The non-treaty bands were outnumbered.

Their advantage was mobility, terrain knowledge, and military skill.

Their disadvantage was that they had families and elderly and children and they could not simply become a mobile fighting force the way the army could.

The decision was made to cross Lolo Pass, the difficult mountain route over the Bitterroot range into Montana.

In Montana, there were possible allies.

The Crow people, who had traditionally maintained good relationships with the nimíipuu, might provide sanctuary.

Or, if that failed, the Canadian border offered another kind of safety: the “Medicine Line,” as Indigenous people called it, where American soldiers could not legally follow.