December 9, 1885; Pinos Altos, New Mexico: Raiding Apaches under Josanie left Mexico in November 1885, fighting in southern New Mexico Territory before heading to the reservation at Turkey Creek near Fort Apache, Arizona Territory. Josanie skirmished near the fort and then moved east into the Mogollon Mountains of New Mexico, where Eighth Cavalry troops under Lt. Samuel W. Fountain and Lt. De Rosey Cabell were scattered. In Silver City, Maj. Samuel S. Sumner received a telegraph regarding the Indians' movements and he alerted Fountain.
Fountain met up with Cabell and made a plan. He took ten troopers, ten Navajo scouts, and two civilian guides, while Cabell stayed in camp. The guide, a man called McKinney, directed Fountain to a high gap on the Mogollon Trail where he said the Indians would have to pass. There the company discovered the Apaches' fires still burning and a fresh trail in the newly fallen snow. McKinney led Fountain to Diamond Creek Canyon, to the north, where they found a fresh trail that crossed the creek near a ranch that had belonged to the Butcher brothers before the Indians killed them the previous June. Fountain hurried toward Lillie's and Papanoe's ranches, hoping to get there before the Indians did.
At Lillie's ranch, Fountain found the outlying buildings had been ransacked. Continuing to the home ranch, five miles farther on, he found a trail leading to Snow (Clear) Creek, which meandered through an isolated, 200-yard-wide valley about forty miles north of Pinos Altos. The ranch, on the far side of the creek, was already ablaze. Some of the raiders had gotten away, but Fountain counted nineteen Indians still loading their horses with plunder. The lieutenant dismounted his men from their tired horses, formed an attack line, and charged across the creek, successfully surprising the Apaches. Only one warrior had time to mount up and attempt to escape, but the troopers shot him dead on his horse. One other running Apache was also killed. The rest got away after a brief chase, but Fountain was able to round up most of their horses.
Searching the smoldering house, soldiers found the body of Thomas C. Prior, who was visiting John Lillie, burned in the ruins. Fountain gathered up the stolen horses and mules and started to herd them across the creek, where Sergeant Moore and Private Beatty were holding the company horses. But Josanie's warriors had returned. The Apaches began firing at the cavalry mounts with Moore and Beatty. Fountain hurried to a point across from Moore and yelled for the sergeant to cover him. As Fountain crossed the valley, gunfire cracked around him, and he fell to the ground; his men thought he had been shot, but the lieutenant had only tripped on the rough ground. He made it across to Moore unscathed, and together they moved the horses to safety. When the guns suddenly fell silent, Fountain figured the Apaches were out of ammunition. The following morning, the troopers discovered the Indians were gone.
Ten horses and two mules were returned to their owners. McKinney was given a big-footed brown horse as a reward. Later, John Lillie was discovered dead in a field some distance from his house.
