On December 28, 1872, Crook's men encountered the Yavapai stronghold at Skeleton Cave, located in the Salt River Canyon northeast of present-day Phoenix, Arizona.

Crook's force was composed of 130 troopers from the 5th Cavalry Regiment led by Captain William H. Brown and another thirty Apache scouts.

[5] The army took up a position around the mouth of Skeleton Cave and surprised a Yavapai band when they were dancing in celebration over a recent raid.

[2] Some of Brown's men aimed for the roof of the cave, as the Yavapai band refused to surrender.

Realizing that he got out of the cave safely, he jumped on a large stone and let out a war cry, while firing at the soldiers' position.