They were trying to make an impossible move in an impossible timeframe, losing horses and cattle in flood-swollen rivers, making the best of a situation that had been forced on them.

The killings on the Salmon River, carried out by young men without the authorization of the leaders, changed everything.

But even those killings did not inevitably produce a full-scale war.

There were ways, in principle, to respond to those killings that would have allowed the broader community to comply with the relocation while addressing the specific offenses.

Howard chose not to take those ways.

The army attacked at White Bird Canyon without waiting for negotiation.