Infernal Caverns is the site of an 1867 battle between U.S. armed forces and Shoshone, Paiute, and Pit River Indians.

The last incident that had brought U.S. Army action was when Indigenous soldiers killed 78 miners who were en route to Colorado.

With the 39th Mounted Infantry, General Crook tracked the Native Americans south from Goose Lake (which lies on what is now the California-Oregon border), engaging them in a desolate spot named Infernal Caverns.

The two-day battle began high in a canyon characterized by large boulders, rocky caverns, and hollow fumaroles caused by lava flows.

David Rustler, was transported by double mule travois to Camp Warner at Goose Lake, where he died a few days later.