It is notable that the settlers on the Little Colorado had very little
actual trouble with the Indians, with the Navajo of the north or the
Apache of the south. The Indians were frequent visitors to the
settlements and were treated with usual Mormon hospitality. There were no
depredations upon the livestock, and when the peace of the settlements
was disturbed it was by the white man and not by the red brother. During
the time of the building of the Atlantic and Pacific railroad, there was
an Indian scare. This originated in the outbreak of Nockedaklinny, a
medicine man of the Coyoteros, who, August 30, 1881, was killed in the
Cibicu country, a day's travel from Fort Apache, by troops led by Col.
E.A. Carr, Fifth Cavalry. Two days later the Indians attacked Camp Apache
itself, after killing eight men on the road, and the post probably was
saved from capture by the hurried return of its commander, with his
troops. He left behind seven of his men, having been treacherously fired
upon by 23 Indian scouts, whom he had taken with him. A number of murders
were committed by the Indians in northern Tonto Basin, but the
insurrection extended no farther northward than Camp Apache. Still it
created great uneasiness within the comparatively unprotected settlements
of the river valley. June 1, 1882, was the killing of Nathan B. Robinson,
this the only Indian murder of a Mormon in this section.