Another advantage of this force was that the New Mexico troops borrowed Apache Indian scouts under Lts. Charles B. Gatewood and Augustus P. Blocksom from the Department of Arizona. Their skills proved indispensable in trailing the Victorio and his renegades, as well as in fighting them.

In late August 1879, before the conflict erupted, Victorio visited the Mescalero Apache agency, east of the Rio Grande in the Sierra Blanca. He recruited the aged but powerful chief Nana—his sister’s husband, who with his Chihenne band had taken refuge with the Mescaleros to escape the turmoil west of the Rio Grande—and also any Mescaleros who wished to join them. (Though geographically removed from the Chiricahuas, and from a different tribe, the Mescaleros were usually friendly and, in the Victorio War, were often allies.) Together Victorio and Nana hurried back to Ojo Caliente.

On September 4, 1879, Victorio and about forty warriors launched their war. They swept down on the horse herd of Capt. Ambrose Hooker’s Troop E, 9th Cavalry, at Ojo Caliente; killed the eight herders; and made off with all forty-six horses. They rode swiftly west into the recesses of the Black Range they knew so well.

No longer content with hiding in the Black Range, Victorio embarked on relentless war for the next two months—not solely against soldiers but also against all the white miners and ranchers who had filtered into Apache ranges. He raided and burned ranches, killed ranchers and miners, and stole horses. When pursued, he faded back into the Black Range. (Accounts of casualties vary wildly. At the end of the war, The New York Times reported four hundred deaths at Victorio’s hands; the real number is likely far smaller.)

Major Morrow managed to put troops on Victorio’s trail, buttressed by the incredible tracking skills of the army’s Apache scouts. They followed until the Indians tired of the pursuit and scattered, reuniting at a predetermined point. Sometimes Victorio’s warriors would stand and fight until forced to abandon their positions, and all their camp equipage and stock. Then they would flee in all directions. They could easily replenish both stock and provisions by raiding ranches and mining communities, taking a toll of dead defenders as they went. Panic spread throughout southwestern New Mexico, and protests and petitions bombarded President Rutherford B. Hayes, Secretary of War George Washington McCrary, and members of Congress. Territorial Governor Lew Wallace vigorously sought authority to raise a citizen militia, but failed.

During this time, numbers on both sides fluctuated. Sometimes Victorio counted one hundred or more warriors plus some women and children. (Although his own women and children remained at San Carlos, Nana and some Mescaleros had brought their families). Mescaleros came and went, swelling and diminishing his force. As Victorio sent raiding parties out of the mountains to strike ranches and mining towns, Morrow reduced his own force by dispatching troops to guard such places and pick up any possible trails.

By late October 1879, Victorio had decided to cross into Mexico to rest. He was worn out by the continued chase, which took a hard toll on the women and children, and tormented by frequent encounters with the pursuing soldiers. Much to his surprise, however, Morrow risked an international incident by sticking to Victorio’s trail even into Mexico. Since Victorio could not shake off his pursuers, he decided to attempt another ambush and destroy them. He now had about one hundred fifty warriors, probably including some from Arizona and Mexico under Juh and Geronimo. Selecting a canyon with steep, rocky slopes, he camped on the canyon floor and waited.

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