They were known throughout the plateau country as exceptional horsemen with large, well-selected herds.

Their horses were faster, stronger, and better adapted to the plateau terrain than most horses available to the army.

This advantage was real and measurable: it was partly what made the flight across Montana possible.

At Canyon Creek in September 1877, the loss of a significant portion of the horse herd was one of the most damaging single events of the entire flight.

Horses that had carried elders and children and supplies across mountains were now in army hands, and the people who had depended on them were now walking or cramped onto fewer mounts.