB217
Greenhorn
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2008 6:56 pm
Location: Phoenix

Post by ScottB217 »

I saw a post on goldshooter.com under their "outings" they have coming up this month or next for a horseback expedition complete with food, etc... they also have pretty specific directions to the cave and site. Maybe this will help??? Hope so... I'm kinda new so I'm just learning about all this stuff.

Good luck and hope you have a good time.

(let me know if you want company when or if you go).

Thanks,

Scott
On the trail...
billp
Greenhorn
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2004 2:49 pm

Skull Cave

Post by billp »

I hiked up to Skull Cave in the late 1970's; it's shown on the Mormon Flat Dam 7.5 topo, just below Horse Mesa Dam. I've always wondered if that is really "the" Skull Cave...anybody know? Thx, Bill
User avatar
djui5
Expert
Posts: 835
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 4:33 pm
Location: AJ
Contact:

Post by djui5 »

No, that's not :)
Randy Wright
Hobbiest LDM seeker
Mesa, AZ

"I don't care if it has electric windows. I don't care if the door gaps are straight, but when the driver steps on the gas I want him to piss his pants."
Enzo Ferrari
Post Reply