Skeleton Canyon is located in the Peloncillo Mountains (Hidalgo County), which straddles the modern Arizona and New Mexico state line border.
[1] In July 1881, "Curly Bill" Brocius learned that several Mexican smugglers carrying silver were heading to Arizona through Skeleton Canyon.
Curly Bill and around twenty other men including Johnny Ringo and Jim Crane ambushed the smugglers, killing four and stealing $4,000 in bullion and livestock.
Two months after the attack was reported by the surviving smugglers, Commandant Neri again sent a detachment of Rurales led by Captain Carrillo across the border.
This time, the Rurales successfully ambushed the Cowboys, killing five including Old Man Clanton and Jim Crane, in what became known as the Guadalupe Canyon Massacre.