Following the death of the prominent Yavapai leader Anasa in April 1865, the natives began raiding American settlements which provoked a response by the United States Army forces stationed in the area.

The gold rush brought a steady flow of miners and other settlers to the area so in 1864 Captain William Hardy built a toll road through Hualapai territory between Prescott and Bull Head City, which was then known as Hardyville.

Relations with the natives were generally peaceful and Hardy was able to acquire a fortune by building a ferry across the Colorado River and by taxing the settlers who used his road.

[4] In all there were about 250 Hualapai warriors, and an unknown number of Yavapai and Apache allies, facing hundreds of United States Army troops and militia.

[5] The actual fighting took the form of guerrilla warfare, in which small bands of natives cut off Hardy's road and raided using hit and run tactics.

Camp Hualapai was located north of Prescott, southeast of Aztec Pass, along Walnut Creek and Captain Hardy's toll road.