The Crow led the way, Ashley’s men in tow. Crow scouts were out of sight on all four sides as they picked their way through the meadow along the stream that over days combined with others to become a small river. Every man kept his weapons at the ready. For three days they traveled without incident, but on the morning of the fourth, scouts galloped into camp with the news that a large force of Blackfeet was headed their way. Their encampment was at a horse-shoe bend of a river, chosen the night prior for its defensibility. Immediately, they placed the horses in the care of the women and boys, hidden among the willows at river’s edge. At the neck of the horseshoe were a few boulders that would make good cover, and to the right, the river embankment was steep, also potential cover. Beyond th
