Irataba also welcomed bands of Yavapai onto the reservation after they had been subject to massacres by US troops , or suffered starvation due to having been driven from their lands . The meager resources of the reservation proved unable to sustain the additional population and eventually the Yavapai had to leave . Irataba frequently served as a mediator between Yavapai and Walapai who had become embroiled in conflicts with the US army , and participated in peace parlays . In 1871 – 72 , General George Crook came to the Mohave reservation looking for a group of Yavapai thought to be responsible for the Wickenburg Massacre , and Irataba had no choice but to turn the war party over to the army . He traveled to the trial proceedings at Fort Date Creek , where he was instructed to hand tobacco to the Yavapai he believed to be responsible , as a way for him to testify against them without their realizing it . As soldiers attempted to arrest the men that Irataba identified , fighting broke out and one of the Yavapai leaders , Ohatchecama , and his brother were shot . Despite having been shot twice and stabbed with a bayonet , Ohatchecama survived and escaped to organize the Tolkepaya Yavapai in resistance against the US army . The Yavapai felt betrayed by Irataba , and plotted to kill him in revenge , but were eventually persuaded that he was not the one who had turned them over to Crook
Wickenburg Massacre
Wickenburg Massacre
Irataba