It bought time.

It put the nimíipuu into terrain that the army found difficult.

And it took them toward the possibility — still real at that point — of Crow allies who might change the military equation.

Looking Glass, whose band included people with experience in the Montana country and with relationships among the Crow, was the most confident voice for this strategy.

His confidence was not unfounded; it was based on real knowledge of relationships and geography.

The failure of Crow support was not predictable from the information available in July 1877.