Gros Ventre territory was to the north and east of Crow territory, and the two nations competed for resources and raided each other’s horse herds with the regularity of neighboring plains nations who were not at peace.

Woman Chief had spent her adult life as a Crow warrior, fighting Crow enemies — which in many instances meant Gros Ventre enemies.

Her war record included engagements with the Blackfoot, but it almost certainly included engagements with the Gros Ventre as well.

The people she was trying to make peace with in 1854 may well have had personal reasons to see her as an enemy.

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 had attempted to create conditions for peace among the various nations of the northern plains by establishing territorial boundaries and creating a framework for diplomatic interaction.