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 militiamen.

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.

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.

[1] 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.

One of the bullets, reportedly fired by the Mexican commander, General Mauricio Corredor, hit Captain Crawford in the head.

The Americans had lost Captain Crawford, who died on January 18, and four men wounded including Tom Horn, who was shot in the arm.

[1][2] 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.

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.