A little-known episode in the Apache era took place very close to Clarkdale in Sycamore Canyon in 1867.  A party of railroad surveyors, accompanied by a cavalry escort, was making its way down the bed of the canyon toward the Verde Valley when it was attacked by Yavapai-Apache warriors.

For several hours, arrows, bullets and boulders rained down on the men from both canyon rims.  The soldiers and surveyors climbed the steep walls and took cover in the brush, but large boulders were rolled down on them forcing them to keep moving. The Indians began to fire from the east rim.  "How we got up, God knows; I only remember hearing shots from above and below. Tumbling boulders and Indian yells as the boulders crashed around us," said General Palmer. Then all was quiet as death, the Indians had disappeared. Both sides suffered injuries, but the troopers continued toward the mouth of the canyon, following the Verde River to Chino Valley and on to Ft. Whipple.  In 1862, Congress had authorized construction of the first transcontinental railroad from Omaha to Sacramento. While it was being built, promoters began to envision a second railroad through the southwestern states to southern California to be named the Kansas Pacific Railway. By the summer of 1867, topographical engineers along with 2 generals went into the field to survey possible routes from western Kansas through Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona to the Pacific Ocean. The men assembled at Salina, Kansas, then marched west to Ft. Wallace where a fierce battle ensued with the Cheyenne. With fear guiding the party, they headed to Ft. Lyon in eastern Colorado. Twenty-five African American soldiers joined them. The crews regrouped in southern Colorado and headed to Santa Fe and on to Albuquerque.  One group insisted on following the 35th Parallel which brought them through the rugged mountains of northern Arizona and the San Francisco Peaks.  A second challenge facing the survey party was the constant threat of Indian attack.  Exploring the canyons south of the San Francisco Peaks descending into Sycamore Canyon, their sense of danger increased. Even so, the surveyors were determined to push on to the mouth of it as it emptied into the Verde River. Reaching it, the party joined another general and his escort and traveled on to FT. Whipple and safety. Surprisingly a meeting was held which resulted in the unanimous passage of a resolution urging Congress to grant a charter and money to build the Kansas Pacific. However, the project did not gain the support and was not built. Still, the survey produced valuable information about the topography, natural resources and inhabitants of post Civil War northern Arizona and gave the American public a glimpse of life in the frontier Southwest.

Submitted by Cindy Emmett  contact info@clarkdalemuseum.org with questions or comments

From "Skirmish in Sycamore Canyon: Notes on a Battle Between the Yavapai-Apache and the U. S. Cavalry" written by James E. Babbitt, 

Presented at the Arizona History Convention, Prescott, Arizona; April 23-26, 2009