Cooke City, Montana
On September 7, General Howard and his men, passing through Cooke City, noted that miners had armed themselves and manned a stockade, to barricade themselves against the Nez Perce. The events that unfolded in Yellowstone had everyone on edge, but the Nez Perce were actually making their way through the rugged Absaroka Mountains 10 to 15 miles south of Cooke City. Colonel Sturgis positioned his troops near the mouth of Clarks Fork Canyon hoping to catch the Nez Perce as they emerged from the park. General Howard, approaching from the northwest, hoped to trap them between their two forces.
– Hímiin maqsmáqs (Yellow Wolf)
"In case I should learn that the hostiles had moved up the East Fork of the Yellowstone [Lamar River], then I would move up the cañon of Clark’s Fork, going on if necessary until we should encounter them in the Soda Butte Pass; otherwise I would establish my camp near Heart Mountain, and from that central point observe the outlets both on the Stinking Water and Clark’s Fork, all depending on the information I might receive in the mean time.”
– Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis
