Although each man’s reaction to the white incursion on their tribal lands differed significantly, research has led me to believe that the three qualities listed above were the common links between the three men and likely shared by the leaders of all great native nations. 

Their focus was on Oyate-The People. Every action they took held that focus as its basis. Each man showed his commitment to protect and nurture the people. The most important thing in their minds was to serve the people with unbreakable honor and commitment. Not surprisingly, they differed greatly in personalities and what each viewed as the best tactic for protecting the people and the land they controlled. At times their characters seemed at odds, but by the people, each was viewed with utmost respect, for each carried the day with what became recognized as their unique gift to the people.

​Montana was awarded Territory status on May 26, 1864. In so doing, the U.S. Congress moved the territory’s western boundary deeper into Idaho Territory. The Idaho gold fields discovered in 1863 were now in Montana Territory and there had been a new strike in Emigrant Gulch in the southwest corner. Those hoping to strike it rich were streaming into the area.

There were multiple trails used by the miners to access the gold fields in the west. The primary route to the now Montana gold fields was to follow the Oregon Trail west to Fort Hall, in Oregon Territory, then turn straight north into the heart of the strike.

As all the pathways West, it flowed directly through Indian land, some identified as reservation land, other non-ceded land used for centuries by the Crow, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, and Sioux nations.