The camp she was at was attacked.

The camps nearby were also attacked.

The direction of safety was not “nearest inhabited place” because the nearest inhabited places were under threat.

The direction of safety was west: toward the Columbia River, away from the zone of the attacks, into terrain that was challenging but not actively hostile.

This is the strategic logic that underlies her decision to move west rather than toward any of the nearer alternatives.

It was not the easy decision.