It was fought on October 8, 1901, within Arizona Territory's Fort Apache Indian Reservation, at a clearing in the forest known today as the "Battleground".

In northeastern Graham County, Bill Smith owned a ranch on the Blue River, where he lived with his mother and his younger brothers and sisters.

The ranch house served as a base for rustling cattle from nearby settlers, such as Henry Barrett, a former Rough Rider.

During the first week of October 1901, the Smith Gang was spotted at Pat Knoll, near Springerville, heading south with a herd of fifteen or twenty stolen horses.

[2] The posse was led by the sheriff's deputy, Hank Sharp, and included Henry Barrett and two other locals named Pete Peterson and Elijah Holgate.

The rangers then deputized Barrett, Peterson and Holgate and they began following the outlaws' trail to the Little Colorado River, which they forded at a place known as Sheep's Crossing.

From there the posse went to the ranch of Lorenzo Crosby to enlist his services and that of the brothers Arch and William Thomas "Bill" Maxwell,[4] both of whom were described as being excellent scouts.

On October 7, at a ranch belonging to Pete Slaughter, the posse found an abandoned camp that was believed to have been recently occupied by the outlaws.

[2] Bill Smith's gang included his brothers Al, George and Floyd, a brother-in-law named Adam Slagger, and two other unidentified men.

Of the nine-man posse, only Henry Barrett had any combat experience, having fought with Theodore Roosevelt at the Battle of San Juan Hill in 1898.

When the posse reached the camp, Tafolla, Hamblin and Bill Maxwell continued forward into a clearing to demand the outlaws' surrender while Barrett and the five others remained behind the cover of a ridge.

[2] After the Smith Gang made their escape, Hank Sharp and Arch Maxwell left the scene for Nutrioso, twenty miles away, to summon a doctor named Rudd and spread the news of the fight.

When the captain of the Arizona Rangers, Burton C. Mossman, was informed of the fight he sent three of his men after the outlaws and the United States Army dispatched the Apache Scouts Chicken and Josh.

Ultimately, the posse failed to capture the outlaws and bring them to justice, but they were successful in running the Smith Gang out of Arizona Territory.

Tafolla and Maxwell were killed as result of the gunfight and one or two of the outlaws may have been wounded by Barrett, who was armed with a souvenir Spanish Mauser rifle, which could shoot right through the trees the gang members were hiding behind.