They were in the general area of the reservation that had been assigned to them by the Medicine Lodge Treaty.

The specific choice of the Washita valley was not random or suspicious.

It was exactly where a compliant band would be expected to be in November — in the assigned area, wintering in a location that made logistical sense.

The fact that other, non-compliant Cheyenne groups — including some who had been raiding in Kansas — were also in the general area of the Washita River valley is one of the complicating factors in the historical assessment of the Washita attack.

Custer’s tracking of a raid trail had led him to the general area.