These events should not be confused with the Skeleton Canyon Shootout in 1896.

The Skeleton Canyon massacres refer to two separate attacks on Mexican citizens in 1879 and 1881. Skeleton Canyon is located in the Peloncillo Mountains (Hidalgo County), which straddles the modern Arizona and New Mexico state line border. This canyon connects the Animas Valley of New Mexico with the San Simon Valley of Arizona.

The first Skeleton Canyon Massacre occurred in 1879 when a group of Mexican Rurales were ambushed by cattle rustlers. In July 1879, several rustlers attacked a rancho in northern Sonora, killing several of the inhabitants. After the attack on the rancho, the survivors reported the attacks to Commandant Francisco Neri, who sent out a detachment of Rurales, including Captain Alfredo Carrillo. The Rurales crossed the border into Arizona. As they entered Skeleton Canyon, shots were fired against them. Of the large group that crossed, only three of the Rurales survived.

No action was taken by the Mexican Government, but it protested the killings to President Chester Arthur, although acknowledging the Mexican policemen had crossed into Arizona. Johnny Ringo, considered to be one of an outlaw group known as the Cochise County Cowboys, who were cattle rustlers and bandits, claimed to have been at the ambush. He said others there who participated in the murders were Old Man Clanton, brothers Ike and Billy Clanton, "Curly Bill" Brocius, Florentino Cruz, and brothers Frank and Tom McLaury.^[1]

In July 1881, "Curly Bill" Brocius learned that several Mexican smugglers carrying silver were heading to Arizona through Skeleton Canyon. Curly Bill and around twenty other men including Johnny Ringo and Jim Crane ambushed the smugglers, killing four and stealing $4,000 in bullion and livestock. Two months after the attack was reported by the surviving smugglers, Commandant Neri again sent a detachment of Rurales led by Captain Carrillo across the border. This time, the Rurales successfully ambushed the Cowboys, killing five including Old Man Clanton and Jim Crane, in what became known as the Guadalupe Canyon Massacre.^[2]

• In 1958 an episode of the TV series Tombstone Territory portrayed the 1881 attack.^[3]
• In 1961, in episode 222 (Season 6/Episode 33), titled "Requiem for Old Man Clanton" of the TV series, "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" mentions the killings in Skeleton Canyon, leading the episode up to the story of what happened in Guadalupe Canyon.

31°35′24″N 109°2′10″W / 31.59000°N 109.03611°W / 31.59000; -109.03611

v t e Cochise County in the Old West
Rural outlaw cowboys and allies vs. business owners, townspeople, and the law
Supporting rural interests	Lawmen Johnny Behan Billy Breakenridge Phin Clanton Johnny Ringo Frank Stilwell David Neagle Cowboys,      smugglers, ranchers Frederick Bode William "Curly Bill" Brocius Billy Claiborne Billy Clanton Ike Clanton Newman "Old Man" Clanton Phin Clanton Jim Crane "Indian Charlie" Cruz Pony Diehl Harry "The Kid" Head Bill Hicks Milt Hicks Bill Johnson Luther King Bill Leonard Ed Lyle Johnny Lyle Frank McLaury Tom McLaury Frank Patterson Johnny Ringo Pete Spence Frank Stilwell
Supporting town interests	Lawmen John Clum Crawley Dake Wyatt Earp Warren Earp Morgan Earp Virgil Earp George McKelvey Bob Paul Charles A. Shibell Ben Sippy John Slaughter Fred White Gamblers, businessmen, cowboys, ranchers, politicians Fred Dodge James Earp Tom Fitch Jack Johnson Doc Holliday Henry Hooker Buckskin Frank Leslie Sherman McMaster George W. Parsons Charles Smith John Vermillion Daniel Tipton Marshall Williams C. S. Fly
Conflicts and events	Skeleton Canyon Massacres Guadalupe Canyon Massacre Gunfight at the O.K. Corral O.K. Corral hearing and aftermath Earp Vendetta Ride
Locations	Cochise County Benson Bisbee Charleston Contention Fairbank Fort Huachuca Tombstone Tucson Contention City