rn them back. Rawn
immediately dispatched a scouting party, consisting of Lieut. Francis
Woodbridge and three men, with orders to proceed up Lo Lo Canyon to the
summit of the Rocky Mountain Range, ascertain, if possible, whether
Joseph was really coming on that trail, and if so, to report the fact
to him (Rawn), at the earliest possible moment. Rawn in the meantime
prepared his little command for action. Woodbridge failed to return
within the allotted time, and fearing he had been killed or captured,
Lieut. C. A. Coolidge was ordered to take two men and scout in the same
direction, search for him and for the Indians, and especially to
examine a trail that branches off from the Lo Lo on top of the Rocky
Mountain Divide, some sixty miles from Missoula, and ascertain whether
the hostiles had gone that way.

These officers met on the divide, but no trace of the Indians could be
found, and it was believed that they had either turned back or taken
some other route. Both parties returned to their post, and reported the
facts. Within a few hours after their arrival, however, two Indian
runners came through, bearing messages from Joseph to the commanding
officer at Missoula and to the citizens in the Bitter Root Valley, to
the effect that Joseph and his band were coming over the Lo Lo trail;
that they desired to pass through the Bitter Root Valley, en route to
the "buffalo country," and assuring the people that if allowed to do so
peaceably they would not harm the settlers or their property.

It subsequently transpired that Joseph and his band reached the summit
of the range only three hours after Coolidge and Woodbridge had started
on their return to the post. Joseph's messengers were promptly
arrested, placed in the guard-house, and kept there until the end of
the campaign. But the news they brought spread like wild fire, and the
whole country was alarmed. Captain Rawn's command consisted of only two
companies--his own and Capt. William Logan's (A and I), of the Seventh
Infantry.

Leaving twenty men to guard the post, Captain Rawn moved at once with
the remainder of his force, numbering about fifty men, up Lo Lo Creek.
He was joined en route by about one hundred citizens from the town and
surrounding country. At the mouth of the canyon he halted and built a
temporary barricade by felling trees across it and up the north wall to
a considerable distance, the south wall being deemed impregnable
without fortifying. The slope to