On May 17, 1858, 159 American soldiers commanded by Lt. Col. E.J. Steptoe fought a running battle with a large band of Spokane, Palouse, and Coeur D'Alene Indians. After taking cover on a nearby hill, they repelled a series of attacks until night halted the fighting. With ammunition nearly exhausted and disaster looming, they withdrew hastily with their wounded under cover of darkness toward Fort Walla Walla. Steptoe's defeat was among the results of unenlightened dealings with the Indian tribes in this region, and later that year the Indians were ruthlessly subjugated in a full-scale campaign.