The Apache Death Cave: Part 1

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The site known as Two Guns, where Interstate 40 now crosses Canyon Diablo, was long avoided by the region's Native American tribes. It was believed to be an area fraught with ill fortune, cursed by the dead. White settlers who inquired about the site or attempted to build there were warned to steer clear. Naturally, outsiders didn't always listen, and those who ignored the warnings eventually learned of the spirits that stirred in the canyon's shadows.

The ghosts are said to be those of a band of Apaches who were executed in 1878 after raiding Navajo encampments. The Apaches had crossed north over the Little Colorado River and charged a neighboring Navajo tribe in a surprise attack. Except for three girls taken prisoner, the invaders swiftly murdered every man, woman and child in camp, then ransacked the victims' homes. At the same time, a second band of Apaches looted another camp a few miles away, murdering 30 more Navajos before both groups returned south.

Receiving word of the attacks, Navajo leaders immediately organized 25 men and raced off in pursuit of the invaders. The posse tracked them across the river, rushed to intercept them, then set up along logical routes hoping to ambush the party. The Apaches, however, never came through. It was as if they had disappeared.

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The Navajos combed the region, but could find no trace of the assassins. It looked as though the Apaches had outsmarted them. When two Navajo scouts thought to check a short arm of Canyon Diablo, however, they were startled by a stream of hot air emanating from a crack in the earth, followed by the sound of voices. The Apaches were underground! This shallow side canyon, which became extremely narrow, passed beneath a short natural bridge that concealed the entrance to a cave. It was practically undetectable. Here, the Apaches had holed up, horses and all.

Having discovered their hideout, the Navajos descended on the cave as night began to fall. They crawled to the edge of the canyon, aimed their guns at the passageway and waited. With only one way out, the Apaches were trapped.

Still oblivious to their discovery, two Apache men then unwittingly walked out into the canyon. They instantly fell dead from Navajo gunfire. When the remaining Apaches realized what happened, they tried to fight back, but the cave opening was too narrow to negotiate a shot. Moreover, the only way they could advance into the open canyon would be single file, completely vulnerable to the Navajos' bullets. They had nowhere to go and no way to defend themselves.